2023 Ford Everest long

So much so, that it took nearly three weeks before I managed to get hold of it – and it's had a huge first month.

First, Street Machine editor Simon Telford used it to tow some overboosted confection off to a fly-blown bush dragstrip, and then photographer Ellen Dewar snaffled the keys in order to disappear off on a week-long assignment at Winton and the high country. When it returned, the previously box-fresh Everest definitely had that slightly funky road-trip tang to it.

I can see why it's in demand. Everyone in the Wheels office loves the new Ranger, and a more versatile and family-friendly SUV version built loosely on those bones was always going to be popular. Factor in a tow bar, 600Nm of torque on tap and a towing capacity of 3500kg and it has me wondering about the profit margins on a hot donut trailer.

Of course, it's more than just a fenestrated pick-up. The rear end is coil-sprung rather than featuring leafs to soak up road bumps and there's a Watt's linkage back there too.

At the other end is a punchy 184kW V6 turbodiesel that can trace its roots all the way back to 2004 and the Gemini joint venture between Ford and PSA Peugeot Citroen, variants of the engine appearing in the likes of the Land Rover Discovery 3, the Jaguar S-Type, the Citroen C5 and the Peugeot 407.

Still, Bizzarrini's V12 lasted in Lamborghinis from the 1963 350 GTV to the 2010 Murcielago SuperVeloce with a few tweaks along the way, so we won't hold a lengthy lineage against the Everest's lump.

We opted for the Sport trim, which is one down from the Platinum range-topper, missing out on kit like a Bang & Olufsen 10-speaker stereo and 21-inch alloy wheels. One feature that, strangely, also goes amiss on anything other than the flagship is tyre-pressure monitoring.

The reason I noticed was that the Everest seemed to have a bit of a pull to the right. After checking pressures at a servo and everything seeming good, I found that it was Ford's lane-keep system, which positions the vehicle a little further right in the lane than I would naturally, so I'd been driving for about an hour down a freeway tensing the wrists against the motor of the electrically assisted steering. Fail.

Given Telf and Ellen's road trips, by the time I took delivery of the Everest, a notice had flashed up in the dash signalling that it needed replenishing with AdBlue within a couple of hundred kilometres or it'd throw a hissy and refuse to start.

I realised, to my embarrassment, that this was something I'd never actually done before, having never owned a diesel vehicle which needed it. The process was no more involved than topping up your washer bottle but I deliberately bought a smaller bottle in order to monitor its consumption of the foul-smelling brew.

I still think the Sport is easily the best choice in the Everest line up. For me, all-wheel drive is a no-brainer on a vehicle with this sort of rough track potential and if you want drive going to each corner, you'll also love the clever fire-and-forget automatic 4WD system, which is night and day smarter than the manual setup that you used to get on Everest.

If you want the extra poke of the V6 (and you should), that narrows your choice down to Sport or Platinum and given that the Sport is $8000 cheaper and, to these eyes at least, a better looking vehicle with its black rather than chrome exterior dress-up, the decision almost makes itself. At only $2500 more than the equivalent Ranger Sport V6, the seven-seat Everest looks strong value for money at $69,090 plus on-roads.

We've got some big assignments planned for the Everest to really establish its bona fides. Keeping the keys in my possession will be a good start.

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Price as tested: $69,090

This month: 3536km @ 9.6L/100km

Overall: 7537km @ 9.5L/100km

You’d like Eddy. He's a lovely bloke who's been at Ford for years and is in charge of the press garage. Right now, all I can think of is how Eddy is going to react when I tell him his Everest has fallen off a mountain. Earlier in the day I was wondering how Eddy would react when I told him that I’d lost his car to a lake.

Or had sunk into a quagmire never to be seen again on the Dargo High Plains road.

You see, I’d managed to find myself in one of those positions where I couldn't go back down the mountain (too steep and narrow) but going further up to the summit on the far horizon was edging a little out of my comfort zone. This is like the morning commute for the blokes who work here on 4x4 Australia.

Me? I’m chewing such a sheaf of seat upholstery that poor Eddy's going to wonder what happened to it.

I have everything working to help me. Diff lock, low range, A/T tyres, the forward camera system, everything. If I had training wheels to support me, I’d bolt those on too. I have no shame. I can't even grow a decent beard, so I’d never be accepted by 4x4 Australia.

Somehow, against all the odds, the Everest summits at the trig point on the top of the Blue Rag Range track, a showroom-spec SUV sitting proudly amongst all the raised and snorkeled LandCruisers and Patrols. Cue a reader letter showing somebody driving up in a Mazda MX-5.

From there, I drove back down and over to Mount Hotham, clocking the snow still hiding in the south-facing chutes. Then it was 175km of unrelenting twisties down through Dinner Plain, Omeo and Bairnsdale before arriving at the shores of the Macleod Morass for a stretch, a bag of chips and the tedious schlep back to south-east Melbourne.

What else could have polished that off so adroitly? As you start casting for options, add in the rider ‘for $70K’ and I’ll save you a bunch of trouble. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

It probably won't surprise you to hear that the Everest was good off-road, but it was on the drive back down from Australia's highest stretch of bitumen that really impressed. Yes, you make allowances for the fact that this V6 Sport is riding on the 18-inch A/T tyres rather than the 20-inch street tyres that are a no-cost option, but the knobby tyres buy you a bunch of extra capability.

Had I ventured on this route with the 20s fitted, I’d still be in that bog on the Dargo road, out of cellphone coverage, wondering how long a man could sustain himself on half a bag of Haribo Goldbears.

Once you’d keyed into the limitsof the A/T rubber, it was then a case of seeing how far you could prod them, smearing the big Ford into tight corners, marvelling at its predictability and sheer grunt and, I’ll confess, wondering how much better it’d be with paddle shifters (note for the facelift, Ford).

After an 11-hour round trip, I arrive back home beyond certain that we absolutely nailed the verdict for Car of the Year 2023. The phone rings. Eddy wants the Everest back. Our time is nearly up. Stay tuned for the wrap next month when I’ll give the full report card.

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Brilliant large SUV that's designed for Australians by Australians snags Ford its first COTY since 2004. Here's why.

Wheels' editor brings 25 years of experience to the hot seat. Originally based in Europe, Enright has driven virtually everything and loves telling the stories behind both new and old metal. Now in his second stint at Wheels, Enright loves cars that retain a sense of fun and deliver functional ingenuity. Strangely hates convertibles and is befuddled by fine dining options.