A BRUTAL AND BEAUTIFUL RHAPSODY

Arguably the most anticipated road test of the year, Ford's new Ranger Raptor takes the lead as the fastest bakkie we've ever tested

- Damian Adams

The box-fresh Ford Ranger Raptor has landed in South Africa and is the kind of car that would happily do that literally. It's a double-cab performance bakkie boasting the capability of a cross-country motorsport competitor. It's not a surprise that the outgoing version was used as the official route reconnaissance vehicle for the SA Rally Raid Championship and this latest model looks to continue where its predecessor left off.

The new Ranger's fresh metalwork sits on the same T6 platform as the outgoing bakkie, and the Raptor uses a reinforced version of that ladder chassis. Viewed head-on, it really does look like a baby F-150, with LED headlamps pushed to the edge of the bodywork and a similarly shouty all-caps FORD grille motif. Like the F-150, it also has plastic wheel-arch extensions and a broader track.

Inside, the addition of well-bolstered seats, some soft-touchpanels and coloured accents elevate the Raptor's cabin over the regular Ranger's, but the cabin plastics remain hard and utilitarian. The 12,4-inch digital instrument cluster and portrait-orientated central 12,0-inch touchscreen both look attractive and are easy enough to navigate. Ford's SYNC 4 infotainment system functions cleanly and intuitively, though we'll always welcome the continued presence of physical controls for heating and ventilation.

The Raptor's centre console features a stubby shifter with a button on the side that engages manual mode, with manual shifting via the steering-wheel paddles. A rotary dial selects the drive modes and controls the transfer case, which has 2H, 4H, 4L, and 4A settings, the latter automatically sending power to the front axle when required.