Ford unveils Ranger Raptor and Ranger Series

When news broke out that Ford Philippines was going to launch its new high performance Ranger Raptor pickup truck earlier this year, off-road enthusiasts and pickup truck lovers kept guessing what would be its official pricing for the Philippines.

A number of them even ventured into estimating the price to hit over the P2-million mark.

So when Ford Philippines finally unveiled its first Ranger Raptor last Friday, it was done with a huge splash—a huge mud splash, that is.

A specially-designed off-road dirt track complete with a mud pool and earth mound set the stage for Ford’s most anticipated reveal this year.

Visitors and potential buyers were also able to ride and experience the Ranger Raptor at the Ford Island Conquest Year 2 in Arca South, Taguig City the next day.

The good news was that the Ranger Raptor was already available at all Ford dealerships nationwide starting last Saturday, too, and competitively priced at P1.898 million.

This year, incidentally, is the 20th year that Ford has used the nameplate Ranger globally.

“We are excited to welcome the highly-anticipated Ranger Raptor to the Philippines. The Ranger Raptor showcases the best of Ford Performance’s expertise in vehicle design and engineering, and we know our customers are really looking forward to enjoying its immense off-road capabilities,” said Bertrand Lessard, managing director, Ford Philippines.

The exciting topline Ranger Raptor is the only pickup truck that is designed, built and tested to set a benchmark as the only factory-built performance truck in the Asia Pacific market.

Designed by the Ford Performance team for the true enthusiast off-roader, the Ranger Raptor is available in five colors: Conquer Grey, Lightning Blue, Race Red, Shadow Black and Frozen White.

The Ranger Raptor comes with a new 2.0-liter bi-turbo diesel engine that delivers a maximum of 213 ps of power and 500 Nm of torque.

Its sequential turbocharging is designed to deliver greater responsiveness, driveability, and maximum efficiency.

It uses a variable geometry turbocharger (VGT) that delivers greater throttle response and eliminates lag by spooling up quickly even at low speeds.

It is mated with a second fixed geometry turbocharger with a high flow capacity to deliver maximum power and performance.

The result is a highly efficient and powerful engine that matches well with the 10-speed automatic transmission used in Ford’s F-150 Raptor pickup truck.

With its 10 gears, it means the Ranger Raptor has a wider ratio-span resulting in better acceleration and responsiveness.

The Ranger Raptor features a new grille that took some styling cues from the F-150 Raptor pickup truck with the bold Ford letters.

Its front bumper also comes with newly designed LED fog lamps with functional air-curtain ducts that help to reduce air resistance and wind drag.

Its front fenders are made of composite materials that have better resistance against dents and dings that usually come with off-road usage.

Underneath, the Ranger Raptor’s frame uses various grades of high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel.

The stiffened side-rails are made from increased HSLA grade steel to absorb off-road high-speed impacts.

Rodel Gallega, Ford Philippines’ VP for Marketing and Sales, with Bert Lessard, Ford Phlippines managing director during the formal launch at Arca South in Taguig.

The ground clearance of the Ranger Raptor is increased to 283 mm for better offroad performance.

Despite its higher clearance, its new unique frame is also designed to take a lot of punishment and travel offroad at high speeds with its innovative new coilover rear suspension that uses a Watt’s link setup with solid rear axle to provide superior lateral control offroad, while also improving both ride comfort and handling.

Its position sensitive damping (PSD) shock absorbers provide higher damping forces at full jounce and rebound designed to handle rough roads even at speed.

What’s smart about the Ranger Raptor is its host of advanced driver assist technologies (DATs) and terrain management system (TMS) that features the Baja mode, inspired by Mexico’s famous Baja Desert Rally to enable highly responsive, high-speed offroad performance.

The Baja mode trims down vehicle systems like traction control to allow spirited offroad driving without intervention from the vehicle’s onboard systems.

Its gear selection is also optimized for maximum performance, and the engine mapping will hold gears longer and downshift more aggressively for more power on the tap.

On the road, the Ranger Raptor comes with a host of advanced DATs at the push of a button. These include the Sync 3, a fully integrated, voice activation system that lets drivers use their favorite devices so they can keep their eyes on the road, and not have to let go of the steering wheel to use their devices.

The Raptor’s satellite navigation system is a handy feature when offroading in remote areas.

The “breadcrumb” feature that leaves a trail when entering unchartered areas is for perfectly serious offroading.

Other safety and driving assist features include electronic stability control, trailer sway control, hill start assist, hill descent control, and load adaptive control.

“The Ranger Raptor is truly the ultimate Ranger. With its bold appearance and extreme, offroad performance features, the Ranger Raptor represents a unique offering that we know Filipinos are really going to get excited about,” said Rodel Gallega, vice president, Marketing and Sales for Ford Philippines.

Aside from the Ranger Raptor, Ford also introduced the new Ranger series with 8 variants. This includes a new variant, the Ranger 2.2L XLS 4×2 AT.

The new Ranger lineup now comes with a choice of three diesel powertrains, including the new generation 2.0L bi-turbo exclusively for the Wildtrak 4×4 variant, plus the 2.0L turbo engine and 2.2L TDCi engine.

The Wildtrak 4×4 variant uses the same new-generation 2.0L bi-turbo diesel paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission similar to the Ranger Raptor’s, while the 2.0L turbo diesel engine is available on the Wildtrak 4×2, and is also mated to Ford’s advanced 10-speed automatic transmission delivering 180 ps and 420 Nm of torque.

Its XLT and XLS variants, that now include a Ranger 2.2L XLS 4×2 AT variant in the portfolio, are equipped with Ranger’s proven 2.2L TDCi engine, which offers 160 ps/385 Nm, and comes with a six-speed automatic or manual transmission.

The new Ranger offers adaptive cruise control to sense traffic and adjust speed automatically, a segment-first active park assist that enables semi-automatic parallel parking, and autonomous emergency braking that alerts drivers for possible road risks with audible and visual warning, and its smart technologies include keyless entry and push-button start, easy-lift tailgate, and the Sync 3 voice activation system.

The new Ranger lineup starts at P1.029 milliion for the base model 2.2L XLS 4×2 MT. The top range Wildtrak 4×4 variant retails at P1.695 million.