PLUSH RIDE ON A ROUGH NIGHT: Ford’s Territory Sport, the charming big brother in the popular brood

They say that all you need on your journey in life is somebody who tells a good story along the way. Well in a terrible traffic, you may need more than that.

A lovely ride, perhaps?

On Friday night, the weekend after the calamitous downpour, me and my wife encountered an extraordinary traffic jam just after entering España Avenue from Dos Castillas Street in Manila.

That particular stretch up until the Welcome Rotonda is usually a breeze that time in the evening. So that made it all the more shocking to cover that kilometer or so, in almost an hour.

Little did we know that it was just a prelude. The segment after that was the belly of the beast: The crisscrossing streets of D. Tuazon, Agno and Cordillera. Total chaos. No traffic enforcers, let alone traffic lights.

To each his own on the clogged streets where piles of garbage from the previous days’ floods were strewn left and right.

Good thing we’re in the all-new Ford Territory Sport. The high-end model of the immensely popular mid-sized crossover SUV.

The color of the unit we test-drove was “Lustrous Grey,” the best of the three offered (the others being Panther Black and Crystal Pearl White) in my opinion.

It carried a strong, sporty presence, especially with the combination with matte, black grille and the 19-inch ebony alloy wheels.

Riding in a nice car — which costs P1.625 million — already made us feel less despondent over the gridlock that we found ourselves in that evening.

Of course, we worried over motorcycles darting left and right. And trucks and buses that chose to squeeze themselves in those busy side streets.

Plus, the car lets out beeps whenever a vehicle (or pedestrian) got too close for comfort. It was a safety feature, of course, but it’s like being reminded I can’t afford having this pricey lend-out suffer dings and nicks.

That was the only drawback of having such a nice car that evening. The rest was a bonus. Like the twin-panel moonroof. It was even more dramatic when it was drizzling. It retracts halfway but we chose not to open it as someone might get bored and throw something onto us.

Mood was set by the ambient light that goes all around the cabin. It culminated in the integrated 12-inch digital instrument cluster and 12-inch colored touchscreen.

From there, you can activate a slew of “Driver Assist” features such as Adaptive Cruise Control, BLIS®, Collision Mitigation, Lane-Departure Warning, and 360 Degree Camera.

Leather seats that are shaped like game chairs make the interior look more spacious than other five-seater SUVs.

Like the Territory Titanium X and Territory Titanium, the Ford Territory Sport has a 1.5-liter EcoBoost gasoline engine with seven-speed automatic transmission.

They were all about the same measurements: 4630 millimeters in length, 1935 mm in width, and 1706 mm in height. The car has 190 mm ground clearance, 2726 mm wheel base and has a fuel tank capacity of 60 liters.

It also shares the same maximum power of 160 PferdStarke (a metric measure of horsepower) at 5,400 to 5,700 revolutions per minute. Maximum torque is 248 Newton-meter at 1,500 to 3,500 rpm.

It has 360-degree camera view. Hands-free lift gate. Remote Start. Cruise Control and Active Park Assist, among many features.

Oh, did I mention it has a rotary e-shifter (Wet Dual Clutch) on the right armrest just beside the radio volume knob.

We didn’t get to listen to eight-speaker sound system in full blast because we chose to hear noise and be aware of the outside.

When you’re in a superb car like the Ford Territory Sport, it’s easy to forget all about it.