Countdown to new Territory

The big news for the overall Territory development program is of course the arrival - finally - of the turbo-diesel engine.

Ford has really dragged its feet in putting an oiler under the bonnet of its once segment-leading SUV and there's no doubt it has cost the company dearly in sales.

Since its original 2004 launch, Ford dealers have sold more than 120,000 units in Australia. A few have also been sold in South Africa and New Zealand, but the lack of an "oiler" has seen sales plummet in the past couple of years.

The 2011 Territory's development and new found refinement and driving dynamics are the result of an exhaustive testing program that included Australia, the USA, New Zealand, Alaska and Sweden.

While the turbo-diesel is the headline story, the latest raft of improvements to the venerable straight-six petrol engine and its new fuel consumption figure are a credit to Ford Australia engineers. In fact, since SX Territory was launched in 2004, the fuel-efficiency gains have been nothing short of spectacular.

As Ford points out, the SZ Territory has delivered a 19.1 percent fuel economy improvement on the RWD petrol version since the debut model.

"When you factor in the further efficiency gains delivered by the diesel engine, the overall improvement increases to 37.4 percent on RWD" (34.8 percent on AWD), Ford explains.

The 2.7-litre V6 turbo-diesel engine is designed and built by Ford at its Dagenham plant in the UK and since its 2005 debut, it has been proven by the likes of Jaguar and Land Rover.

For the new Territory, it will be available in both two- and four-wheel drive versions and in its 2011 guise, this is the first time anywhere in the Ford world it has been fitted to a Blue Oval model.

Cranking out peak power of 140kW at 4000rpm, its 440Nm of maximum torque is on tap from just 1900rpm up to 2500rpm.

In rear-wheel drive guise, buyers of the new Territory can look forward to a combined fuel consumption figure of 8.2-litres/100km. Opt for a TX or TS four-wheel-driver and you're looking at 8.8-litres. For the range topping Titanium (it replaces the Ghia), the figure is 9.0-litres.

This means a new RWD Territory "oiler" will be able to carry its driver and passengers around 1000km before they will need to trouble a service station.
Another plus for the RWD "oiler" is that it can tow a 2300kg braked trailer and there is a downward tow-ball weight of 230kg.

Not content with the fuel consumption figure for the straight-six petrol engine, Ford engineers have cut the RWD version's figure by 1.01-litres/100km and it will now be 10.6-litres when the new model arrives in a few weeks' time.

The new Territory's soon to be experienced driving dynamics and refinement follow a massive amount of work by various specialist Ford teams over the past three and a half years.

While not so obvious as a new turbo-diesel engine, some of the work that has been done in the area of the SUV's NVW enhancement is seriously impressive.

Road, wind and powertrain noise has been markedly improved and benchmarking against the likes of the much more expensive BMW X5 and Audi Q7 and the competitor Toyota Prado and Holden Captiva will give those companies something to think about.

There is a new electric power-steering system that is sealed and lubricated for life, stiffer front and rear suspension, enhanced roll suppression and a clever drift/pull-compensation system on the electronic stability program that compensates for conditions such as road camber and wide winds.

The new steering set-up will also make parking even more of a breeze under city driving conditions - and that's where most Territory owners spend most of their time.

In terms of safety, the current Territory already had a five-star ANCAP rating but the new model gains a driver's knee airbag, bringing to five the total airbag inventory for all versions.

A roll-over-mitigation system has also been added to the standard-fit Bosch "gen-nine" dynamic-stability-control system and it constantly monitors the vehicle's road behaviour. If a potential roll-over is detected, additional understeer is introduced to settle things down.

While pricing for the new Territory line-up will not be released until launch in a few weeks' time, we can say that the new Ford SUV has the potential to reclaim the segment leadership position it had lost.

IAN CRAWFORD