New Ford Ranger: Brute in a suit

 

Text and photos by Ardie O. Lopez

 

Staying faithful to its tagline to always “Go Further,” Ford Group Philippines literally brought our motoring media group to uncharted territory by taking us in 19 of its new 4×4 Ford Rangers off-roading near the base of Mayon Volcano in Bicol, on a trail that until recently, only capable ATVs have tread on. But that was the exciting culmination of an immersive drive experience of well over 300 kilometers with the new Rangers, with Manila as its jump-off point. Let’s backtrack to reveal the action-packed package the drive came in.

Shuttled to an aircraft hangar in Manila just after sunrise, we were made to board a pair of Seaplanes that flew us directly to the Gota Village Resort in Caramoan Island, Camarines Sur. It was a rare opportunity that none of us in the group wanted to miss, not to mention a great preview of the flavor of the event that we were about to undertake. It was a quick segue from our smooth water landing, to being behind the wheel of the new Ranger lapping up turn after turn on a very twisty drive on paved road.

More than a just facelift

The Ford Ranger from its previous iteration has always been the mid-sized pickup that has no power issues whatsoever. One needs to get used to just lightly pressing on the accelerator so as not to unleash its beast mode, and that goes for its variants equipped with both the 3.2L and 2.2L Ford Duratorq TDCi engines.  The new Ranger’s handling felt tighter and more precise when it came to the tight switchbacks and hairpin turns, and made easy work of the route with the kind of agility that’d make you easily forget its generous dimensions. Once back to civilization, zipping through the narrow rural roads was a breeze. We weren’t able to test the adaptive cruise control feature and new lane-retention alert and aid system, but had a good demo of the Forward Alert and Collision Warning features at the congested portions of our run, as warning beeps set off a few times due to some tight maneuvering through traffic.

It’s not an all-new version of the Ranger, but certainly not a mere refresh. Noticeable is the improved ride comfort and more planted feel the new tuned suspension provided. It still is not the most comfortable in the segment, but it did reduce the jarring firmness quite significantly. We emerged from the initial 4-hour plus stage of the drive with ample energy and eagerness for more, especially since we knew we’d go off-road. Way, off-road.

Wading depth

With purpose-built all-terrain vehicles at the lead, only the 4×4-equipped variants of the Ranger (in both 2.2L and 3.2L versions) were driven on the off-road trail that was exclusive to ATV’s. This was where we put the “Built Ford Tough” stamp to the ultimate test. The sections of the trail were narrow, signifying only a specific kind of four-wheeled vehicle frequented it. Right after just a couple of hundred meters, the real fun began—with a downhill slope so steep, we had to secure our belongings in the cabin. Switching to 4-Wheel Low, and flicking-on the Hill Descent feature, we were firmly instructed to resist the urge to step on the brakes and just let the Ranger descend safely and at its own pace down the slope that we couldn’t even see the bottom of. Trusting the truck, we were down in a cinch, while the full view of the other-worldly aggressive terrain opened up as the vehicle leveled.

The ruts, rocks, and volcanic ash-laden hostile terrain was ours for the conquering. With settings back to 4-Wheel High, we proceeded to kick the pace up and gobbled-up whatever lay before our seemingly unstoppable convoy. With a 200PS and 470Nm Torque rating, the 3.2L Wildtrak dug through steep slopes made up of loose ash, and powered through where there would normally be no traction—where lesser pickups would just get bogged down. Nose first into the water on some river crossing, we took advantage of the Ranger’s 800mm wading depth capacity, and simply barreled on. Eight Kilometers in, we settled near the base of majestic Mayon Volcano and posed for a photo-op, still huffing from the Adrenaline-filled ride.

Reconciling contrasts

There’s no doubt that sheer power is the new Ranger’s hallmark characteristic, but it’s fascinating how tech smarts, premium creature comforts and sophisticated aesthetics were all comfortably shoe-horned into one tight and cohesive package—the new Ford Ranger. It’s due to roll out of showrooms by this September, with a PhP709,000.00 price tag for the base model 2.2L 4×2 Cab and Chassis M/T, all the way up to its top variant (there are 13 variants in total), the 3.2L 4×4 Wildtrack A/T at PhP1.679M.