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ROAD TEST

FORD COURIERS GET V6 POWER

By EWAN KENNEDY
31 January 2005

Big news in the light-commercial camp at Ford Australia is the importation of a V6 model for the first time. A big 4.0-litre unit built by Ford's German affiliate, the new V6 engine is a close relation to the one we’ve seen for a number of years in the Ford Explorer. With 154 kilowatts, and 323 Newton metres at 3000 rpm this is a grunty unit that performs well.

As well as getting a new engine, the new Courier V6 also gains five forward speeds in its automatic transmission. The manual gearbox remains a five-speed unit. A real plus is that the automatic is sold for the same price as the manual in some models. And another plus is that air conditioning is standard in all models and now has an outlet in the centre console to help keep drinks cool.

Courier is getting on in years, so it makes a lot of sense for Ford Australia to give it a major makeover like this to keep it in the minds of buyers. As well as that, this market segment is also coming under increasing fire from car-based utes and pickups - the Falcon and Commodore's utility offerings.

A couple of years back, the Courier received a facelift to bring it into line with the big American F-Series range. Happy with the reception the Courier’s revised styling received at that time, Ford Australia has sensibly opted to stick with that shape. A look at the bold front with lots of chrome will help you understand why Ford believes that its new Couriers will double as tough family cars in the minds of many buyers.

This latest Courier is built in South Africa using parts from a number of sources, the German origin of the engine has already been mentioned, some transmissions come from the USA, whereas the major body components are from Thailand. On our reasonably demanding test drive at the Courier’s press launch we noticed vibrations and rattles in a couple of the utes we drove.

On that same drive we found the new V6 engine to have plenty of grunt from low revs and happy to trundle along at everyday speeds in high gears. It’s not all that happy if asked to rev towards its redline, but that’s not really the way you drive a light-commercial vehicle, so that’s hardly a complaint.

Ride comfort shows an excellent compromise between carrying big loads and offering refinement for occupants. Handling is safe and predictable and the Courier is able to corner safely at speeds that will seldom be attempted by the average owner. But don’t mistake it for a sports utility.

There are 2WD and 4WD variants of the new V6 Courier, with the latter having the ability to shift on the fly – well sort of. Before you can shift on the fly, it’s firstly necessary to engage the front hubs while stationary. The hubs are push-button operated from inside the cabin. Having engaged the front hubs you can leave them locked in place, either in 2WD or 4WD and on hard surfaces or soft. Of course, as long as the hubs are being driven by the wheels there's a slight penalty in fuel consumption and performance.

Ford has stolen a page from the new Holden Rodeo book by fitting suspension that gives the same ride height on the 2WD as on the 4WD. So there's a tough stance for the entire range. That extra height can create a few difficulties when loading awkward objects, but owners seem more than happy to live with this to gain that extra bit of street cred.

As well as the new six-cylinder model, Ford continues to offer the Courier with its existing four-cylinder engines; a 2.6-litre, 92 kW petrol unit and a 2.4-litre 82 kW turbo-diesel.

There are no fewer that 31 models in the latest Ford Courier range:
2.6-litre GL 2WD Single Cab cab chassis: $19,670 (manual), $21,549 (automatic)
2.6-litre GL 2WD Single Cab pick-up: $20,730 (manual)
2.6-litre XL 2WD Super Cab pick-up: $26,615 (manual)
2.6-litre GL 2WD Crew Cab cab chassis: $24,310 (manual)
2.6-litre GL 2WD Crew Cab pick-up: $25,310 (manual), $27,189 (automatic)
2.6-litre XL 2WD Crew Cab pick-up: $26,665 (manual), $28,544 (automatic)
2.6-litre XLT 2WD Crew Cab pick-up: $30,135 (manual)
2.5-litre turbo diesel 2WD GL Single Cab cab chassis: $26,355 (manual)
2.5-litre turbo diesel 2WD GL Crew Cab pick-up: $32,070 (manual)
2.5-litre 4WD GL Single Cab cab chassis: $28,890 (manual)
2.5-litre 4WD XL Super Cab pick-up: $35,420 (manual)
2.5-litre 4WD GL Crew Cab pick-up: $33,880 (manual)
2.5-litre turbo diesel 4WD GL Single Cab cab chassis: $31,490 (manual)
2.5-litre turbo diesel 4WD XL Super Cab cab chassis: $38,690 (manual)
2.5-litre turbo diesel 4WD XL Super Cab pick-up: $39,690 (manual)
2.5-litre turbo diesel 4WD XLT Super Cab pick-up: $42,560 (manual)
2.5-litre turbo diesel 4WD GL Crew Cab cab chassis: $37,030 (manual)
2.5-litre turbo diesel 4WD GL Crew Cab pick-up: $38,060 (manual)
2.5-litre turbo diesel 4WD XL Crew Cab pick-up: $39,990 (manual)
2.5-litre turbo diesel 4WD XLT Crew Cab pick-up: $42,860 (manual)
V6 GL 2WD Crew Cab pick-up: $30,990 (manual or automatic)
V6 XLT 2WD Crew Cab pick-up: $33,490 (manual or automatic)
V6 GL 4WD Super Cab pick-up (manual): $37,690
V6 GL 4WD Crew Cab pick-up: $37,990 (manual), $40,390 (automatic)

V6 XLT 4WD Crew Cab pick-up (automatic): $43,190

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