4x4s we'd buy, and how we'd modify them: Ford Everest

For some reason, Ford’s mid-size wagon gets overshadowed by its dual-cab brother.

I have an unpopular opinion on mid-sized dual-cabs (not just the Ranger, but all of them) which is that dual-cabs are the ultimate compromised vehicle. They can do a lot, but they can’t do it well.

They can’t carry the load of a single-cab (or even an extra-cab), they have five seats but the rear three are essentially unusable for anyone over five-feet tall, and the kicker is that the positioning of the cab and tub invariably seems to place the majority of mass of whatever is being carried behind the rear axle, which does nothing for handling or off-road ability and is quite literally the worst place to position significant weight other than maybe on the roof. 

So, until they release a dual-cab with the rear axle positioned in the middle or to the rear of the tray and with an engine that’s got at least six-hundo Newtons (props to Ford for ticking that box at least), then I’m still going to choose a wagon over the dual-cab nine times out of ten. Which brings me to the Ford Everest, which is really the rig a lot of “Ranger with a tub-topper canopy” owners should have bought. 

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The base 4×4 model is the Sport, which rings in at $74,640, but I’d head up the ladder by a rung and grab a Tremor model, which is $1940 more, but comes with Bilstein dampers and General Grabber AT3 rubber, so coupled with the rear diff lock you’re ready for some medium-core touring straight out of the box. It should be highlighted that I haven’t found the Everest to be excellent off-road. It’s certainly not bad, but if driving rutted-out tracks and steep, scrabbly climbs is high on your to-do list, I’d be looking seriously at investing in a front locker.

Driving that stuff is right up there on my list, so a visit to ARB to have a front Air Locker installed ($1800 or thereabouts) would be number one to tick off. After that it’s about protection, so a front bar with some LED spotties and a winch, as well as some sliders and alloy bash plates to help out with lack of ground clearance. There are a bunch of all these on the market, but I’d be budgeting around $7000 to have it buttoned up.

The V6 engine is unfortunately unable to be tuned at this point in time thanks to the rolling code in the ECU, but Steinbauer modules are up to the task and, along with a three-inch turbo-back exhaust, will sting me around $5500. However, the payoff is more than 220kW and well in excess of 700Nm, so money well spent. 

I’d then invest in the cheapest roof bars I could find to mount a Darche Eclipse freestanding 270 awning off ($1500), then throw the swag in the back along with the fridge and enough food and beer to see me through the next couple of weeks and head off to … well, anywhere I want to.