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By
EWAN KENNEDY
4 February 2008
Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) has moved into new territory
with a high-performance model based on the Ford Territory Ghia. Tagged
the FPV F6 X-270 the new variant is aimed at the guy (it usually is a
guy) looking for a multi-purpose vehicle that can burn the bitumen as
well as cart the kids.
There's surprisingly little competition in this field. Most
vehicles in the quick SUV field are either far more expensive and
come from German makers (BMW, Mercedes, Porsche), or are smaller
and cheaper and come from Japan (Mazda, Subaru) so FPV may well be
able to pick up a big slice of this just-created Australian market
segment.
Changes to the appearance of the FPV F6 X-270 aren't as
striking as we had anticipated. Certainly the mesh grille, bonnet
scoop (carried over from the standard turbo models), badges,
18-inch alloy wheels and dual exhaust do stand out, but somehow we
had expected more. It’s likely that the budget was limited by
the fact that Ford worldwide is in financial hot water at the
moment.
An optional $1235 body striping kit featuring themes on ‘FPV
F6 X-270’ is likely to be a popular item with owners interested
in picking up more attention on the road.
Inside, the changes are more striking. The trim is in leather
and has a real sporting flair to its design. A bold feature is the
use of FPV embroidered badges in the headrests of the four
outboard seats in the front two rows. The FPV Territory is
available with the seven-seat option, but routinely comes with the
standard five-seat package.
The instrument panel is relatively stock, but the instruments
themselves have a sportier flair, as well as using blue night
lighting.
The engine has been modified to produce up to 270 kilowatts,
hence the number in the model designation. Much more importantly,
the torque has been fattened right out, with the engine running a
more than handy 550 Newton metres all the way from 2000 rpm to
4250 revs. Most drivers will never be out of that hefty torque
band.
Acceleration to 100 km/h from rest is accomplished in 6.0
seconds. Actually 5.95, but rounding up pushed the big Ford out of
the five-second field.
Suspension has been firmed up to make for sportier handling,
but the ride height remains unchanged. The latter despite the fact
that FPV don’t expect owners to tackle any real off-road
adventures.
The ESP system, DSC (Dynamic Stability Control in Ford speak)
has been extensively modified to gain the maximum safety benefit
without reducing driving pleasure. Again because of constraints on
the budget, FPV has opted to delete the hill-descent system used
on other AWD Territory variants. Money saved on that went into the
DSC improvements.
FPV chose to restrict it’s territory to the all-wheel-drive
layout, feeling that owners buying a vehicle like this want it
with ‘the lot’. However, trimming a bit of weight out by using
rear-drive only could have seen it slip into the five-second
bracket in the zero to 100 km/h acceleration stakes.
Our initial test drive for the press launch was carried out on
the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. A perfect cruising, with a bit
of bruising, road that really suited the character of the big FPV
X-270. Engine response is pretty good, for a turbocharged unit and
acceleration to overtake, as well as hillclimbing on the ranges
behind the coast were done with ridiculous ease.
Handling is precise and the heavy vehicle, it weighs about 2.4
tonnes with a couple of people and their luggage on board, is
impressive in the way that it changes direction and holds the road
with big reserves of safety. All with a maximum of smile time for
those behind the wheel.
Ford Performance Vehicle FPV F6 X-270 is priced at a pretty
reasonable $75,990 as a five-seater and $78,445 when the optional
extra row of seats is installed. On-road costs need to be factored
in. It goes on sale when it’s introduced to the public at the
Melbourne motor show on 29th February.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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