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he traditional market for 'one-tonne' pickups as working vehicles has
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been heavily augmented in the past few years by their appeal to the so-called lifestyle sector. It is also hard to ignore the Chancellor's unintentional generosity in providing tax benefits to running a pickup as a company car: hence the market has never been healthier, but could collapse just as quickly if the Chancellor gets out the wrong side of the bed on Budget day.
But whatever happens to these new and potentially ephemeral markets, the core demand for a workhorse will always remain. While Ford is not without its fashionable models, the Ranger pickup tested here is the latest addition to the line-up, the 4x4 fourdoor Super Cab, which definitely promises to be a worker not a poser. Nab.
PRODUCT PROFILE
Although it has still only been with us for less than four years, the Ford Ranger has become an indispensable part of the British motoring scene, and has recently received its first significant update. The facelift has given the Ranger more of a family resemblance to its North American namesake, although it remains a totally different product in all respects but its name. Our version is still made amidst the beautiful pineapple plantations of Thailand's Rayong province.
Since the facelift, the Ranger is available as six different models. Entry level is the Regular Cab, with two doors and two seats, and two or four driving wheels, At the top end, the 4x4 Double Cab comes as plain vanilla or luxury XLT models, but it's the middle of the range Super Cab that has seen the biggest innovation in its 44 form. That innovation is known as RAS or Rear Access System, and even warrants a B-pillar badge proclaiming the fact. Look at the Super Cab 4x2 and 4x4 from the side, and its impossible to spot the latter's party trick. Open a door, though, and a handle is revealed within the door shut, on the B-pillar. Give it a tug and, hey presto! The side of the cab comes away in your hand to reveal a second rear-hinged door on each side.
Under the bonnet of the latest Ranger, the big news is that the barely adequate 76hp/168Nm naturally-aspirated engine fit
ted to the 4x2 models has been ditched in favour of a down-rated version of the 4x4's 2.5-litre Tz-valve turbo-diesel. In 41(2 form, it now produces 83hp and 195Nm, while 4x4s keep the original io7hp/266Nm rating.
PRODUCTIVITY
In a number of ways, the Super Cab 4x4 is the workhorse of the Ranger family, and at 2,930k8 it has the highest GVW available. This may could be why at 26.3mpg fully laden, its fuel consumption is a little worse than the last version we tested. The rather traditional indirect injection spec of the Duratorq WLT engine is not the Ranger's strongest point in a field where high-tech common-rail engines are becoming available.
The Ranger Super Cab 4x4 comfortably achieves the official requirement to carry a one-tonne gross payload, with ziokg in hand for a generous helping of accessories. The only limitation, and one that is not unique to the Ranger, is that care needs to be taken to keep heavy goods close to the front of the load box if rear axle overload is to be avoided. If the fuel figure looks a tad disappointing in comparison with its rivals, the extra To% or so of payload makes the overall productivity equation considerably more attractive.
As the three different cab lengths are accommodated in the same overall length, the same number of load bed lengths are used, the Super Cab's being 1,753mm. While the Double Cab versions display their 'car replacement' aspirations with smooth sides, each side of the Super Cab's load box has four sturdy rope hooks and a lashing rail. The tail gate is held horizontal by easily-removable wire straps, while the three-bar bulkhead has the obligatory fold-out ladder ties.
ON ME ROAD
Those buyers who acquire the Ranger purely as a tax benefit or a lifestyle accessory without giving it any serious work to do would be missing out on the best that it has to offer. Like many such vehicles with relatively short gearing and a reasonable amount of power, it is transformed with a decent load in the back. It rides better and the engine's power delivery feels sweeter when held in check. The IDI engine is slightly peaky in nature and definitely performs more strongly above z,000rpm. Below that speed, it's still smooth and willing, but there is definitely a gradual increase in urge at higher revs. The engine 13-19 March 2003 Commercial Motor