We jump behind the wheel of the 2023 Ford Everest with its new, more powerful V6 turbo diesel engine to see what it has to offer.
2023 Ford Everest Sport review
We are big fans of the Ford Everest here at Drive.
Last year, the outgoing model won a Drive Car of the Year award in the Best Off-road SUV category. Although one of the oldest in the pack at the time, it surprised the whole team as we partook in a week of on- and off-road testing.
To quote one judge, “It feels like it is in another league after driving the others back-to-back. And to think it’s the oldest car here. Incredible”.
So, what’s the new 2023 Ford Everest like? Well, for starters it’s not an all-new car, but rather a heavily revised version of the outgoing one we all know and love dearly. As you probably already know, the Ford Everest shares its underpinnings with the newly updated Ford Ranger ute. However, this time the second-generation Ford Everest SUV was considered during the development process from the start, unlike the previous car that came to light with a more retrospective approach.
There’s lots to cover with our particular 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6 model, and I’m sure the engine is what you’re all here to read about. Let’s see how good it goes.
How much does the Ford Everest Sport cost in Australia?
The 2023 Ford Everest Sport sits third-highest in a four-model line-up: Everest Ambiente, Everest Trend, Everest Sport and Everest Titanium. Out of interest, the cheapest 2023 Ford Everest in the range is priced from $52,990 before on-roads.
However, the 2023 Ford Everest Sport is where the action is at. It’s where the 184kW/600Nm 3.0-litre turbo diesel V6 powertrain starts from, as both the Everest Ambiente and Trend models remain a four-cylinder affair only.
Everest Sport models can be configured with either a 2.0-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder diesel and rear-wheel drive, or a 3.0 single-turbo V6 diesel and full-time all-wheel drive.
Priced from $69,090 before on-road costs, the 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6 is set to undergo a $500 price rise from March 2023, so check with your dealer on final pricing.
If you’re weighing up between the V6 or the 2.0-litre twin-turbo motor, the variant tested here costs $6800 more than the four-cylinder rear-drive version with the same badge.
Our test car was optioned with Blue Lightning metallic paint ($700) and 18-inch wheels with AT tyres (no cost) taking its drive-away cost to $76,861 if registered in Sydney, but final drive-away pricing may vary based on location.
For a full breakdown of the 2023 Ford Everest’s price and specification (for the Model Year 2023.5 range), click here.
| Key details | 2023 Ford Everest Sport |
| Price | $69,090 plus on-road costs |
| Colour of test car | Blue Lightning |
| Options | Metallic paint – $700 18-inch wheels with AT tyres – no cost |
| Price as tested | $69,790 plus on-road costs |
| Drive-away price | $76,861 (Sydney) |
| Rivals | Toyota Fortuner | Mitsubishi Pajero Sport | Isuzu MU-X |
How much space does the Ford Everest Sport have inside?
Starting with the first row, both you and your front passenger will find plenty of spots to park your gear. The centre console has a pair of deep cupholders, armrest storage, and my favourite – a dedicated sunglasses cubby right in front of the gearshifter. Tell me that isn’t Australian engineering at its finest.
What isn’t is that bloody gearshifter, however, as it’s really annoying to use due to its shape, and the location of its shifter unlock button. After a week with it you do figure it out, so don’t worry during the test drive.
Digression aside, there’s more storage to cover, as we haven’t spoken about the massive covered pit in the lower dashboard with wireless charger, nor the continuation of dual gloveboxes either.
If you have kids, run a small business, or are simply on the road due to a PAYG salary, the cabin of the Ford Everest is certified junk-proof. Specific to our Everest Sport model are a pair of deeply bolstered leather seats with electric adjustment, heating and cooling. They are wickedly comfortable and with a deep lumbar adjustment to properly keep back pain away. I covered around 1000km in seven days in the Ford Everest, and felt pretty good after each long day behind the wheel.
Over in the second row, the space isn’t as big as you’d think. It’s okay for the class, as I found myself with limited knee and leg room when sitting behind my own driving position (I am 183cm tall). It claws back points with its sliding and reclining second row, however. You also sit up high in the second row, with stadium-like seating giving you a clear view outward through the huge front window.
Another good thing about the stadium seating is how it helps with loading young kids in the car. Popping the baby into a rearward-facing Britax Graphene was easy, and loading a four-year-old into a Rally Infasecure booster seat was much the same.
There are even roof-mounted air vents to help direct air into a rearward-facing seat, so consider your bub and back well catered for with a Ford Everest.
The third row is tight and purely for children and young adults only. Entry into the back is decent, however, with a reclining and sliding second row generating generous access to the third row.
I could fit in the back, but my knees were jammed up against the second-row seat backs, and it wasn’t very comfortable. Consider it for young kids and children only.
There are some cupholders for passengers six and seven, however, and even more roof-mounted air vents for them too. With the third row folded and set up as a five-seater, the Ford Everest can fit 898L in its boot.
That’s massive, and I was able to fit a pram, bassinet, two backpacks, and 600kg of travertine tiles just fine. Sans travertine, the stroller fit nicely both lengthways and longways and easily left room for two suitcases.
The boot is massive. As a seven-seater, you still have 239L left to pack, which is about 80 per cent of most modern hatchbacks.
| 2023 Ford Everest Sport | |
| Seats | Seven |
| Boot volume | 239L to third row 898L to second row 1823L to first row |
| Length | 4940mm |
| Width | 1923mm |
| Height | 1841mm |
| Wheelbase | 2900mm |
Does the Ford Everest Sport have Apple CarPlay?
The 2023 Ford Everest Sport features a 12.0-inch infotainment system with wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. There’s also a wireless charging pad in case you hate cables that much. The system uses flash-looking software but remains a bit laggy upon start-up.
We also found the audio quality with wired and wireless Apple CarPlay to be crackly and glitchy, with subtle distortions heard anywhere from every 60 seconds to once every five minutes.
Josh Dowling drove a different vehicle and also noticed the same thing (with a different iPhone too); however, Sam Purcell noted no issue with his Android phone in our big blue test car. Hopefully the software is patched by Ford soon enough.
The infotainment system does do everything else pretty good, too, and the Ford-branded 10-speaker stereo is good enough for the coin. Its rendition of King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard’s Nonagon Infinity was satisfactory in sounding clear enough, large enough, and with enough punch behind the percussion to carry the album.
Is the Ford Everest Sport a safe car?
The Ford Everest earned a five-star ANCAP safety rating dated 2022, meaning it has been tested under the latest and most strict criteria.
It scored really well in terms of child occupant protection (93 per cent) and adult occupant protection (86 per cent). Safety assist systems also received an 86 per cent rating, while vulnerable road user (pedestrian) protection scored 74 per cent.
Among the new-generation Everest’s changes is the adoption of a centre airbag between the front seats. This one protects occupants against colliding with each other in side impact crashes. The Ford Everest now has one, taking its total airbag count out to nine.
| 2023 Ford Everest Sport | |
| ANCAP rating | Five stars (tested 2022) |
| Safety report | Link to ANCAP report |
What safety technology does the Ford Everest Sport have?
The 2023 Ford Everest Sport is absolutely loaded with safety gear.
Standard-fit tech includes autonomous emergency braking with intersection turning assist, pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane-keeping assist with road edge detection, evasive steering assist, blind-spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert with rearward automatic braking.
Despite being packed full of advanced driver assist systems, none are intrusive or get in the way of a good time. The lane-keeping assist gently prods when you veer out of the lane, the automatic braking system is not as annoying as your back-seat driver, and blind-spot monitoring warning lights are easy to see in all conditions.
How much does the Ford Everest Sport cost to maintain?
Servicing a 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6 costs $350, $425 and $455 in years one, two and three respectively. That brings the total three-year ownership cost to $1230, with Ford expecting you to bring the car back every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.
Years four and five cost $695 and $350, making five years or 75,000km of driving worth $2275.
Insurance costs come in at $1527 a year based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.
That makes its after-sales costs around about average for the segment.
| At a glance | 2023 Ford Everest Sport |
| Warranty | Five years, unlimited km |
| Service intervals | 12 months or 15,000km |
| Servicing costs | $1230 (3 years) $2275 (5 years) |
Is the Ford Everest Sport fuel-efficient?
The official combined fuel consumption claim for the Ford Everest V6 diesel model is 7.6L/100km.
After 1000km of driving in mixed scenarios on the freeway and in town – and with 200km of load testing – we saw a final figure of 9.9L/100km. In reality, you’ll likely see more than the official claim, and certainly if you plan to lug things around with it.
Fuel Consumption – brought to you by bp
| Fuel Useage | Fuel Stats |
| Fuel cons. (claimed) | 7.6L/100km |
| Fuel cons. (on test) | 9.9L/100km |
| Fuel type | Diesel |
| Fuel tank size | 80L |
What is the Ford Everest Sport like to drive?
Ford really has paved the way for refinement with body-on-frame vehicles.
The new 2023 Ford Everest is a pleasure to use both unladen and laden. Starting with the ride solo, it’s smooth, comfortable, and only at speed do you get that dual-cab ute tremor. You know, that feeling of jiggling you more than the road surface tells your eye. It only really happens on freeway speeds and with one passenger, and even then it’s subtle at most.
Around town it’s an absolute joy and makes light work of clean and semi-distressed roads. Our drive route saw us plot a path out of Sydney’s CBD and through its south west, with our final destination in the Southern Highlands district of New South Wales. Here, the roads are awful and have been well-undermined by the recent La Nina weather event smashing the east coast. It also means the roads haven’t been repaired yet either, making them great for testing with our adventure-seeking wagon.
One of the Everest’s best elements is how in control it feels over really bad sections of road. It’s confident and sure-footed, and doesn’t feel skittish or at the mercy of limited tyre grip.
Half the secret sauce is the new four-wheel-drive system, which offers traditional two-wheel drive and four-wheel-drive modes, but also has a 4A setting for all-wheel drive on demand in all conditions. Finally, we have a 4×4 workhorse that can actually be driven on the roads in 4×4 mode, unlike most other cars of this type.
As a vehicle that’ll be used by partners to haul precious cargo – sometimes human or furry – it nails the brief. It’s about time full-time 4×4 is here.
The Everest’s handling feels more composed overall, too, and it’s clearly been fitted with improved suspension components for 2022 that are better both on- and off-road.
I took the opportunity to load the vehicle right up to GVM, too, where I conducted another drive loop over the same 2.5-hour drive to the Highlands. The ride does settle when laden, and it still features enough suspension travel as to not bottom out or feel ‘heavy’.
Up at speed you’ll notice the weight, but acceleration efforts sub-80km/h genuinely feel like you’re not lugging anything. This is where the new V6 powertrain comes into its own, as it’s quieter, gutsier and more effortless at lugging. No, you don’t need the higher-output motor with more cylinders, but as they say, the job is always quicker when you have the right (appropriate) tools.
The 10-speed auto does change six times on the way up to 60km/h, but it gets the shifts done swiftly and doesn’t feel or sound like a Fast and Furious movie (you know, endlessly shifting a gearbox with unlimited gears).
Visibility out of the car is another strong point of the Ford Everest, and another reason why it feels easy to drive despite its size. The front window is absolutely massive, and the tall glasshouse means you can simply peer over and out the car when navigating tight areas.
To recap, it’s markedly better overall in the key areas that matter: ride, handling and powertrain performance.
| Key details | 2023 Ford Everest Sport |
| Engine | 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel |
| Power | 184kW @ 3250rpm |
| Torque | 600Nm @ 1750–2250rpm |
| Drive type | Four-wheel drive |
| Transmission | 10-speed torque converter automatic, low-speed transfer case, locking rear differential |
| Power to weight ratio | 77kW/t |
| Weight (kerb) | 2454kg |
| Spare tyre type | Full-size |
| Tow rating | 3500kg braked 750kg unbraked |
| Turning circle | 11.7m |
Should I buy a 2023 Ford Everest Sport?
In terms of being a jack-of-all-trades family wagon with a slight bent towards hard yakka and some time off-road, I still think it’s best-in-class.
However, we’ll have to wait until Drive Car of the Year 2023 testing for a definitive verdict. If you can’t wait that long, I highly recommend getting out and test-driving one today.
You might not want to wait either, as Ford is currently experiencing delays of up to six months on this particular version. It’s proving to be a popular choice, and after driving it, it’s not hard to see why.
Good and safe on-road manners, a really useable full-time all-wheel-drive system, fantastic looks, and plenty of space for your boy Jimmy and his mate from school – given your son had promised a ride for both in dad’s big blue Ford…
I could see myself in a 2023 Ford Everest in a few years’ time, for sure.
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