Archive: 2011 Ford Territory v BMW X5 comparison review

First published in the May 2011 issue of Wheels magazine, Australia’s best car mag since 1953.

We’ve been out here to Cameron Corner before, but never in an Aussie-built diesel SUV … let alone one with the ability to stand comparison with a BMW $30K more expensive.

Can’t wait to see the final scores? Jump to the verdict now.

NEW Ford Territory means a trip to The Corner Store. The one at Cameron Corner, to be specific, in outback Australia, where NSW, QLD and SA collide. It swelters between the stony heat of the Strzelecki Desert and the rolling sand dunes of the Sturt National Park. Temperatures hit 50 degrees in summer and zero overnight in winter. It’s 1500km from Melbourne, a bit less from Sydney, and is the only pub, fuel and food stop for 150km. This is not just cattle country; it’s also gas country – the Moomba oil and gas fields supply 80 percent of Melbourne and Sydney households.

Wheels pits Aussie cars against the outback whenever a local car maker produces a significant new model. Mega road-trips covering thousands of diverse kilometres, many of them rutted and corrugated dirt lifelines. We’ve taken most watershed Falcons and Commodores, Magnas, Avalons, Aurions and Camrys to the outback. I first took the SX Territory to The Corner in 2004. Seven years later, I’m going back in the SZ.

No Australian-made vehicle – in theory – has ever been so suited to our immense country, nor so fundamentally prepared for life outside the urban sprawl. A quicker-thinking all-wheel-drive system and a frugal turbo-diesel engine are two of the new-look SZ’s many updates. There’s a new electric steering system and front subframe, suspension modifications, economy improvements for the petrol in-line six, and a fresh interior with new multi-function infotainment centre.

It’s raining as we leave Melbourne, me in the Territory, Wheels’ go-to man ‘Cletus’ in the BMW and new-boy Harry in my SS V Ute long-termer. Ostensibly the ute is a support vehicle, dubiously credentialed for desert duty. I’m looking forward to unleashing its 6.0-litre V8 on the bone-dry Waka claypan between Tibooburra and the Corner, just like Holden did for the Thunderstruck Ute TV ad for the VU SS. Obviously the ute’s not an all-wheel-drive diesel, so it’s not a player in this comparo. Strange, then, how my support crew constantly fought for its keys once we reached dirt…

The BMW X5 is a European yardstick for Ford’s Aussie diesel. Ford benchmarked the Territory against it; so will we. The $92,100 xDrive 30d’s turbocharged 3.0-litre is the finest oil-burning six around, proof that diesels are not just for economy. It accelerates with gusto thanks to 180kW and 540Nm, and is not without aural appeal, though diesel clatter dominates above 3500rpm. Add a new ZF eight-speed automatic transmission and the X5 is a relatively rapid hauler, but it’s constantly shuffling gears to keep the engine on the boil.

The long straights between Melbourne and Mildura on the Calder Highway give opportunity to cruise in both. It’s a credit to Ford’s NVH engineers how quiet the Territory TDCi’s Duratorq V6 is. At 110km/h it’s ticking along at 1950rpm, the engine’s point of peak torque. The engine note is distant and subdued, quieter than the BMW’s. The Territory’s also less susceptible to wind noise and isolates occupants better from tyre rumble. Surprised? Me too, but it’s true. The Territory’s new (Ford FG Falcon) dashboard is classy; the best of any Australian car. We’ve made much of the Territory’s versatile interior before, with its myriad storage options. They’re all still there, contributing to a more welcoming environment than BMW’s dark and less practical interior. Territory’s seats also quickly assert their superiority. Softer than the BMW’s planks, they nonetheless provide the requisite support.

The crumbling bitumen calls for more steering than usual on Victoria’s straightest road. Both cars have electric steer, which brings fuel consumption savings as it doesn’t need the engine for assistance. Both are arcade game light and lifeless at parking speeds – who needs feel at 5km/h? – yet firm up nicely on the move. The BMW’s quicker tiller is handicapped by the suspension, which tugs at the wheel over undulations. And when there’s 50km of undulations, that becomes tiring.

We consider not refuelling at Mildura, after driving 540km from Melbourne. The BMW claims its 85-litre tank still has enough fuel to reach Broken Hill, 300km north. The Territory’s 75-litre tank doesn’t. Running out of diesel in the Territory is not a big deal, Ford says. Its Bosch V9 engine management system – which brings rollover mitigation and engine torque drag control on trailing throttle – shuts off the high-pressure injectors before air infiltrates (as many new diesels do). So, theoretically, there’s no need to have the injectors professionally repressurised; just refuel and go. I tried to test that on the way home, but the Territory made the 30km to the petrol station after the trip computer claimed ‘0km to empty’. Trip computers are rubbish, too.

At Broken Hill somebody finally spots our new Territory. A bloke in a battered Landcruiser ute pulls alongside and winds down his window.

“Yep.”

With that, he drives off. Make of that what you will, but he was the only person in 2800km who showed the slightest interest in the Territory’s sharp new clothes. Personally, I think it looks more interesting, more sophisticated, than the chunky Tonka original.

The next morning we rise early for photography at one of Broken Hill’s derelict mines before hitting the supermarket for supplies. If all goes well we’ll be camping under the stars near Cameron Corner tonight. We brim the cars, and then fill ourselves with bacon and egg rolls from Charlotte’s on the main street. All agree it’s the best brekkie roll ever. It’s funny how leaving civilisation can make simple pleasures so profound.

North of Broken Hill the Silver City Highway alternates between bitumen and well-packed dirt when dry, and porridge when wet. Today it’s dry. I start in the Ford, having pilfered the keys back from Cletus. The engine’s not as authoritative as BMW’s benchmark, but it’s no lightweight. The Territory shows a liking for the long, languid bends that unfurl beneath the blue sky as we continue north, cruising at 100km/h and some, barrelling along at 2500rpm in sixth. The diesel’s gearbox is the ZF-based 6R80 torque-monster beefed up for the F-Series and Mustang, and it’s a decent shifter that slurs gently between ratios. Most of the time it works beautifully, if just a tad slowly, but can fumble first-to-second. On the rolling plains before Packsaddle it works better in Performance mode; more attentive to throttle inputs and in tune with my intentions.

Catching the BMW on the dirt after our drag race proves impossible, despite the Territory’s improved dynamics. Cletus is using the BMW’s adept xDrive AWD system to masterfully obscure the road under clouds of dust, so I drop back for clean air. Time to trial the Territory’s new all-wheel-drive system on fast dirt. Where the old model made do with a full-time 38/62 split and used the ESC to control wheelspin, the new system uses a multi-clutch transfer case to vary torque front to rear. It’s fundamentally the same system as in the X5, and still relies on ESC to brake spinning wheels. It can also disengage the front axle when the car is idling to reduce vibrations.

I want to turn left before Packsaddle towards The Veldt, and find Cletus and the BMW waiting dutifully. The plan is to spice things up using back-country tracks to follow the Dingo Fence to the Corner. We get 15km and five open-and-close gates in before spotting a VE Ute, beached on its belly at a dry river crossing.

“You blokes couldn’t have been here a couple of hours ago, could ya?” he laments with a wry grin. “We’ve just finished jacking all the wheels up and putting rocks underneath.”

Hard work under a desert sun, I agree. What can we do to help?

“Get behind and give her a push as I drive out.”

Cletus, nice bloke that he is, suggests I push from right behind one of the wheels. But Mick’s finesse with the throttle undoes Cletus’s plan to see my face full of sand and rock, and the ute drives smoothly out of the creek bed. Mick gets out and thanks us. I thank him because if he couldn’t get through in a standard Ute then my lower SS V stands even less chance. Once he’s left, we run the Territory towards the bed out of curiosity, but it grades sand even sooner than Mick’s ute. Territory’s ground clearance is rubbish.

“Well, yes.”

“You’ll never get there in that,” he says, pointing at the support ute. “Road’s pretty cut up at the moment.”

“What about the Territory?” I ask.

“Which one’s that?” he says.

Has the SZ become part of the landscape already?

The Territory, it turns out, is the most confident on Cameron Corner’s 141km driveway. It handles the corrugations with ease, and exhibits an inherent chassis stability under brakes that the BMW fails to match. The BMW fidgets and skitters across loose rubble under power and squirms uncomfortably on sand under brakes. It’s a less than convincing exhibition of Germanic chassis stability, but I guess they don’t have a lot of outback roads round Munich.

We arrive at the claypan early afternoon, still time to reach The Corner and back by sunset. Before setting off we all hone our drifting skills in the SS V. Can’t make it rain, though. Holden Ute ads are rubbish.

We make The Corner without fuss. A little too easily, if truth be told. I remember it being harder. Or perhaps cars really are getting better, even ‘soft-road’ SUVs like these. New owner Fenn Miller isn’t at all surprised to see our two urban SUVs and sports ute drive in. He says most vehicles can do it in the dry with the right driver. If it rains, however, “nothing’s going nowhere”. A final fill at Cameron leaves the two SUVs split by 0.1L/100km in the BMW’s favour – 10.3L vs 10.2L.

Sitting around the campfire later that night while Cletus charcoaled the snags, it’s apparent the Territory has scored an upset win. Its refinement and composure counted for more than the BMW’s luxury allure and brilliant drivetrain. Neither had struggled with the terrain, but the Territory was more confident and comfortable. As for value, that can be tricky when the prices are disparate. This time it’s not. The Territory is actually better equipped at $63K than the BMW is at $93K. I’m less enamoured by Territory Duratorq’s fuel figure. I expected better than 10s for a big-country drive, but the Territory’s number is competitive, even if the BMW does more with each drop.

So, Ford Territory beats BMW X5. Would the outcome be different if we threw some mountains into the equation? Anything’s possible, but unlikely. And anyway, the nearest decent climb is more than 1000km away, and the locals don’t like it when you drive up Uluru.

The Verdict

1

FORD TERRITORY TITANIUM AWD Price as tested: $63,240 NCAP rating: 5 stars Fuel economy: 10.3L/100km (test average) Boot capacity: 523 litres Plus: Price; sharp handling; beautifully refined; more frugal than petrol six Minus: Doughy throttle response; slow transmission; old-tech engine Verdict: 8.5/10