Ford Territory TX AWD (7-day Test)

When Ford embarked on the development of the Territory back in the late 1990s, it was with a great understanding of what this boom in "four-wheel drives" -- or SUVs as they are now known -- was all about.

After many clinics and a desire to know what the Australian car-buyer really wanted, it came away with an answer that reaffirmed what most of us already knew. Despite the all-wheel drive capability, 'it' wasn't about being able to get to the centre of the Simpson Desert and back or trekking to the top of Cape York. 'It' was about families having a big, spacious, flexible and comfortable vehicle that provided a real alternative to the traditional Aussie six-cylinder sedan or wagon.

Go back ten years or more and if you wanted a car that was powerful, comfortable and able to be filled up with enough gear for a family of four for the annual holiday trek to the beach, it had to be a wagon. There was no other choice. But with the development of traditional offroaders into more on-road friendly conveyances, the alternative had arrived.

By the time Ford was ready to launch Territory in 2004, SUVs were being bought in droves. Without being the first to jump on the booming bandwagon, Ford had the benefit of seeing what worked, what didn’t and what customers really wanted...

When the dust settled, it delivered exactly that.

The fact Territory instantly became the best seller in its class is testimony enough. But with the impending arrival in January 2006 of tougher Euro III emission regulations came a need for an upgrade -- at least mechanically. Thus late in 2005 we got the second-generation SY Territory.

You would be hard pressed to find any visual differences although the car has benefited from a range of body strengthening and noise reduction modifications. That said, the biggest changes have been to the engine and driveline.

To help meet the new emission standards, the 4.0-litre inline six-cylinder engine has undergone a raft of internal changes including the addition of dual independent variable camshaft timing, dual knock sensors and a higher compression ratio.

Apart from meeting the emission requirements, the changes also ushered in slight improvements in maximum outputs with power up 8kW to 190kW at 5250rpm and torque up 3Nm to 383Nm at 2500rpm. There has also been a drop in official combined fuel consumption figures -- one of the biggest criticisms of the all-wheel drive Territory -- from 13.5l/100km to 12.8l/100km... Though you would be hard pressed to get that in the real world.

The other part of the driveline equation has been the introduction of a new six-speed automatic transmission on AWD models -- the RWD Territorys still make do with an improved version of the old-four speed.

So how does all this translate to the car's performance? To find out CarPoint took the SY Territory on an annual Christmas holiday trek to the coast -- complete with mum and dad, two toddlers and a set of in-laws.

First thing you notice is the overall improvement in the on-road refinement and lack of noise. The well-finished cabin is a very hushed environment -- at least from the car side of things, the toddlers are a different matter -- with little evidence of road or wind noise at any speed.

Add some pressure to the right foot and the new ZF six-speed transmission shifts up and down with such a degree of smoothness that the shifts are barely perceptible apart from the indicated rise and fall in revs on the tacho and extra grunt for overtaking or climbing hills.

If you wish, you can lock the transmission into a manually-selected gear -- without any idiot override -- via the sequential shift feature but the transmission's very perceptive adaptive nature, which alters shift points according to driver behaviour and road conditions, makes this feature almost unnecessary.

As mentioned there is a slight increase in power and torque although unless you are running performance figures on a racetrack you really don’t notice the difference. Like its predecessor, the SY Territory still suffers from a bit of lethargy off the line, especially when fully loaded with bodies. It's not such a product of the engine's lack of output, more a case of the 2500kg-plus you are trying to get moving.

Once up to cruising speeds however, there is plenty of torque to get you past slow moving traffic and a decent prod of the throttle has the transmission dropping two ratios to ensure safe and efficient overtaking.

Without any changes to the suspension, the Territory still drives well with a comfortable ride and solid and predictable handling for a vehicle of this size.

Where the car excels though is in the packaging. With daily outings taking in all six passengers on three rows of seats, there was still plenty of room at the rear for a picnic esky, beach gear and assorted floaties and blow up boats.

Both the toddlers are in booster seats -- which are easily fitted with top tether anchorage points in the rear rail and three-point belts integrated into the third row bench seat -- and getting them in and out was easily done. The other three adults had plenty of room and as primary driver, I was able to secure a good driving position.

Storage cubbies abound and the big bottle-sized holders in the doors are particularly useful for longer trips. Likewise the superb CD sound system -- even it is the Wiggles on random repeat -- and the optional cruise control.

As anyone with small children knows, keeping everyone cool and comfortable on a longish journey is essential to maintaining at least a semblance of calm and even on a 40-degree day, the Territory's aircon was well up to the task.

With its obvious improvements in refinement courtesy of the body measures and new auto transmission, together with the superb packaging and decent driving dynamics, the Territory deserves its position as Australia's favourite mid-sized SUV.

Now all it needs is a good diesel engine to alleviate some of the pain at the pump.

See CarPoint's Ford Territory launch coverage in our new car review section for more details