Dune decimator
CAR South Africa|CAR May 2023
More performance, more power and more extreme. Ford's new Ranger Raptor ups the ante as South Africa's premier performance bakkie
Alex Shahini
Dune decimator

Rudely awoken by a roaring Raptor with its brute V6 tune in Baja mode, the third and final morning in the Namib desert was harsh and cold, a brutal reminder of how unforgiving the barren terrain is.

A carpet of morning haze shielded the harsh African sun blooming over the dune horizon and it was time to pack up and make our way from the desert playground to electricity and functional plumbing. It had been three torturous days. Not for us we were glamping in a valley between a majestic sea of dunes, but instead, for the vehicles that had ferried us on our escapades.

The two-hour-plus flight into neighbouring Namibia had let me unearth the lasting impression the previous-generation bakkie had left with me. As good as it was, a gripe that bothered many was the diesel powertrain. On the back of the news Ford had shoehorned a petrol-powered V6 into the next-generation model, it seems as though Ford listened.

There was only a short stint of civil tar-road driving before taking to the dunes and commencing with the convoy antics. Tyres carried just over a bar of pressure coming off the hard surfaces, so we erred on the side of caution to prevent separating rubber from metal. Regardless, 14 Ranger Raptors sang their Ohio-sourced tune, upshifting with vigour to overtake trucks hauling salt. We entered protected areas with the Atlantic Ocean on our flank.

DRIVETRAIN

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة CAR May 2023 من CAR South Africa.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة CAR May 2023 من CAR South Africa.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

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