Worth the long wait

After having seen its images in the Internet a few months back, local automobile buffs, especially SUV enthusiasts have been eagerly waiting for the All-New Ford Everest to come to local shores. They were made to further salivate when Ford Philippines made a soft launch recently and started accepting reservations for the much-awaited latest offering from American automaker.

Last week, I joined 27 other motoring journalists from the Philippines in Chiang Rai, Thailand’s northern-most province for the All-New Ford Everest Media Drive. A total of 14 Everest units were used to demonstrate the midsize SUVs vaunted off-road capability, on road comfort and drivability, advanced technology bold design and refined interior.

I have joined quite a number of test drives in the past and this one counted among the few where the brand’s technical experts discussed the individual aspects or features of the vehicle with the journalists putting what have been described to the test immediately afterwards.

Some of the remarkable demonstrations that indeed made us experience and appreciate all the notable features of the new Everest included, among many others; Hill Launch Assist, which lets you confidently start on even the steepest hills by holding the vehicle for up to two seconds while you move your foot from the brake to the accelerator. The Hill Descent Control helps you set and maintain a constant speed to tackle steep descents with ease, allowing you to take your feet off the pedals and concentrate on steering. The Terrain Management System (TMS) fine tunes the vehicle’s throttle response, transmission, traction control and intelligent 4-wheel drive system to optimize performance whatever the conditions, with four different smart terrain settings, namely; Normal, tuned for on-road driving which sends torque to front wheels when needed based on steering and throttle and to minimize wheel slip; Snow, Mud, Grass, which prioritizes maintaining traction on slippery or loose surfaces; Sand, which helps you maintain momentum through sand with aggressive torque transfer and higher throttle sensitivity and Rock, which works in conjunction with low-range four-wheel drive to provide maximum traction and precise low-speed control to navigate through extreme off-road terrain.

The All-New Ford Everest is arguably one of the most “latest technology-laden” models in its SUV class and even higher. The other features that it offers include; Curve Control, which senses when you enter a corner too quickly and reduces engine torque and applies 4-wheel braking to keep the vehicle under control. It also offers Active Park Assist, which removes the stress from parallel by safely guiding the vehicle into parking space. This smart system scans for available parking spaces and uses Electric Power Assisted Steering to back into the spot needing you to only shift, brake and accelerates as directed. The Roll Stability Control uses gyroscopic sensors to detect fast cornering or sharp swerving, selectively applying individual brakes to reduce the likelihood of a rollover. The Electronic Stability Control helps to keep you on track when it detects a loss of control by reducing torque and braking individual wheels to stabilize the vehicle. The Blind Spot Information System uses advanced sensors to keep you aware of vehicles approaching your blind spots both on the road and in parking situations.

One of my most immediate observations, which struck me while driving the new Ford Everest was its remarkable ride. On our first stop during the day-long ride and drive, which pitted the new Everest against a variety of road surfaces, I immediately went for the brochures and info sheets to get more insights into its suspension design. I learned that the new Everest features independent coil-over-strut front suspension with unique tuning for rear-wheel and front-wheel variants taking into account vehicle weight, center of gravity, drive configuration and torque distribution. At the rear are also coil springs. A solid rear axel features a Watt’s Linkage. Rear shock absorbers are mounted outboard of the frame rails. Whatever all these configurations mean, they actually produce a very comfortable ride, which may actually make it stand out in its class.

For maximum power and torque for heavy-duty towing, Ford is offering the latest generation of its 3.2-liter Duratorq 5-cylinder TDCi diesel engine with 147kW of power and 470Nm of torque.

For maximum fuel economy, Ford is also offering the latest generation of the 2.2-liter Duratorq 4-cylinder TDCi diesel putting out 118kW of power and 385 Nm of torque.

The 7-seater Ford Everest is expected to be available in September this year and comes with a 6-speed manual or automatic.

The All-New Everest may not still be here but it might just be worth the wait.

The auto industry gets busier by the day

With a little over 30 automobile brands and still counting now in the country, a motoring journalist’s life becomes more hectic by the week and now even by the day. What with auto industry events from media briefings to launches and test-drives are being held one after another, some even on the same days.

Last week was a perfect example. As members of the motoring media who went to Thailand for a Ford SUV test drive arrived on a Tuesday, another group was being transported on the same day to Clark for a 2-day launch and test drive of a Toyota pickup.

Despite the duplicity of schedule some journalists were still able to make “tuhog” the Ford and Toyota events. Luckily STV (Sunshine Television) have enough hands to cover both events but then still not enough considering that I understand there was still another one scheduled on the same days, which we had to miss for finally running out of hands. 

Ford’s Regional Test Drive event in Chiang Rai had STV’s production manager, Jenny Bleza and myself covering while the Clark launch and test drive were covered by my son Ray Louis or “Wee” and STV ace cameraman, Matt Mallari.

As motoring journalists we indeed welcome the local auto industry’s phenomenal development and progress in the past years, especially for those of us who were already in the beat when it was still in the doldrums. But for the industry’s sake so that the continuous flow of information is not disrupted by our inability to be in all its events, let’s not get our schedules crossed. We only have a pair of hands and feet. And besides it can be tiring for us guys who have just reached our 50’s…o, walang kokontra!

For the record we are not complaining, we are just suggesting, for a more efficient and thorough coverage of industry events.

The pickup war expands

With the recent launch of the All-New Toyota Hilux last week at the Fontana Convention Center in Clark, the local pick-up market, now with a wide array of choices gets to be more interesting to watch.

The All-New Hilux pickup comes in either 2.8 or 2.4, 4-cylinder diesel engines with Turbo Intercooler with max output of 174 hp and max torque of 450 Nm.

The launch of the all-new 5-seater (including driver) pick up came with an on-road and off-road test drive, which included a gymkhana to demonstrate its maneuverability and a 15-minute extreme off-road driving exercise.

The Hilux comes either with automatic or manual 6-speed transmission and other premium features like ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) with EBD (Electronic Brake Force Distribution), which safely distributes braking power to both the front and rear brakes. It also has Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) and Hill Start Assist Control.

The All-New Hilux is offered in seven variants with a starting price of P929,000 and now available for test drives in all Toyota dealerships nationwide.

An urban mini-crossover drives into town—to stay

Another event that helped packed full last week with industry happenings was the well-attended launch of the Peugeot 2008 labeled by its exclusive distributors in the country as “the country’s only sophisticated urban mini-crossover”.

What immediately caught my attention was the Peugeot 2008’s driver’s turf. It’s called the i-Cockpit, which gives the driver a commanding view of the road. It is composed of a compact steering wheel, heads-up dials to allow reading of info without taking one’s eyes off the road and a high central console with a huge touch screen entertainment interface for intuitive driving.

The Peugeot 2008 comes with a 1.6 petrol engine that churns out a maximum output of 120 hp and max torque of 160 Nm that’s married to a 4-speed automatic transmission.

High Tech features include Electronic Stability Program, Hill Start Assist, ABS, 6 airbags and for security an Immobilizer with anti-theft protection alarm.

“From the start, Peugeot incorporated the DNA of the crossover into this new concept,” declared Glen Dasig, president of Eurobrands Distributor, Inc., exclusive importers and distributors of the remarkable Peugeot vehicles in the country. “The result is a vehicle that combines an accomplished driving experience with a stylish design mindful of practical advantages—the perfect collaboration between engineer and designer. Thus was born the Peugeot 2008” added the young dapper CEO.

The new Peugeot 2008 urban mini-crossover is available in dealerships nationwide at an introductory price of P1,390,000.

A Saturday to look forward to

Owners of BYD vehicles, motoring enthusiasts and car buffs now have the last Saturday of every month saved for what’s been termed as ‘Saturdates’,which is organized by Solar Transport and Automotive Resources, Inc. (Star Corp.), exclusive importers and distributors of BYD vehicles in the country.

‘Saturdates’ is a series of get-togethers for BYD and its customers in the BYD Shaw Showroom and very soon in other BYD dealerships.

“With our Saturdate gatherings, we will get a chance to share our customers’ own milestones with their BYD cars and build relationships with them,” said Mark Andrew Tieng, the very young and dashing managing director of Star Corp.

The ‘Saturdates’ will give all BYD owners an opportunity to have fun and learn from the wisdom of special guests and from each other by discussing their cars and the motoring lifestyle.

Happy Motoring!!!

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