Ford Territory

Infobox Automobile generation


name = Ford Territory
production = 2004–present
assembly =Campbellfield, Victoria, Australia
engine = Barra 4.0L I6 DOHC

• 182 kW 380 nm SX
• 190 kW 383 nm SY
• 245 kW 480 nm SY Turbo
• 270kW 550 nm FPV F6X 270

length = auto mm|4856
width = auto mm|1898
height = auto mm|1714
weight = auto kg|2015-auto kg|2045
wheelbase = auto mm|2842The Ford Territory is a crossover SUV built by Ford Australia and based on the EA169 platform of the Ford BA Falcon. It was released in April 2004. Its code name inside Ford was E265. It won the 2004 "Wheels" Car of the Year award, the reviewers praising car-like handling and practicality as reasons for its win. Ford had reportedly spent A$500 million on developing the range over four years. It is built on the same production line as the Australian-made Falcon. While many suspected that it would replace the Falcon wagon, the two actually co-exist together because the Territory is bought mainly by private buyers, the Falcon wagon by fleets.

A basic rear wheel drive model is offered with an all wheel drive variant, either in the basic TX trim or the more luxurious TS and Ghia models that feature extra appointments. A DVD player is available as an option on all models. The Ford Territory offers as standard on the TS and Ghia, and optional on the base TX model, side curtain airbags, which were a first for an Australian made car.

Options of five seats (in two rows) or seven seats (in three rows) are available. The rows of seats are arranged in a "theatre style", with the back row highest. They fold down smoothly into the floor.

The original model was the SX and was produced between 2004–2005. The engine was the 4.0 L DOHC I6 Barra engine from the Falcon, developing 182 kW (245 hp).

All wheel drive models have an optional Hill Descent Control system, using the ABS braking to control the car's motion downhill, inherited from Land Rover.

Australian and New Zealand models are slightly different visually: all models sold in New Zealand have body-colour bumpers and alloy wheels, including the base model. Front light detail resembles that of jewellery in a black box. In New Zealand, the only rear wheel drive model is the base version and all other models have all wheel drive; while in Australia, all models are available with either rear wheel drive or all wheel drive.

Appearance-wise, the Territory resembles the Ford Taurus X sold in North America. Both cars have similar styling cues -- it was this that sold the Territory to Ford executives at the head office in Dearborn, Michigan. Simon Butterworth, who was behind the Ford Falcon facelift of 2003, styled the Territory but had worked with his American counterpart, J Mays, in working in the global Ford "DNA". Marcus Hotblack worked on the Territory's interior, with a Swiss army knife as a metaphor. Consequently, the car has touches such as flexible cupholders and a handbag holder to the side of the seat for female drivers, recognizing that many SUV buyers are women.

South African sales for the Territory began in 2005. Exports to Thailand began in 2006, with the Thai model being offered only in AWD Ghia trim.

An updated SY model arrived in October 2005, bringing with it a ZF six-speed automatic transmission on all AWD models and an increase in power to 190 kW (255 hp). The model also comes with a Rear Parking Camera (optional on the TS and standard on the Ghia), another first for an Australian made vehicle.

Ford Australia introduced a turbo variant of the base engine, in mid 2006. The addition of the turbo boosted the engine performance to convert|245|kW|hp|0|abbr=on and convert|480|Nm|ftlbf|abbr=on of torque.

FPV Territory

A new Ford Performance Vehicles Territory has been recently been developed, and is dubbed the F6X 270 by FPV. The F6X boasts the same 270 kW turbo-charged engine as the FPV F6 Typhoon [cite web | url = http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=47947 | title = First Drive: Ford’s super-Territory 4WD | publisher = Drive | date = 2008-01-31 | accessdate = 2008-02-12] and accelerates 0-100kph in 5.9secs. The F6X is FPV's up rated version of the all-wheel-drive Ford Territory Turbo. The F6X is on sale now for $75,990 AUD ($66,753USD). The F6X only comes in AWD and is fitted with the ZF 6 speed auto found in the Ford Falcon.

The fastest and quickest Ford Territory Turbo was developed by CV Performance, it ran an 11.2 second quarter mile at convert|122|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on on 19 September 2007 at WSID.Fact|date=June 2008

Awards

*Winner, New Zealand Automobile Association 'AA Motoring Excellence Supreme Award' (Ford SY Territory) in 2006
*Winner, New Zealand Automobile Association 'AA Motoring Excellence Award' (Ford Territory TX AWD) in 2005
*Winner, Society of Automotive Engineers - Australasia 'Automotive Engineering Excellence Awards' in 2005
*Winner, Australia's Best Cars (Territory GHIA AWD - Best Recreational 4WD) in 2005
*Winner, Wheels Automotive Design Award (WADA) - Best Interior, 2005
*Winner, Australia's Best Recreational Four Wheel Drive (Territory TX AWD) in 2004
*Winner, Wheels Car of the Year, 2004
*Winner, Australian Design Award, 2004
*Winner, Australia's Best Cars (Territory TX AWD - Best Recreational 4WD) in 2004
*Winner, News Limited 'Star Car' Award.
*Winner, Courier Mail (Queensland) COTY Outstanding Family Car (Territory RWD)
*Winner, Courier Mail (Queensland) COTY Outstanding Recreational Vehicle (Territory AWD)

References

External links

* [http://www.autoweb.com.au/cms/A_101280/newsarticle.html Ford press release published at "Autoweb"]
* [http://www.ford.com.au/range/territory/models/ Ford Australia website with information about the Territory]
* [http://www.ford.co.th/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1137383555752&pagename=Page&c=DFYPage Ford Thailand Territory website]
* [http://www.australiasbestcars.com.au/ Australia's Best Cars website]
* [http://www.fpv.com.au/ FPV website]