While Ford is careful to call it the number-one selling “vehicle” in New Zealand for the last ten years, regardless that it’s not a car, it’s still a massive claim to fame. Also, I’m sure we’re all aware that most Ranger owners use their utes as a car.
So, ten years at the top. No matter what way you wrap it up, Ford selling more Rangers in the last ten years than any other vehicle is a testament to a number of things. For me, the first of those things is the design; the Ranger has always looked the part, changing its look with current design trends, and sometimes starting its own design trend. Other utes also look good, but the Ranger has always carried that buff, don’t-mess-with-me look, and it carries it well.
That’s not to mention the ute’s off-roading capabilities, as well as – in the early days – that 3.2-litre diesel engine. Sure, the new 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder engine is more powerful and outputs more torque, but in its day, that 3.2-litre diesel was class-leading. It’s hard not to talk about the Ranger’s engine without mentioning the new model’s superb 3.0-litre V6 diesel power-plant. We always considered the 2.0-litre engine to be very good, but the V6 diesel is outstanding. It simply doesn’t sound like a diesel, and it goes far better than a diesel should.
Adding to its popularity, there is a huge New Zealand-based social following for all things Ranger, and that’s not something you get with a lot of new cars/utes out there.
We headed to Boomrock at Kauri Bay to join in the celebrations, do some off-road driving, and to check out the new Ranger plug-in hybrid (PHEV).
On first arriving at Boomrock, we spied the Ranger PHEV Stormtrack sitting there – and powering the spit for lunch, as well as other household appliances needed for the day. It was a good way to show the flexibility of plug-in hybrids (and EVs), where they can be used this way. The Ranger PHEV Stormtrack is powered by a 2.3-litre, 4-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine. It can still tow up to 3,500Kg, so doubts on the vehicle’s towing capacity should be dismissed.
Visually, there’s not much to see that’s different on the Ranger PHEV, other than an extra filler flap to plug the car in to charge it up. We wouldn’t get to drive the Ranger PHEV today, but will lock one in for review.
Not far from the Ranger PHEV was the new Everest Tremor, a model with upspecced tyres and other features to enable it to be more capable for off-roading. It’s easy to spot the height difference between the standard Everest and the Tremor, and we can see this model appealing to a lot of Everest buyers, or even Ranger buyers who need 7 seats but still want to get their car into the sticky stuff. The new Ranger Tremor was also on display today.
It was time to go and do some light off-roading in the latest model Ranger, with a mix of 2.0-litre models, V6 and also some Raptor V6-turbo petrol Rangers.
We grabbed an old favourite, the XLT with the 2.0-litre motor, and headed for the hills, following the leader. Our first ‘test’ would be piloting the Ranger down into a short, steep drop, without scraping anything underneath. As you can imagine, the Ranger nailed this pretty easily.
After cruising up some more steep hills and tracks, we came to the next challenge, where we would drive up on a ledge to get to an angle of 27 degrees. While it might not look too steep in the photos, it sure felt it inside the cab. Again, this was a pretty easy test and totally drama-free for the ten Rangers on the drive.
We also went down some rather long, steep drops, using Hill Descent Control to do it, and adjusting our speed with the cruise control buttons to go faster/slower. All of these tests go to show how good electronic systems are at managing gnarly tracks like this.
On the way back to Boomrock HQ, we went back up the steep drop, but with the Rangers in 4-low and no diff lock engaged. Here, we were to drive the Rangers up the steep slope, but without giving it lots of gas. The aim was to let the Ranger lose traction, and then simply wait for it to get itself together, and get traction back – all while on a very light throttle.
Like we experienced in the Far North with the previous generation Ranger, this didn’t tax the ute at all, and everyone got up with no problem.
This wasn’t a good test for the Rangers, as none of them had a problem with the tasks thrown at them. On the other hand, the fact that they handled the different situations so easily goes to show how capable this ute is, and yet another reason that it has remained at the top of the sales charts for so long.
For now, the Ranger continues to sell very well, and having a PHEV option can only help the company retain its market share. We look forward to testing out the new Ranger hybrid soon.
