Photo: Ford
Over in Australia, the Ford Motor Company has a body-on-frame SUV in the form of the Everest. An adventurous vehicle with seating for seven, the Ranger-based model slots above the EcoSport and Escape, packing 3.2 liters of Duratorq five-cylinder turbo diesel under the hood and 4WD.
Make no mistake about it, the Everest is extremely capable from the get-go, more so if you bear in mind that its underpinnings are shared with the T6 Ranger that will arrive in North America for the 2019 model year. But once the Ford Motor Company pulled the veils off the Ranger Raptor, some people started questioning the feasibility of Raptor-ifing the Everest.
Speaking to Drive.com.au, Ford Performance head engineer Jamal Hameedi said that “there’s no reason [we wouldn’t do an Everest Raptor].” That’s not the complete picture, though, because transitioning from stock to Raptor poses some problems from a mechanical standpoint.
The gist of it is this: “to do an SUV is a little more difficult because you have to figure out how to deal with the rear suspension. In the form of a bodyside outer it’s not just a box outer [and that] poses a unique challenge in how you package that.” As you heard the man, turning the Everest to Raptor specification is more complicated than just outfitting the 2.0-liter twin-turbo EcoBlue turbo diesel and 10-speed automatic transmission.
Ford Australia product communications manager Damion Smy is also hopeful in this regard, arguing that “it makes sense” if demand for SUVs keeps on shooting up. By the look of things, passenger vehicles will play second fiddle to utility vehicles for the next half-decade, if not longer.
On the matter of timing, the Ranger Raptor arrives in Australia in mid-2018 for the 2019 model year. The Everest Raptor, if Ford can make a case for it, would follow suit sometime in 2019.
In related news, Ford of Australia will expand its SUV offerings with the Endura, a.k.a. Edge in the rest of the world. But as opposed to the Edge sold in the U.S. and Europe, the Endura will be based on the seven-seat Edge that’s made in China.
Speaking to Drive.com.au, Ford Performance head engineer Jamal Hameedi said that “there’s no reason [we wouldn’t do an Everest Raptor].” That’s not the complete picture, though, because transitioning from stock to Raptor poses some problems from a mechanical standpoint.
The gist of it is this: “to do an SUV is a little more difficult because you have to figure out how to deal with the rear suspension. In the form of a bodyside outer it’s not just a box outer [and that] poses a unique challenge in how you package that.” As you heard the man, turning the Everest to Raptor specification is more complicated than just outfitting the 2.0-liter twin-turbo EcoBlue turbo diesel and 10-speed automatic transmission.
Ford Australia product communications manager Damion Smy is also hopeful in this regard, arguing that “it makes sense” if demand for SUVs keeps on shooting up. By the look of things, passenger vehicles will play second fiddle to utility vehicles for the next half-decade, if not longer.
On the matter of timing, the Ranger Raptor arrives in Australia in mid-2018 for the 2019 model year. The Everest Raptor, if Ford can make a case for it, would follow suit sometime in 2019.
In related news, Ford of Australia will expand its SUV offerings with the Endura, a.k.a. Edge in the rest of the world. But as opposed to the Edge sold in the U.S. and Europe, the Endura will be based on the seven-seat Edge that’s made in China.
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