whether it's selling up a storm or being loaded on the back of a flatbed there's no doubt the new Toyota pra has been generating massive headlines since its late 2024 launch now it's time to compare it against its closest Ral the Ford Everest a couple of years ago the Everest knocked off the old series pra and a car sales comparo as it should have but the new 250 series PR is a very different beast that's been d a atically upgraded so which comes out on top well let's go and compare the pair and find out
the Everest and the pra are the leading lights in the large 4x4 wagon space rolling on ladder frames with diesel engines and dual range drivetrains they are the go anywhere 7 seat Dream Machines for adventurous Aussie families we thought the Everest was a bit of a price gouge when it launched a few years ago but the new py really puts it in the shade this is the gxl 7 seat family version and it's gone up more than $10,000 compared to the old model that makes it more than $5,000 more expensive than this Everest sport even
with the big V6 3 l turbo diesel engine optioned and in driveway pricing and the Gap stretches even more when it comes to servicing these two Go in different direction directions each service will cost you more for the Ford but the time and distance intervals are longer so over 5 years of cat price servicing the pra actually costs more you also have to pay a minimum $99 for roadside assist each year with the Toyota but you get it for free for up to 7 years in the Ford as long as you service at one of
its dealers the Everest is a spin-off from the ranger Ute and really looks like it the sport is the cheapest way into a V6 engine in the lineup our example rolled on 18 in black Alloys and allterrain rubber which are a no cost option undoubtedly one of the universally loaded aspects of the 250 series pra is its unique exterior design it channels past Land Cruisers and has a boxy ethos that people really seem to like one of the thoughtful features of the pra is the slightly larger panel gaps around the front bumper designed to minimize
damage if contact is made when off-roading when it comes to numbers under the Bonnet the Ford has the advantage with its 3 l V6 turbo diesel engine it's bigger it's got two more cylinders more power more torque and its 10-speed Auto has two more gears on the surface nothing much changes under the Bonnet of the new pra it's the same 2.8 L 4-cylinder diesel engine with the same power and torque figures as the old engine however it does add 48 M hybrid electrification which gives a claimed drivability and fuel economy Improvement something that's also added
by the change from a 6 to 8-speed Auto there's another thing to note about the new praos drivetrain and that is the addition of AD blue which is designed to clean up noxious emissions it also means that's another fluid few to keep an eye on of course the Everest also has ad blue injected into its exhaust room haul yourself into the driver's seat of the Everest Sport and you'll find yourself a pretty welcoming place to be 10-way power adjustable seat that's big and comfy reach and rake manually adjustable steering so you can get yourself well
set up here I'm just not sure about this slightly down Market trim on the rim it's predominantly dark in here with some flashes of lighter materials to brighten the mood like the ranger the Everest is built in Thailand and it all seems well stitched and bolted together no real complaints on that score as all these big 4x4 wagons should deliver the Everest sport offers lots of upfront storage space the double glove boxes are the Highlight while the big door bins and Center L bin also help out the secure location for your phone when wireless charging
should ensure it doesn't go flying around the cabin under acceleration or during brisk cornering this big touchcreen is the obvious centerpiece when it comes to Tech in the Everest Sports cabin okay primarily because it's so big things are very easy to read like saf screens but also I appreciate some detail touches here these shortcut buttons allow you to access frequently used features very handily and I also appreciate these physical buttons down the bottom for volume and air conditioning there's also sliders as well to help you adjust the air conditioning all in all very well thought
out and very easy to use the digital instrument panel however is less successful really the bar graph Taco is basically useless look there is a better twood dial digital instrument panel that Ford has which it uses only in the Platinum Flagship model of the Everest and I really think it should be spread more widely across the range time for an update Ford the Everest does offer embedded satnav and communication systems and it's one of the better ones kicking around but car play is very easy to hook up and is still more intuitive than the native
system the big screen certainly helps display camera views but the resolution is not that great and the views provided are quite Limited in addition to parking sensors and Camera views there are no Auto parking AIDS in the Everest sport step into the driver's seat of the new Prada and this cabin is definitely a lot more modern than the model it replaces as it should be however gxl family model not very cheerful is it is it's pretty dark it makes it feel all a little bit closed in and claustrophobic also compared to the Everest no power
adjustment on the front passenger seat for 80 grand plus wow however the seat itself pretty comfy maybe not quite as good as the Everest which feels like it's got a little bit more padding the pra is built in Japan and that for me is always a big win and apart from a bit of a tiny sound when closing the doors the pra continues to look and feel Rock Solid delve a bit more into the detail of the cabin and the pr doesn't impress as much as the Everest for a start storage up front is less
generous as there is only one glove box and the door pockets are very narrow you won't fit a large drink bottle in there no doubt first glance technical Revolution here in the pra with the big touch screen and the digital instrument panel I wish there was a homepage though on the on the touch screen because you have to work through these various submenus down the side here and it's quite a small area to stab at when you're driving do appreciate these hard buttons for the air conditioning controls so great and also this button dial for
volume and audio on off bit small but not as small as these buttons on the busy steering wheel they're actually quite hard to pick up at night the pr isn't missing any key Tech features and it's pretty easy to hook up wirelessly to Apple carplay and the smartphone charger is again well placed to avoid your phone turning into a projectile the camera system of the pra is comprehensive definitely a step ahead of the Everest no doubt about that but it was set up in the test car to switch on at very low speed which wasn't
handy if you were Consulting a satnav map at the time but that was easily fixed at the Press of a button the pra has all sorts of camera based parking assistance including this transparent View and the ability to circle around the exterior to see what obstacles are nearby but no autom hands or feet free parking here either so overall it's much of a matchness when it comes to infotainment systems the pr gets a couple of extra speakers 10 to8 in its audio system seven USB ports to 5 and ads an HDMI port Everest has four
12volt Outlets both get three pin plugs to juice up appliances again there's a lot that's similar when it comes to important safety items in the Everest and pra Beyond The Big Ticket driver assist systems they both get nine airbags the Everest has child seat tethers across two rows while the pra only has them in row two the Everest has a fstar an cap rating based on 2022 protocols and the Proto festar rating is based on the latest slightly tougher 2024 protocols for a vehicle that's nearly 5 m long and has a 2900 mm wheelbase the
Everest is actually slightly disappointing in terms of leg space for second row passengers you really have to to slide this seat back all the way to make yourself comfortable if you're a 6ft passenger behind a 6t driver but the problem there is you're then really ciling space in row three there's no shortage of features here for passengers though with fan control for the overhead vents dual USB ports ma Pockets door Pockets that will take a big bottle and a fold down armrest with pop out cup holders access to and exit from Row three is a
bit of a challenge the row two seat slide and tilts forward or sits flat look its knees up in here for adults and really only suitable for short trips kids should be happier and good to know there are air convents and storage and curtain airbags extend all the way to row three jump into the second row of the pra one of the first things you'll notice is no sliding function for the seat and that is a bit of a Miss at this money in this segment however having said that it's a pretty good compromise using
the six-footer behind six-footer test there's not too bad of leg space in here comfort features include a full set of airon controls with adjustable overhead vents dual USBS and a 12volt dual M Pockets door bins although not quite big enough to take a big bottle and a fold down Center armrest with inbuilt cup holders the way the second row seat tumbles forward is a win for the pra when it comes to entering and exiting Row three again considering there's no row to Sliding adjustment the compromise is pretty good better for kids for sure and more
vents here and curtain airbags that extend all the way back good job get to the boots of these two and it really is a case of what were the folks at Toyota thinking look as has been widely reported the floor is actually raised in the pr to accommodate a battery for a hybrid system that's actually not sold in a stri so the seat goes up and this flimsy sort of storage bin is packed in as well to make the whole area look level I guess the funny thing is about it all that actually the claimed
luggage space is superior to the Everest in some ways still but to the naked eye that doesn't add up another thing to note about the Toyota pra is payload compared to the old series goes down and quite significantly you literally cannot carry as much stuff in the new car one of the nicest features of the pra's rear end is the popup window which makes it quicker to load small stuff both vehicles get a power tailgate well up until we got to the boots it was all pretty close but right now I think the Everest has
the advantage in terms of ease of use will that translate to the driving well let's hit the road and find out there's a a certain local connection to the Everest because it's an Aussie developed vehicle it's the latest in a long line of vehicles that have been engineered and designed in Australia and they used to be manufactured here too sadly that disappeared last decade anyway it's more than an emotional bond because the local development work really does seem to have worked the Everest feels well set up for our roads the big V6 engine is in
Ral to the Everest relaxed but powerful character look it never explodes it never overwhelms but its quiet strength is what makes it the best powertrain in any of these big 4x4s powertrain performance is backed up by a really well-tuned ride and handling package the Everest comes with the usual 4x4 offering double wishbones up front cor Springs and a rigid axle at the rear but the civility levels are getting close to passenger car it's really a refined vehicle to drive sure this is a big and heavy vehicle so it's definitely not Nimble but body roll is
really well controlled and it never feels soggy and the steering well it has that lovely light touch that Ford seems to be able to engineer in so well the automatic transmission well 10speed sounds like a lot don't they and it is pretty busy but it's not as in your face as some iterations of this gearbox I've tested in the past the most annoying thing about it is you can't change gears manually in an orthodox way not off Flappy pedals none here and the gear selector down here the only way you can do it is via
buttons on the side of the shifter which is just not intuitive you certainly ride high and handsome big high platform big windows and not too many obstructions going out through the rear window in fact none the pra 2o has had its fair share of local tuning and it too feels at home on Aussie roads just not quite as at home as the Everest despite the addition of those extra two gears and the mild hybrid system the engine still has that sense of pra sluggishness it's no rocket ship it is however entirely competitive with other 4cylinder
4x4 wagons like the Isuzu mu it just can't match the Everest V6 the Proto is also not quite as together driving on the road it's got the same fundamental suspension design as is the Everest but it's set up a bit softer so there's a little bit more roll there's a little bit more bounce it's also noticeable there's a bit more of that frame shake that ladder frame Vehicles generate over rougher surfaces the Everest does a better job of quelling that stuff it's also noticeable that the lane keeping assist system in the pra is that little
bit more intrusive than the system in the Everest it it's also a little bit more convoluted process to switch it off not really fussy but just that little bit more involved drilling into the instrument panel do that and you'll really appreciate just how good the electric assist steering system of the new pra is it is night and day better than the old hydraulic system that the previous P had is so much better in terms of swiftness of response and accuracy one of the biggest improvements in the new car undoubtedly when it comes to the refinement
of the traveling experience in the cabin the Everest definitely has the edge the praos engine is noisier under acceleration and vibrates more at idle it's also noticeable that you'll get wind rustle off the big mirrors generally speaking it's just noisier in here than in the cabin of the Everest where the praos engine does a little bit better is in fuel economy but it's not an overwhelming Victory which is what I actually expected with the addition of mild hybrid by the way the pra's fuel tank capacity has come down again in the 250 to 110 L
but it's still well up on the Everest 80 lers but for me that's not enough to swing the balance back to Toyota's way the Everest is the nicer drive but we've still got the off-roading to come okay so we're at our off-road testing site now and what's apparent is these two are Vehicles capable of taking you a long way off the beat and track the Everest comes with multiple off-road modes low-range gearing and a rear diff lock so I'm going to go through and just demonstrate in four low what happens without locking the rear diff
and you haven't got the rear traction control on so we're just going to try and crawl up here and see how we go feel and see just it's just not okay so that was not successful so that was low range without the Locking diff lot of wheel spin okay so now let's lock the diff and go again this sort of moggly stuff is about as severe as most there you go straight over the obstacle that time yeah this stuff is about as severe as most people would ever want to try it's just got a bit
of it really does test droop therefore for traction now we may touch the side steps down on this car as we go up yep there we go just touched I'm afraid it's a bit of a drawback with the Everest and the danger they do tend to touch their side steps down but there you go that was pretty fuss free all up pretty impressive down the other side Hill descent control is ultra quiet and smooth there we go just raise the speed slightly there via the cruise control now backed it off again very smooth just a
little bit of rear locking there now we're getting into quite a big rot and it's stepping across it yeah that's a really well controlled smoooth smooth downhill assist system the pra misses out on a rear diff lock has no off-road Drive modes and relies on off-road traction control to help low range get it up and over the most serious challenges so we're going to run this car up the same Mogul test as the Everest in four low and see how the pr performs so we are in four low and away we go it's that simple
there's no more nothing else to set in place and it's very easy now to engage four low in this car just to pull back on a on a d on a knob I guess you call it or a slider okay you can feel that there's the traction control system working that little bit harder just to figure itself out yeah you get bits of wheel spin it's going up it just feels like it's doing it in a more labored fashion than the Everest with the diff locked in of course without the diff locked in the Everest
has no hope of getting up here so the pra system is simpler with things to lock in and so on but it's certainly pretty effective so let's try downhill assist control on new prod now on the old PR the downhill assist control was a bit of a shocker shuttering and gruning so let's see what happens see if it's improved it's got a high bar beat with the Everest which was pretty impressive all right and we go to our test clock our descent Conor oh okay couple of shutters going on kind of lunges over the top
to and then sets itself up it's that initial commitment jumping off the high tower at the pool or something but any right okay bit shuddery but oh yeah bit shudy but night and day improvement over the old PR okay that's good finally just one more thing to mention and that's Towing we didn't hitch these two up in this test but they both claim 3500 kilos braak capacity that's up 500 kilos for the new but payloads at maximum towing are poor for both vehicles bear that in mind if you're planning to use one of these for
your round Australia trip if you've got a big van you may need a gvm upgrade okay wow that was a really comprehensive exercise and I've got to say that the basic thing that stands out to me is just how impressive these two vehicles are they have incredibly complex job briefs they have to do so many different things and really they do them very well but having said that given its price performance and packaging advantages the Ford everport V6 is a clear winner of this comparo the P comes to Market with huge hype huge sales huge
expectations and it's undoubtedly a good vehicle but the Everest is that bit better that the pra also wax us over the head with some huge price Rises doesn't help its case so for me it's the ever Sport V6 that I'm picking for my family adventure
