
With my hands full testing performance cars, the Territory moved among the team this month, and the feedback was interesting writes Kyle Kock…
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Time spent: Five of six months
Distance covered: 13 378 km (mileage)
Average fuel consumption: 10.1 L/100 km
We like: Impressive open-road refinement; rear occupant comfort
We don’t like: Overly sensitive pedal calibration
Last month, all hands were required on deck to put together the stunning Performance Issue, affording me little time to spend with the long-term Ford Territory. Fortunately, was put to work on assignment for our sister titles, Cape Town ETC and Getaway, with trips to Greyton and Bredasdorp, bringing it within reach of its first service as the festive season rolls in.
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As mentioned before, I’ve made use of ECO mode in the Territory to make the daily commute smoother and my right foot is well conditioned to the hair-trigger nature of the throttle and brake pedal calibration, so it was interesting to note the feedback from its latest crop of drivers. Their feedback echoed my findings that anything other than very gentle pedal inputs were met with unpleasant jerks from pulling away and coming to a stop, respectively – especially around town.
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The Territory won their hearts over on the open road though, especially owing to its impressive levels of NVH suppression at motorway speeds, and on the more recent Bredasdorp run, it exhibited excellent road-holding during a freak rainstorm in the Overberg too. Adults seated in the rear also provided positive feedback regarding the amount of room on offer and comfortable seats.
Find the full feature in the February issue of CAR Magazine.