2026 Ford Everest Titanium+ 4×4: All-terrain glamor
When I was a kid, a camping trip usually entailed pitching a tent and generally living off the wilderness.
Sure, you could bring your own supplies and cooking equipment and whatnot – but you also had to know things like using a compass, remembering your path and knowing where and how to find help in an era before cellphones. This is, perhaps, why I find the concept of “glamping” so interesting.
A portmanteau of “glamorous camping,” glamping promises the refreshing ambiance of the outdoors, all while having modern amenities like a bed, indoor plumbing, Wi-Fi and even air-conditioning. Put another way, you can still enjoy being one with nature, but still have the chance of sleeping without worrying about insects and predators.
It’s much the same with the modern sport-utility vehicle (SUV) – loaded with amenities from luxury sedans, these new status symbols have superseded the rough-and-tumble, agricultural misery of SUVs of yore. This means no more bare-bone interiors, hopelessly uncomfortable seats and manually locking wheel hubs.
And there is, perhaps, no better example of the glamorization of the SUV than the 2026 Ford Everest Titanium+ 4×4.
Elegant toughness
Unlike the Everest Wildtrak that we tested some time ago (and no longer in the Ford Philippines online pricelist, as of press time), the Everest Titanium+ 4×4 asserts its dominance as the top-spec variant with the help of some shine.
The Absolute Black body color emphasizes the generous use of chrome accents on the huge front grill, fog light surrounds, side mirrors, door handles and window trim. Even the 20-inch wheels wrapped in 255/55-series tires are polished to complement things like the silver roof rails.
This classy approach means the Everest Titanium+ 4×4 doesn’t need the tacky decals or nasty-looking plastic cladding that many of its rivals possess. Other things like the large and powerful LED headlights, along with the wide LED taillights, tell other road users that this SUV is unmistakably a Ford.
Fully loaded
The elegant ambiance continues inside the Everest Titanium+ 4×4, where you are greeted by one of the finest interiors in the midsize SUV segment.
Black leather lines all seven seats, while soft-touch materials on the dashboard and door cards truly adds to the premium feel. But although you get niceties like ambient lighting, the cabin lacks the pizzazz of the Everest Wildtrak with its orange stitching – things like wood trim and light-colored panels would surely spruce things up.
Nonetheless, you get practically everything you could want in a 4×4 SUV, including electrically adjustable front seats, electrically folding third-row seats, a powerful dual-zone climate control system, panoramic moonroof, wireless charging pad and Ford’s famous 12-inch, vertical touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
That last item is a particularly strong selling point for modern 4×4 SUV buyers – unlike the dreadful infotainment systems in the Toyota Fortuner, Mitsubishi Montero Sport and Nissan Terra, the one in this Ford is responsive, easy to navigate and offers a clear view of the 360-degree camera.
Class-leading drive
Other points where the Everest Titanium+ 4×4 totally dominates the competition are driving performance and fuel economy.
Under this big Ford’s sculpted hood is a twin-turbocharged 2.0-liter, twin-cam, 16-valve inline-4 diesel engine mated to a 10-speed automatic gearbox and electronically selectable four-wheel drive. On the move, acceleration is brisk and relentless, while diesel clatter is far more subdued than in competing SUVs.
Better still, the Everest Titanium+ 4×4 gets 8 to 11 kilometers per liter in the city and an impressive 16 to 19 kilometers per liter on the expressway. Good as these figures may be, full-hybrid SUVs still offer better acceleration and superior fuel economy.
In terms of driving dynamics, the steering is wonderfully light for such a big car (unlike the manhandling you must do in something like a Montero Sport), albeit lacking in feel. In addition, the ride is fairly composed for an SUV, but it sometimes gets crashy because of those 20-inch wheels (still far better than the pounding you get in a Fortuner).
Meanwhile, the powerful brakes are controlled by a slightly spongy pedal, while tight spaces are negotiated with ease because of the small turning radius. The cherry on top is, of course, the full active-safety suite with life-saving features like adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, autonomous emergency braking and rear cross-traffic braking.
Glamorous driving
Overall, the 2026 Ford Everest Titanium+ 4×4 is unquestionably the best four-wheel-drive, midsize SUV in the market, as of press time.
At P2,590,000, it offers superior value for money than the P2,530,000 Mitsubishi Montero Sport Black Series 4WD and the P2,559,000 Toyota Fortuner LTD 4×4, along with serving as a noticeable step up from the P2,469,000 Nissan Terra Sport 4×4.
In the same way that camping has become glamorous, this top-spec Everest proves that owning a car that can go almost anywhere doesn’t mean sacrificing the finer things in life.
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