THE Ford Territory is now five years into its production cycle, and Ford has given it its first cosmetic makeover. FoMoCo has been smart enough to not alter the Territory’s clean lines too much, with pleasing results. The question is whether this SY Territory is going to be sufficiently ‘new’ to keep buyers interested in a model that is, in essence, five years old.

SY Territory
Released: May 2004
Ended: May 2009
Family Tree: TerritoryFORD Australia’s turnaround from the also-rans of the local new-car market five years ago to a progressive and dynamic player might have started with the 2002 BA Falcon, but the SY Territory three years later refined it with impressive dynamics, refinement and versatility in an SUV package. Both all-wheel and (cheaper, lighter and more fuel-efficient) rear-wheel drive variants brought world-class family car motoring in a 21st century package that can hold its head high in the company of even the much-vaunted BMW X5. But high fuel consumption from the 190kW 4.0-litre twin-cam in-line six-cylinder engine married to an old-fashioned four-speed automatic transmission held back the RWD Territory, while the AWD models gained the ZF six-speed auto.
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