Two-litre Beater

Ranger takes the high-tech plunge

- Angus Boswell

The T6 Ranger has been a great commercial success, putting Ford South Africa’s operation back on the map with massive export orders and a monthly local battle against the Hilux for top-dog volume honours. So there’s a lot riding on the latest round of updates, improvements, spec changes and the introduction of an all-new drivetrain which combines a 10-speed auto with either a single turbo or a twin-turbo 2.0-litre four-pot diesel.

Four versions of this drivetrain (built locally at Struandale) are available at launch, in high-spec XLT (single turbo) and top-spec Wildtrak guise (twin-turbo), swelling the Ranger offering to 33 model derivatives, with the rest of the range still powered by the carry-over 2.2-litre and 3.2-litre TDCI diesels engines.

So what’s it like? Short answer: absolutely phenomenal for a bakkie. The single turbo with its 132kW and 420Nm has plenty of urgency, and with the huge spread of ratios available, it never feels seriously out of puff. Kick-down on acceleration is rapid, with ratios skipped to get the plot on the boil. Jump from the XLT to the Wildtrak Bi-turbo, however, with its 157kW and 500Nm, and there’s an added level of grunt. Downshifts are crisper, the transition to higher speeds smoother, and the kick-down on full bore acceleration is a proper kick that keeps on going as the emphasis shifts imperceptibly from smaller low-speed turbo to highspeed larger turbo.