I was thinking the other day, as I do now and then, of the future possibilities of the territory.
Personally i think its a bit silly to go through all the effort of biulding the territory and then just leaving it as is.
Would it be so hard for Ford to hopefully use the platform for different variants such as a Hi-Po version (although that should be coming). But what about a more "serious" off road version? One with say buffed up suspension and trye packages and more hardcore accessories like snorkels etc?
Or even maybe a 4x4 Territory ute? The possibilities are endless!
So what does everyone else think? Will there be further development for new models?
I like the idea of a serious off road territory, something too show up the cruisers and etc- 250ml ground clearance, front and rear diff locks, better underbody protection etc and the option of a dual cab ute : ) thats my kinda territory!
It's nice to dream but a Territory will never show up a Cruiser in serious off road terrain, and that's a good thing. I don't won't a Territory that's built like a truck.
A High-Ride version with diff-locks would go anywhere most people want to go anyway.
cruiser arnt built like trucks- my dads 100 series has as much ride comfert as our old EL, and it can keep up with a XF when accelarating from 5th gear. Just because its built like a truck dosnt mean it goes like one. Some cases it isnt true- the 60 series was a truck but the morden cruisers are surprising car like on road, plus they can go far off road, Im not saying they perform like a car- because they wont, but they have a lot of things on par with a car.
And besides a high ride with territory with diff locks would complete well with a crusier off road, the only weakness is a lack of low range, thats it
Point taken. I guess a lot of work has been done to allow Cruisers & co. to 'feel' like passenger cars in the day-to-day cruise. However it when things start to go wrong that I'd rather be in a Territory due to their active & passive safety features.
Braking, Swerve recovery, DSC, crumple zones, multiple airbags etc make Territory my pick for predominantly urban driving.
For predominantly tough 4-wheeling the Cruisers frame chassis, gearing, wheel articlulation and general durability would outdo a Territory, even one with higher ride height and locked diffs.
With LPG tax concessions being progressively phased out thanks to the Gov, LPG will becoem progressively more expensive and the benefits / payback period for buyers of LPG cars will become too big.
Likely to result in a very low take up rate of an LPG option which makes the engineering expense hard to recover and hard to justify.
A few things that I think would be fantastic for the Territory are (with apologies for repetitions)
- Higher ride height, there was a review of the Territory/Adventra/Kluger in the Herald Sun last Friday where the Territory was the worst off road due to poor ground clearance, and also the option of some proper A/T tyres.
- Turbo diesel engine, either 3-3.5L six as mentioned above or even better a 4L V8
- A six speed gearbox with a super-low first gear as a substitute for not having low-range
- A turbo version, and an FPV version
- Twin cab ute version (and possibly single cab as well?)
All I can say is, you should have joined the Ford Discovery Centre's Members Program, and gone to the first member's event, which was the Territory design presentation.
Mauro had an awesome presentation he put together, from early concept sketches to the final design, and some interesting ideas were floating around amongst the sketches and early build prototypes. He gave nothing away, but who knows.
PS. Tom Gorman seemed like a top guy, had a short speech at the start of the evening and took a few questions as well.
That's great for those within close enough range of Geelong but we're not all in that situation. So what was floating around in the sketches that caught your eye?
Fair enough, Geelong is close to Lara Raptor - but the presentation was in Broadmeadows at Ford HQ, as Felicity mentioned in her posts about the Members Program and the event. I had to travel home to Lara from Box Hill, then go back out to Broady so no one can complain it was too far away!
There was some varying front end treatments, some obviously 'design' only that engineers knocked the head (not enough air flow gap, etc), but there was a couple of headlight variants that caught our eye. One of the engineering constraints was that Territory used the same headlights as Falcon (in an altered fixture...), and Falcon has a couple of headlight variants... Looked VERY tough to me!!
I think ground clearance is only 175mm which is fairly low, but who cares really, they will spend 99% of their lives on the blacktop and it was better to have the centre of gravity lower to help make it the great drive that it is. If you really want to hit the dirt buy a Landcruiser, Patrol or Landrover. A high ride suspension pack should be an option though.
Fair enough, Geelong is close to Lara Raptor - but the presentation was in Broadmeadows at Ford HQ....I had to travel home to Lara from Box Hill, then go back out to Broady so no one can complain it was too far away!.....
BooHoo for you. You must live in a small world, either that or your joking.
I'm from NSW!
But thanks for sharing :bsr:
Hey, I know you.
I've just noticed the 'was Venom XR' bit and checked out some of your other posts {I'm Back}.
Don't give me lip pal, the long hair and tats don't scare me off (Mark?)
Now I understand why your so supportive of the Discovery Centre and Felicity's post explaining it all. How's the love life - no don't tell me, I don't want to know.
cruiser arnt built like trucks- my dads 100 series has as much ride comfert as our old EL, and it can keep up with a XF when accelarating from 5th gear. Just because its built like a truck dosnt mean it goes like one. Some cases it isnt true- the 60 series was a truck but the morden cruisers are surprising car like on road, plus they can go far off road, Im not saying they perform like a car- because they wont, but they have a lot of things on par with a car.
And besides a high ride with territory with diff locks would complete well with a crusier off road, the only weakness is a lack of low range, thats it
Wow a $60k Landy can keep up with a 20yo pushrodded, carbed, 3speed sedan. Man im impressed....
What will they accomplish next? Will the 120 Series Landy be able to keep up with a CFi EA?
I found it funny that a guy in a brand new 185kw Patrol thought he could outgun my XR. I think he'd being watching too many of those ads.
Dont forget the Territory is 'missing' live axles, which is what any real serious offroader requires.
BooHoo for you. You must live in a small world, either that or your joking.
I'm from NSW!
But thanks for sharing :bsr:
Hey, I know you.
I've just noticed the 'was Venom XR' bit and checked out some of your other posts {I'm Back}.
Don't give me lip pal, the long hair and tats don't scare me off (Mark?)
Now I understand why your so supportive of the Discovery Centre and Felicity's post explaining it all. How's the love life - no don't tell me, I don't want to know.
Don't expect me to remember who was a local Melbournite and who was an import - too long ago. :razz: I have more tatts, and therefore am more scary, haha.
I reckon the original EA GLs has nearly as much clearance
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ford Forums
1.4M posts
115.4K members
Since 1999
Ford Forum is a community to discuss all things Ford. Check out our discussions on the Ford Escape, Mustang, Edge, F-150, Raptor, Explorer, Focus, Fusion, Fiesta and more!