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Ranggr Wildttak
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Ford has given its Ranger pickup a few minor revisions to ensure it stays at the sharp end of the market. CM grabs the keys to see if the Blue Oval has made the right moves.
Words: tan Tonkin Images: Tom Lee By Ford's own admission, its new Ranger Wildtrak is a niche vehicle. This is made clear in the manufacturer's sales forecasts, which predict it will onl■ make up 7% of total volumes.
Couple this with the fact that the market for pickups in the UK is down by 27% in 2009. and you get an idea of how -niche' and specialist this product really is.
Market forces aside, there is still a need for vehicles that offer creature comforts and the practicality of a commercial vehicle, and the Ranger is, arguably, one of the best exponents of this.
So what's new? Well, starting on the outside, the Ranger has been given sleeker and more curvaceous headlights, along with a chromed front grille and a redesigned bumper. Walk around the back and you'll see new. clear tail-light clusters, which boost the Wildtrak's 'Wing factor' no end.
One not-so-subtle addition to the Wildtrak is its massive 18-inch alloys, which help distinguish it from lesser models, and, truth be told, we rather fancy them.
There arc also one or two subtle tweaks that have been made to the mechanicals — the most notable being the addition of an optional automatic gearbox for the 142hp 2.5-litre turbodiesel and an anti-stall device (standard on all 4x4 models) that helps to make off-roading a walk in the park.
With all the creature comforts on offer, it's very easy to forget that the Ranger is still a light commercial vehicle, and has a job to perform.
In single-cab form, the load area is 2.55m=, and 2.2m2 in double-cab guise, which trumps the Mitsubishi L200 at 1.95m2. but only matches its closest rival — the Toyota Hilux — on loadbox volume.
The arc four trim levels on offer starting with the base XL. followed by the XLT. Thunder, and the one you see here, the Wildtrak.
All models are covered by a standard three-year/ 60,000-mile warranty with the service intervals set at one year/12.500miles.
Productivity
Despite the Wildtrak's shiny image, it's still a productive and practical light commercial vehicle.
Payload stands at just over one tonne, which stacks up well against rivals such as the Mitsubishi L200 (1,045kg) and the Toyota Hilux (1,075kg).
Potential buyers will also enjoy the deep loadbox, which provides a bit more extra room (albeit 70mm in height) compared with the Toyota Hilux.
There's an optional lockable roller shutter (costing £1,000) available that fits over the loadbox. which will safeguard any items you might have stashed in the back.
Since our Ranger has the highest-output engine, we had a feeling fuel consumption would be heavy, but, to our surprise, the vehicle returned a better figure on the laden run than it did without payload.
With the full 975kg net payload onboard, the Wildtrak did 378mpg, while, without any extra weight, it did 371mpg. These figures might seem to defy logic, but it just goes to show how strong this pickup is no matter how much you try to test it. On comparable laden runs, the Toyota Hilux did 31.0mpg and the Mitsubishi L200 Diamond only managed 30.1mpg.
Cab comfort The whole purpose of lifestyle vehicles such as these is to provide high levels of practicality and comfort, and this theme is prevalent with the Wildtrak.
Since this is the range-topping model. the Wildtrak gets all the trimmings, ranging from heated leather seats with orange stitching to air conditioning and 'sports-style' aluminium pedals.
Commercial vehicles always need a lot of interior storage and the Ranger doesn't disappoint. There's a multitude of convenient bins and trays dotted around the cabin for wallets, phones and folders.
However, all the extra trim fails to hide the Ranger's disappointing interior, which feels dated and less luxurious than that in the Toyota Hilux — especially the black dashboard and silver centre console.
There's no option of sat-nay either. and -there's still the umbrella handbrake, which harks hack to rudimentary pickups of yore.
Nevertheless, the interior of the Ranger is accommodating, and the seats provide plenty of support, both for long journeys and off-road adventures. The back seats, meanwhile, offer enough space for passengers, but it feels more like economy class than business class.
On the road You might think that such a macho vehicle would be smooth and planted on the road, but underneath all the glitz and glamour, the Wildtrak's ride is hard and jumpy, especially over lateral ridges in the road.
The jittery ride is mainly down to the large 18-inch low-profile wheels. but, that said, we did get the chance to drive the Thunder variant at the UK launch earlier this year, and the smaller wheels and higher-profile tyres do much to improve the ride quality.
That said, the Ranger is still a competent road machine, and, apart from a hard ride, there's very little to fault Ford's pickup. The chassis is compliant, too, with only a hint of bodyroll in the corners.
With the load area fully committed, the Ranger Wildtrak is able to go about its business without ever feeling overstretched or overwhelmed, and it's always reassuring to know that there's still some spare horses should they be needed.
Being a 4x4 pickup, the Ranger will, at some point, go off the beaten track, and it's here that the Ford really comes into its own.
Depending on the terrain, select 4WD high, or, if the going gets really tough, shift the secondary gearlever to low-range and there are very few obstacles the Ranger isn't able to overcome. •