Ford Everest 2024 review: Wildtrak - off-road test

The seven-seat Ford Everest Wildtrak has a suggested retail price of $74,704 (excluding on-road costs) and is only available with the V6 turbo-diesel engine.

For your reference, at time of writing, it’s about $1100 more than the equivalent Ranger Wildtrak.

Standard Everest features include a 12.0-inch touchscreen (in portrait-style layout) with sat nav, Apple CarPlay (wireless or wired) and Android Auto, a wireless smartphone charger, dual-zone climate control, heated and ventilated power-adjustable front seats, and leather-accented trim.

Wildtrak-specific additions are mostly limited to updated styling as well as 20-inch ‘Asphalt Matt Black’ alloy wheels with all-season tyres – but you can option 18-inch ‘Boulder Grey’ alloys and all-terrain tyres for no extra cost – and there’s also a 360-degree camera and tyre pressure monitoring system.

The Ford Everest Wildtrak has a suggested retail price of $74,704 (excluding on-road costs). (Image: Marcus Craft)

The leather-appointed interior is comfortable and functional, but in the Wildtrak everything has an extra level of classiness to it.

There are plenty of storage spaces with sizeable bins, bottle holders in each door, cupholders for everyone – even third-row passengers get cupholders and places for their bits and pieces.

The driver and front passenger have access to two 12-volt sockets and two USB ports.

The classy, leather-appointed interior is comfortable and functional. (Image: Marcus Craft)

The portrait-style touchscreen is easy to use although there’s a confusion of choices going on and sometimes it takes a few substantial taps on the screen to activate the function you want.

The power-adjustable front seats are comfortable and supportive, without ever being too much of either. 

The cabin feels a bit too cosy – narrow but tall – and second-row seating is a bit squeezy for three adults, especially in terms of hip and shoulder room for larger blokes, but it’d be fine with slighter adults and even gangly teens. 

There are plenty of storage spaces with sizeable bins, bottle holders in each door, cupholders for everyone. (Image: Marcus Craft)

Second-row passengers get a pair of pop-out cupholders in the armrest, and can control their air con temp and fan speed, as well as open or close their air vents as they see fit, and use a 230-volt or 12-volt socket from their seat.

The second-row has a 60/40 split-fold seat back and the third-row has a 50/50 split-fold. There are five child-seat anchor points, and two ISOIX anchor points in the second row.

Third-row seats can be manually deployed or stowed away. The third row is for kids only, I reckon, with shallower room all-around.

The Everest Wildtrak has 898L of boot capacity when the third row is stowed away. (Image: Marcus Craft)

When all seven seats are in use there’s a claimed 259 litres of cargo space in the rear; 898L when the third row is stowed away; and 1823L of cargo space when the second row is also lowered. The area behind the third row has bag hooks each side, and luggage tie-down points on the floor. 

There is a 12V power outlet in the rear cargo area, plus the Wildtrak has a hands-free power tailgate.

The Ford Everest Wildtrak has a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel engine producing 184kW at 3250rpm and an impressive 600Nm from 1750rpm to 2250rpm and a 10-speed automatic transmission.

The Wildtrak has a full-time 4WD system with selectable two-wheel drive (2H), four-wheel drive high-range (4H), four-wheel drive low-range (4L) and four-wheel drive automatic (4A = 4Auto) that sends drive to the front and rear axles as needed, and which can be used on sealed surfaces.

The Ford Everest Wildtrak has a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel engine. (Image: Marcus Craft)

It has selectable drive modes including 'Normal', 'Eco', 'Tow Haul', 'Slippery', and for off-roading: 'Mud/Ruts', and 'Sand'.

These all adjust engine outputs, throttle control and transmission behaviour to best suit the terrain you’re on and the driving conditions you’re exposed to.

The Wildtrak has a locking rear diff.

The Everest has always impressed me as a refined drive and it’s one of the best large SUV wagons on-road.

The V6 is a gutsy unit, consistently delivering sustained power and torque at low and high speeds. It’s torquey and plenty of its 600Nm is available across a broad rev range. 

The 10-speed auto transmission has had the previous-gen’s thrashiness between ratios smoothed out – and if you want to take over duties yourself you can do so via the 'e-Shifter' in this 4WD wagon. 

At 4940mm long (with tow receiver; 4914mm without) with a 2900mm wheelbase, and at 2207mm wide and 1837mm high, the Everest is a sizeable SUV, but it never feels too bloated to steer accurately, with a well-weighted helm keeping it under control. 

The Wildtrak wears 20-inch ‘Asphalt Matt Black’ alloy wheels with all-season tyres. (Image: Marcus Craft)

But you do have to drive with absolute focus, otherwise it’s long undercarriage may suffer the consequences – but more about that soon.

The cabin is very quiet, with nothing much intruding in terms of NVH (noise, vibration and harshness), other than low-level wind-rush around the wing mirrors. 

The suspension set-up – with coil springs at every corner – helps to produce smooth, composed ride and handling.

So, while it is impressive on-road, it’s not too shabby off-road, either.

At 4940mm long, the Everest is a sizeable SUV. (Image: Marcus Craft)

For a large 4WD it feels nimble, even on tight overgrown tracks, but, as mentioned earlier, it requires the driver’s full attention at all times.

Approach angle is 30.2 degrees, departure angle is 25 degrees, and ramp break-over is 21.9 degrees.

The Everest has a long wheelbase making its undercarriage vulnerable to scraping rocks, tree stumps or exposed tree roots, especially during more technical 4WDing sections.

The sidesteps are also pronounced enough to be magnets for damage when off-roading.

Low-range gearing is good and the Everest has an electronic rear diff lock to enhance this wagon’s dirt-grabbing abilities.

For a large 4WD it feels nimble, even on tight overgrown tracks. (Image: Marcus Craft)

Driver-assist tech aimed at making 4WDing safer and easier for everyone includes off-road driving modes such as Mud/Ruts and Sand, which adjust engine outputs, throttle, transmission, braking, traction and stability controls to best suit the driving conditions.

Hill descent control kept the Wildtrak to a controlled 3.0-4.0km/h while we tackled short steep downhills.

Wading depth is 800mm and while I didn’t get to test it this time – no mud around – I have tested the Everest previously through water and it has performed admirably. 

The Wildtrak as standard has 20-inch alloy wheels on Goodyear Wrangler Territory HTs (255/55 R20). A 20-inch tyre doesn’t give a 4WDer much flexibility in terms of how much air you can drop out of it for off-roading and correct tyre pressures are crucial for 4WDing.

The Everest’s towing capacity is 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg (braked). (Image: Marcus Craft)

Ford offers an easy fix, though, in the shape of 18-inch black alloys on all-terrain tyres as a no-cost option.

If you’re thinking about using your Everest as a touring vehicle be mindful that the Wildtrak’s payload is 741kg, gross vehicle mass (GVM) is 3150kg, and gross combination mass (GCM) is 6250kg. 

The Everest’s towing capacity is 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg (braked).

Approach angle is 30.2 degrees, departure angle is 25 degrees, and ramp break-over is 21.9 degrees. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

The Everest has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in 2022.

It has nine airbags (dual front, front side, driver and passenger knee airbags, curtain airbags covering all three rows and a centre front bag to prevent head collisions).

There's also a full suite of driver-assist tech including front AEB (autonomous emergency braking), adaptive cruise control with speed sign recognition and speed adaptation, lane departure alert and lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

The Everest has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in 2022. (Image: Marcus Craft)

The Everest’s AEB operates up to 130km/h, with pedestrian and cyclist detection operating up to 80km/h, according to Ford.

It has reverse brake assist (aka rear AEB), a tyre-pressure monitoring system, a 360-degree surround-view camera, front and rear parking sensors and an auto parking system.