Just sharing my thoughts on an afternoon in a brand new Ranger XLT so please excuse the indulgence.
Due to warranty work on our Territory last Friday I was given a Ranger XLT with just 242km as a loan vehicle.
I thought I’d share my thoughts on having had it for the afternoon from the perspective of a Territory owner, someone who hasn't driven a Ranger in over a year (an XLS) and even then it was for 10km in total. I might consider one down the track if we don’t want keep our second a van anymore.
This Ranger was a 2.0L 10-speed 4x4 auto with all the safety tech. It still had the protective cover on the screen.
The first thing I came across when setting up my seating position and mirror angles was lack of a steering wheel telescope ability. I knew it doesn’t feature it but it’s an automatic response to get comfortable when in a vehicle for the very first time, I feel it’s a bad omission even if not all competitors offer it. There is no excuse to not providing the best driving position and adjustability at all itmes.
Secondly, I didn’t feel like I was sitting exactly behind the steering wheel and more to the right of it although I soon forgot this. (Territory excells in this area over many cars)
On first take-off onto a 80km/hr zoned highway I discovered (imho) the 2.0L sounds crap but more surprisingly didn’t have the urgency I expected. Bear in mind I had just driven our Terry with 30,000km on it immediately before while the XLT still had under 300km and diesels usually take a fair bit to fully loosen up. The auto changes were generally smooth although occasionally it downshifted in such a way I noticed it and felt it wasn’t as smooth as the 6 speed auto in our Territory.
Having all the safety tech was great and for those that feel it might not be necessary, it’s the first time you have one of these features kick in and you think, “yeah sure I have lived without them for my 36 years of driving so why do I need it now" however driving life is safer when they are present and especially for those still gaining driving experience. Even in my case with the Ranger on this day, with no-one initially in front of me, a driver cut into my lane, braked hard and took the exit lane into the service road of the highway just as I was looking down at the heater controls. The collision alert kicked it, I’m not sure it auto braked as it happened so fast and I lifted off the throttle, but I saw the red alert appear on the dash and it immediately drew my attention back to outside the windscreen. So 36 years of safe motoring and I still got caught out.
On cruise the Ranger was quiet, the auto reverse parking was fun to play with especially as this thing with tow bar is over 5.4m long so over 50cm longer than our SZ. It takes a bit of nerve to trust the front bumper isn’t going to clip the rear of the car in front as it swings back and in although I can see down the track with experience I wouldn’t use it as I’d park faster unassisted.
I’m assuming the next Ranger will gain a more upmarket interior considering the US market is now involved, although based on Ford US interiors of late I hope the US have more influence over this than the European and Asian divisions. I’m sure the Aussie designers here won’t let us down, and please, please, please make sure a standard Australian pallet can fit between the wheel arches. Rear leg room is OK, I’m 5’10” and obviously and only a F-150 sized vehicle is going to offer anything better in a ute body.
I guess many Australians are switching from cars to utes like the Ranger and while I can understand why I’m actually not fully sold on them yet. If you’re coming from say a Territory the Ranger isn’t a step up in driving experience, refinement, comfort or protected interior load space. And yes it’s not meant to be however it will be interesting to see what the next all-new model offers and whether it will have any variants that try to draw in some of these potential customers better.
For me to love the Ranger in the way I’d spend money to buy one I would want a more refined powertrain, more urgency and so a V6 diesel would be my minimum and a petrol/hybrid interesting. I’m ok with the interior space and expect an improvement of the interior design with the next model. What you lose in a secure cargo area of an SUV the sliding rear cover of the ute helps a little however load height with cover closed is naturally less than say a Territory and potential water entry a problem.
One thing this drive did reinforce to me was if we could have squeezed out one more major upgrade of the Territory in the way Holden went from VE to VF and then gained all the safety tech now available from the Ford empire as well as Sync3 I would have been as happy as a pig in high quality mud.