03/27/2003 – Ford Everest: Product Overview

Overview

The Everest is an exciting new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) from Ford that delivers priority family needs for safe, comfortable and flexible family transportation, as well as the SUV image and road presence that consumers want.

With the growing segment in SUVs, the Everest will appeal to customers who are ready to consider the purchase of a more sophisticated product – one which provides versatile usage and refined vehicle dynamics, with luxurious interior and high feature and equipment specification levels. The Everest is positioned precisely to meet the needs of this customer group while offering exceptional value for money.

The Everest is styled and engineered to fit comfortably in the Ford family of SUVs, which interestingly dates back to the “first SUV” or camper derived from a modified Model T by Henry Ford. Today, Ford has a strong heritage in SUVs that is recognized and trusted worldwide, including the Explorer, Explorer Sport, Expedition, Excursion, Explorer Sport Trac, Escape, and now Everest.

In true No Boundaries spirit, the Everest looks tough, feels robust and is just plain fun to drive.

Key Customer Benefits

Key customer benefits provided by the Everest to customers are in the following areas:

• Best-In-Class Ride & Handling – offers confident handling & superior ride comfort and good body control)
• Class leading dual control A/C system
• Genuine 7-seater – spaciousness and comfort
• Good 2nd seat functionality (foldable) and convenient egress/ingress
• Interior luxury features and equipment levels
• High level of Quality and Build, incorporating “craftsmanship” in design
• User friendliness of side opening tailgate
• Standard safety features
• Capable of true off-road driving conditions

• Exterior SUV Styling – looks tough, reliable and dependable with commanding road presence
• Interior Roominess
• Ergonomics, seating flexibility, interior features
• Tiered seating – a slightly higher H point for each row of seating combined with the large glass area provides all occupants with excellent visibility
• Luggage/Cargo space and versatility
• Quality & Craftsmanship in design
• Ease of Entry and Exit – particularly to 2nd and 3rd row seats
• Removable 3^rd row seat (excluding Thailand)
• Dual Climate Control A/C System
• Exceptional Value Package
• Occupant Safety – including ABS brakes, seat belts for all seating positions including 3rd row seat, dual airbags
• Vehicle Security – Anti-theft alarm and engine immobilizer
• True Off Road Capability
• Side hinged tailgate
• Full width tailgate for ease of loading/unloading cargo
• Tailgate mounted spare tire
• Overall brake performance
• Interior storage features and capacity
• Powerful mid range engine performance

The Everest has a “bright” front-end appearance across the full width with multi-reflector headlamps, clear combination lamps, large chrome grille, and bumper styling; these have been designed in accordance with the Ford DNA blueprint. The front end of this vehicle identifies it as unmistakably from the Ford family of vehicles.

From the side view, the Everest presents a strong image with its high ride height, balanced wheel well openings and substantial proportions below the bodyside moldings. The side steps, mudflaps and overwheel moldings provide an integrated rugged accent theme along the length of the vehicle and underline the impression that this is a well equipped, off road vehicle. In market research, participants confirmed that the Ford Everest “looks like a 4×4” should look. The smooth roofline and roof racks give a streamlined appearance, and the large tinted front and rear glass areas look modern and draw attention to the vehicle’s excellent occupant visibility. The large rear side doors also indicate that this vehicle has excellent passenger ingress/egress dimensions.

The rear view reaffirms Everest as a genuine SUV with its side opening rear door and spare tire mounted on the rear door, as well as the stylish rear taillights and convenient step in the bumper which is styled to improve access to items on the roof rack.

Customers also have the flexibility to develop the appearance of their vehicle further by specifying customized Everest accessory items to create their own vehicle image to meet their individual lifestyle preferences.

First impressions of the Everest interior are light, spacious, luxurious & highly-equipped with versatile seating:

• Interior Lightness & Space has been created by adopting a two-tone interior: a light “Oyster” color
  for components above the beltline and darker “Storm” grey below the beltline.
• Luxury and Comfort are
  immediately apparent with the use of a “Titanium” contrast color to highlight features on the Instrument panel and on
  the door trim, plus the extensive use of velour on the seats and door trims.
• High Specification Features
  and Equipment. The Ford Everest is an exceptionally well-equipped vehicle with many small “surprise and delight”
  features, which illustrate a thoughtful approach to the interior design.
• “Tiered Seating” provides a
  slightly higher H Point for each row of seating and combined with the large glass area, gives all occupants excellent
  visibility.
• Craftsmanship which defines the concept of “subconscious harmony of design and function”
  seamlessly absorbed into every aspect of the vehicle’s development. It is about all the senses – not just visual – but
  also touch, smell and sound. As an example, the choice of materials used on the steering wheel, shift knob and park
  brake handle offers the same feel, grain and texture – this results in harmony of touch.

• Dual control A/C system – for optimal interior comforts, a unique dual
  control air-conditioning system with two additional sets of A/C vents for rear seat passengers ensures that the air-conditioning can cool the center and rear
  sections of the cabin quickly and efficiently without having to rely on the
  front Instrument Panel vents to cool the whole cabin.


• 2^nd row seat – 50/50 double folding – a single release
  lever mechanism allows an easy and seamless action to continue lifting the
  seat forward into a “double folded” vertical position that provides easy
  access to the 3^rd row seat with spacious ingress/egress


• Genuine 3^rd row seats – The 3^rd row seat back
  can be folded flat providing cargo space for large, bulky items. In addition,
  the 3^rd row seat can also be fully removed from the vehicle using
  simple “Unlatch and Remove” release latches at the base of the seat (excluding
  Thailand)
• Individual cup holders – a total of 7 cup holders
  ensures that there is a cup holder for every seating position


• Radio/Audio System – standard feature includes a uniquely-tuned
  Premium audio system, designed to deliver car-like sound quality. Four
  full-size twin cone speakers have been tuned to provide optimum acoustic
  response for all occupants. In the Everest Limited Edition, the standard audio
  system comes with a CD player, MP3, tweeters and additional speakers


• Seatbelts for all seating positions
• Power windows


• Power doorlocks – 4 doors + tailgate (interior release handle)


• Auxiliary power points – front (cell phone, laptop, removable GPS system & other electronic equipment) and cargo area (cell phones, hand-held electronic games and also for camping and recreational items such as 12V powered refrigerator, water heater, stereo, camping stove, emergency lights, etc.)


• Large front seat back map pockets with 2 additional (cell phone size stowage pockets on each front seat back


• Twin-overhead console for flexi-storage
• Covered vanity mirrors on both front sunvisors


• High series center dome lamp with integrated map lights
• Map pockets on all side doortrims


• Integrated tailgate trim utility storage net
• Separate rear washer reservoir

The overall balance between Ride, Steering and Handling provides the Everest with a strong competitive advantage in vehicle dynamics.

In development, Everest performed exceptionally in diverse driving conditions, and handles comfortably in both city and off-road situations. In Thailand, the Everest will perform well in city traffic, on rough roads and in the country. In South Africa, Everest is equally impressive in high altitude, high temperature, dusty and off-road conditions, whereas in the mountainous areas of Hokaido in Japan, the ABS brakes demonstrate their effectiveness. The Everest proves to be a versatile, capable and comfortable vehicle in all conditions.

In particular, Everest offers a smooth ride (especially on rough road conditions), resulting in reduced driver fatigue. The vehicle has a quality ride feel with few squeaks or rattles and superior handling capability which is especially noticeable when lane changing and in tight cornering.

• Steering & Handling – The Everest suspension has been tuned to produce easy handling at low speed, confident cornering performance and good sustainability at higher speeds.
• Ride Comfort – The Everest provides good ride comfort while retaining the capability to handle tough off-road conditions
• Off Road – good ground clearance, approach and departure angles confirm Everest’s off-road capability
• Braking – the specification of 4W-ABS and 2 pot front calipers gives excellent brake performance and brake feel.
• Quietness – Noise and vibration control has been a high priority in the development of the Everest, with a premium sound and insulation package specified to create a quiet cabin environment
• Vehicle Performance – Everest powertrains provide responsive engine performance, particularly in the mid-range

The Everest is available in two different engines:

• 2.5L Diesel Water-Intercooled Turbo (WLT) Engine
• 2.6L Petrol EGI Engine

The 2.5L Diesel WLT engine is “among the leaders” for performance and competitive for fuel economy versus competitor models, yet the WLT engine is significantly more affordable.

The overhead cam WLT intercooled turbo diesel engine incorporates an intercooler for increased power, a refined intake system for quiet operation, indirect fuel injection, and twin internal counter-rotating balance shafts that minimize vibration and noise into the passenger compartment by attenuating second order vibration. Compared with radial-type turbochargers, the WLT diagonal exhaust gas flow into the turbocharger optimizes charging efficiency, reduces turbo lag, improves response at low speeds and permits a more compact turbocharger unit.

The turbine shaft is water-cooled to improve durability, and the three valve design uses two intake valves and one exhaust valve for each cylinder to improve intake and provide optimum power.

The 2.6L Fuel Injected G6E engine is constructed with three valves per cyclinder. Delivering 90kW at 4500rpm and 206Nm at 3500rpm, this engine provides solid and dependable EGI Petrol performance.

The Everest Safety standards is “amongst the leaders”. The vehicle has been designed and verified to meet the core Ford Safety Design Guidelines (SDGLs) that apply to all Ford vehicles worldwide, as well as some additional SDGLs that are not required in Everest markets.

Major Safety Features are as follows:

• Driver & Passenger Airbags – Low-pressure European standard dual (driver/front passenger) airbags are equipped as standard on all models. The airbags are activated by a sensor located at the floor under the center console.
• 4-Wheel ABS – Standard on all Everest models, 4-wheel ABS brakes prevent the wheels from locking up during hard braking and when braking firmly on surfaces with uneven traction. 4W-ABS provides increased driver braking control whether the vehicle is laden or unladen, cornering or straight-line, on wet or dry roads. 4W-ABS is a Dynamic Safety Feature giving drivers a much greater chance of steering out of dangerous driving situations as well as providing a positive brake response in all conditions.
• Individual Seat Belts for all passengers including 3^rd row seat positions. 3-point lap/shoulder belt available in all outboard seating positions while lap belt in all other seating positions are provided.
• Visibility – The driver’s high seating position or H Point is designed to give clear visibility to both front corners of the vehicle and make it easier to judge overall vehicle width. Semi-concealed front wipers also contribute to an unobstructed forward view.

The seating configuration in Everest provides “tiered seating” for all occupants, providing excellent visibility for all passengers.

Other design features contribute to increased and clear visibility – large exterior side mirrors, concealed drip rails above side doors to divert rainwater, large multi-reflector headlamps for night time driving, front and rear wipers.

Key Safety Criteria are as follows:

• Collapsible steering column
• Fuel Tank Guards
• Limited Slip Differential
• Childproof Door Locks
• Side door intrusion beams
• Height adjustable head restraints for driver, front passenger, and 2^nd row outboard passengers

• High penetration resistant windshield
• Interior materials burn resistant
• Frontal Barrier Impact 30mph

– Injury criteria for belted front seat occupants
– Steering column intrusion
– Windshield retention
– Windshield zone intrusion
– Fuel system integrity

• Rear Moving Barrier (or Pendulum) Impact

– Fuel system integrity
– Passenger compartment displacement

Everest models in a number of markets will be available with either alarm or immobilization systems (or both) as standard or optional features.

• Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on various components and parts
• Engine Immobilizer – Passive Anti-Theft System (PATS) is a theft protection feature, which prevents the engine from being started with an incorrectly coded key. It automatically shuts off fuel to the fuel injection system after two seconds. (This feature is standard for Thailand, Malaysia and South Africa).
• Anti-Theft Alarm