Few other adventures can rival the thrill of the spending the night outdoors. Thanks to new locations and even more capable vehicles, enjoying a brief escape away from the city is now more accessible than ever, even for those with little to no experience with camping.
Car camping or glamping is made much more accessible these days thanks to the increase in many new campsites that offer far more facilities to park your vehicle, on-site facilities like toilets and sinks; prepared firepits or cooking facilities; and sometimes even tiny houses or pre-pitched tents.
Locations like these are easy to find as well, and can be discovered with a quick search in booking apps like AirBNB. Because of the sheer number of amenities already available on the site, this leaves much less for travelers to worry about. Simply put food and things for the day or for the weekend in a vehicle, then drive off to the boondocks or the beach.
With the location concerns no longer a factor, we can focus on the cars that will take you there. Thankfully, Ford Philippines offers three vehicles perfectly suited for such a situation.
Ford Ranger Wildtrak
Naturally, the first choice for many is a pickup. After all, there’s nothing like a vehicle with high ground clearance, a rear bed to store your items, and designed for rugged terrain from the ground up.
The Ford Ranger Wildtrak boasts of improved capability and comfort, advanced technologies, and smart connectivity that deliver new and improved experiences to pick-up customers. It boasts of a new grille and signature C-clamp headlights. A subtle shoulder line runs along the sides, incorporating a new wheel-arch design. The new lights house matrix LED headlights with an Adaptive Front Lighting System for the Wildtrak 4x4 variant. To match the front, the LED taillamps clamp onto the new tailgate with ‘RANGER’ stamped onto it. Beneath the new bodywork is an upgraded chassis riding on a wheelbase 50mm longer and a track 50mm wider than the previous Ranger.
Other improvements include a new rear box step, clamp pockets in the tailgate to turn it into a work bench, and spring-loaded caps that cover it when not in use. It also has a Tailgate Lift Assist–enabling users to close the tailgate with just a light touch.
Inside, the new model features premium soft-touch materials to go with a roomy cabin. At the heart of the Ranger’s connective experience is the large vertical touchscreen display. It complements the fully digital instrument panel and is loaded with Ford’s latest SYNC 4A with wireless Apple
Carplay and Android Auto capability.
It also comes with a 360-degree camera to make navigating tight urban spaces a breeze. The center console also integrates features like a new climate system, and wireless charging. There are also new storage bins under and behind the rear seats.
Powering the vehicle is a 2.0L Bi-Turbo mated with a 10-speed automatic transmission for the 4x4 Wildtrak. It produces 210-PS of maximum power and 500-Nm of maximum torque. To manage this power, there are also selectable drive modes that include Normal, Eco, Tow Haul, Slippery, Mud/Ruts and Sand. These drive modes automatically optimize performance for different surfaces, road conditions and vehicle usage.
As expected, the Ranger comes with a suite of smart driver-assist technologies that include Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop-and-Go and Lane Centering, Lane Keeping System with Road Edge Detection, Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, Forward Collision Warning, Lane Keeping Aid & Lane Departure Warning, Pre-Collision Assist with Intersection, among others. It also comes with up to seven airbags to
protect everyone inside the vehicle.
Car camping trips are the best drives to truly test the Ranger Wildtrak as the route entails a long drive on the highways out of Manila. These are a great opportunity to test both vehicle’s refined driver assist features such as Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Keeping Assist. When turned on, the system attempts to maintain the set cruising speed with respect to the vehicles around it. If there is a vehicle in front, it will maintain a set distance from the car in front and speed back up again once it is clear. Lane Keeping Assist monitors the Lane Markings and tries to keep the vehicle in the center of the lane, even during slight turns. These features are only intended to be assistants, of course, and not meant to take over driving completely. They certainly help make long drives on the highway more relaxing and less taxing on the driver.
Once near the campsite, the Wildtrak is also ready for the much rougher road. It’s easy to shift to one of the many 4x4 modes suited to the terrain, like mud, rock, or sand. These modes come pre-programed to sense and react to the changing grip levels of the terrain. There’s also Hill Descent Control to ensure a slow and controlled descent even in steep inclines. The system continually adjusts brake pressure to help control slippage and maintain a constant preset speed while going down a steep gradient. The 4x4 program made short work of our steep ascent.
There’s very little worry of snagging the front or rear thanks to the improved rear departure angle of 23˚ (increased from 21˚ in the preceding model) and wider and longer wheelbase. In case there are any rivers or streams to cross, the vehicles’ water-wading capability (up to 800 mm), and enhanced visibility provided by 360˚ camera allows you to effortlessly traverse through.
Ford Everest
Those with more family to bring along should consider the Ford Everest. Built on the same rugged platform as the Ranger, the Everest, by contrast is the more civil of the two and can carry as many as 7 passengers. Like the Ranger, it also has C-clamp headlamps matrix LED headlights with an Adaptive Front Lighting System in the Everest Titanium.
The interior feels luxurious right away. It has leather upholstery, fancy-looking big vents, and a tablet-like vertical touch screen in the center with SYNC 4A, wireless Apple CarPlay, and wireless Android Auto. Around the gear shifter is where your mobile devices will rest. There is a wireless charging pad, a couple of USB ports (Type-A and Type-C), two device holders in the front, two cupholders beside it, and a small hole for loose change behind it.
This seven-seater has bolstered and power-adjustable front seats. Bolstering thins out in the second row, but it still feels cushier than the competition. There are a couple of USB ports here and four roof vents – two above the second row and two more in the third row that seats kids or small adults.
The absolute best part about this vehicle is under the hood, the 2.0L Bi-Turbo mated with a 10-speed automatic transmission. It produces 210-PS of maximum power and 500-Nm of maximum torque.
Its big wheels did not adversely affect the low noise, vibration, and harshness levels. The suspension was firm without being stiff, and it handled humps and potholes with very minimal bounce.
Ford Territory
The last of the trio, the Ford Territory, may not be able to take on some of the harder to reach car camping sites, but it’s certainly more than capable enough to reach most.
It boasts of a commanding new look, bearing the similar styling to its larger sibling, the Explorer. The next-generation model features
a larger grille, slimmer LED headlights with a distinctive daytime running light pattern, muscular haunches, and 18-inch alloy wheels.
The five-seater SUV has a more sophisticated look to it, but it also pays dividends with better overall visibility and capability to take on a variety of road conditions.
The Territory comes with four selectable drive modes including Eco, Normal, Sport, and Mountain to provide drivers with confidence and enhance their driving experience across a variety of terrains.
It’s just as at home out of town as it is in the city. The Territory offers more than enough ground clearance (190 mm) to handle any rough roads leading to your campsite. The Territory has a longer wheelbase at 2,726mm and a higher ground clearance at 190mm.
Inside, the new Territory comes with a spacious interior packed with comfort and technology features. The driver’s seat gets 10-way power adjust, while there’s four-way manual adjust for the passenger seat. They’re upholstered in perforated partial leather seats with a two-tone peacock blue and domino color combination, designed to provide a more comfortable ride with less heat, even when left parked out in the sun. Space for your things is never in shortage with storage compartments, and a big trunk that can hold up to 448 liters.
The Territory takes the tech even further in this generation, with notable upgrades and enhancements. There’s a new integrated seven-inch digital cluster that provides real-time information. This all-digital panel features intelligent trip information views that can be customized by the driver. It’s coupled with a 12-inch colored touchscreen that allows both driver and passenger easier to access various controls and entertainment options. The touchscreen also serves as a monitor for the 360-degree camera that helps drivers see blind spots around the vehicle better. This is perfect for navigating tight trails leading to the campsite. Below the large screen is the front console that has a built-in wireless charger to power mobile phones without cables. Interior amenities include the rotary e-Shifter and electric parking brake for added comfort and safety.
For passenger comfort, there’s dual-zone electronic air temperature control that now makes it more convenient for the passengers to make more precise adjustments to the in-car climate with physical controls. The new Territory is packed with the latest driver-assist technology. It has a Blind Spot Information System with Rear Cross Traffic Alert and door open alarm that beeps when a vehicle, person, or object is detected at the usual blind spots during a drive. This ensures the driver is aware of any potential hazards while at the wheel.
Stopping along packed gas stations that are on the way? The Territory is also equipped with Active Park Assist which allows owners to pull into, or out of, tight parallel and perpendicular parking spots with ease. It’s all done with just the push of a button, that allows the car to park itself.
Drivers can easily take control when they want to stop by pressing the brake pedal. It also helps drivers get out of very tight parking spaces through the same function.
The vehicle will also be easier to handle with electronic power-assisted steering. You don’t need off-road driving experience to go glamping so long as you have the Territory. Its power steering continuously adjusts to different road-conditions that causes the car to pull to the left-or-right.
It also has a cruise control function to help drivers stay within speed limits, a hill descent control which ensures the vehicles maintains its speed when driving steep downhill roads, and hill launch assist which allows the car to drive away smoothly when on a steep uphill incline without rolling backwards.
Whether you’re looking to truly escape the city in an isolated campsite, after a relaxing experience with friends, or simply need a quick escape that doesn’t necessarily involve challenging terrain, these three vehicles from Ford are the perfect partners for adventure.
The next-gen Ford Ranger Wildtrak 4x4 is available at P1,910,000. The Ford Everest Titanium+ 4x4 is priced at P2,525,000. The Ford Territory
Titanium X is priced at P 1,599,000. All models are supported by a long, five-year warranty or 150,000-km.