We've FINALLY had the chance to drive the all-new 2023 Ford Ranger! Paul Maric gets behind the wheel of the top-specification Ford Ranger Wildtrak 2.0 to see if it's any good. We have a stack of Ford Ranger reviews and content coming, so make sure you subscribe and hit the bell icon for all the latest!
Ford Ranger Raptor walkaround: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSMOBVTWc3A
Ford Ranger Raptor first look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I9jSZ7dS0c
Hardness and dB tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Ford content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/ford
More Ford Ranger content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/ford/ranger
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior: 0:57
Interior: 10:47
Infotainment: 12:59
Safety Tech: 20:41
Practicality: 22:24
On the Road: 27:29
Driver Aids (Lane keep and Radar cruise): 31:26
0-100: 36:19
Off the road: 37:52
Verdict: 43:44
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
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#ford #ranger #review
Ford Ranger Raptor walkaround: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSMOBVTWc3A
Ford Ranger Raptor first look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I9jSZ7dS0c
Hardness and dB tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Ford content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/ford
More Ford Ranger content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/ford/ranger
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior: 0:57
Interior: 10:47
Infotainment: 12:59
Safety Tech: 20:41
Practicality: 22:24
On the Road: 27:29
Driver Aids (Lane keep and Radar cruise): 31:26
0-100: 36:19
Off the road: 37:52
Verdict: 43:44
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#ford #ranger #review
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul, the Ford Ranger is finally here.
00:04 Now before we get our hands on the V6 version of this,
00:06 I thought we would review the four-cylinder first
00:08 simply because they have these in stock
00:11 and that is kind of rare in the dual-cabute segment
00:14 at the moment, and most dealers,
00:15 you can actually go in there and buy one of these
00:17 or wait a few weeks and get your hands on one.
00:19 So this is the top specification Wildtrak 2.0L,
00:23 so it's the bi-turbo.
00:25 It's priced at just over $67,000,
00:28 but if that's too expensive, the entire range kicks off
00:31 at a little under $36,000.
00:33 This competes with things like the Toyota Hilux,
00:35 the Isuzu D-MAX, the Nissan Navara.
00:39 There are so many competitors in the dual-cabute segment.
00:42 Today, we're gonna do a detailed review of this car,
00:44 so if you do wanna skip ahead to other parts of this review,
00:46 you can use the time codes on the screen,
00:48 or if you're on YouTube, you can scroll down
00:50 and use the chapters below, and if you haven't done so already,
00:53 please subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon
00:55 'cause that's gonna help us grow.
00:58 Now let's talk exterior design.
01:00 You've got six external colors to pick from.
01:02 All but white is gonna cost you an extra $675.
01:06 So the design, what do we think about this in person?
01:09 I know we've done videos on Ranger and Raptor previously.
01:13 I've talked about what I think about the design.
01:15 Now that I've got this in person, I'm driving it,
01:19 I'm seeing what it's like on the street
01:20 when I go to the coffee shop and stuff like that.
01:23 It actually looks really good.
01:24 This color's a bit full-on,
01:25 so I don't know if I'd go this color
01:26 if I was getting the Wildtrak,
01:27 but the design itself really just stands out.
01:31 They've just integrated style
01:33 and also that aggression that you see
01:35 on F trucks in the States.
01:36 So that means a big old Ford logo down the front there.
01:40 You've also got a 360 camera,
01:42 so you can see that nestled into there as well.
01:45 Open grill here for additional cooling,
01:47 and then as you follow this stack down,
01:49 you've got a radar sensor down here,
01:51 and then this sort of offset color
01:54 down the bottom there as well.
01:55 So it is a big old grill,
01:57 and then as you move around to the side here,
01:58 you can see these parts sort of taper off towards the edge.
02:01 So if you have a look at the new Volkswagen Amarok,
02:04 that's where they've used that design element
02:05 to push down the side.
02:07 Ford hasn't gone as aggressive there
02:09 in terms of that over-styled front section
02:11 that you do see on the Amarok.
02:13 Down the bottom here, you've got a set of LED fog lights.
02:16 So this one has the optional premium package,
02:18 which means you get matrix LED headlights.
02:21 That means these can shut down segments
02:23 as the car's going down the road
02:24 and not blind oncoming traffic.
02:26 If you wanna see how this tech works,
02:28 click up here to watch a video we shot before
02:30 where we compare headlight technologies.
02:32 You got this LED daytime running light
02:34 that sits around the edge there,
02:35 and also an LED indicator.
02:37 This is the ducks nuts of headlight design at the moment,
02:40 so that is a really good setup.
02:42 Part of that premium package,
02:43 you're also getting a B&O Play sound system
02:45 inside the cabin, which we'll talk about later,
02:47 auxiliary switches, and also LED taillights too.
02:51 Whip around to the side here.
02:53 Now, down here, you've got an 18-inch alloy wheel
02:56 and an all-terrain tire.
02:58 This can be optioned on other variants
03:00 of the Ranger as well,
03:02 but it does come standard here with Wildtrak.
03:04 Like this wheel design, it's pretty straightforward.
03:06 You've got that graphite color.
03:07 There isn't any offset colors there.
03:09 Now, this is something interesting
03:10 I didn't notice previously.
03:12 The Ford badge here is black,
03:14 and it's black on the back as well.
03:16 So yeah, I don't know if that's unique to the Wildtrak,
03:17 but yeah, interesting.
03:19 Above here, you've got some wheel arch cladding there
03:21 for when we go do a bit of off-road driving.
03:23 Up here, it will either say V6 or Bi-Turbo
03:26 for the Wildtrak, so this one being the Bi-Turbo
03:29 is a four-cylinder, two-liter diesel engine.
03:32 Up the top here, indicator built into here
03:35 with that graphite color on the top of the mirror housing.
03:38 You have a camera down here for the 360 camera,
03:40 but a very exciting feature under here
03:43 that we haven't seen previously on utes.
03:45 It is a high-powered LED light,
03:47 and what you can do here with Wildtrak
03:49 is you can set up zone lighting,
03:51 and that means you can get 360 degrees of lighting
03:54 around the car.
03:54 Front end uses headlights,
03:56 the sides use these high-powered LEDs,
03:58 and the rear uses the taillights,
04:00 and that allows you to get vision around the car.
04:02 Really handy.
04:03 So for me, it's about puddles.
04:05 If you're out camping,
04:06 it's about lighting up the area around you.
04:08 Really good feature, and I like that they've thought
04:11 about functionality when it comes to these utes
04:14 instead of just making them all the exact same as each other.
04:17 Like this section here too.
04:18 So that is a functional vent that opens up there,
04:22 and that is because this whole side section here
04:24 is hydroformed, so there is a gap
04:26 between the outer part of this
04:28 and the inner part of the engine as well.
04:29 So the whole section there is open,
04:31 which aids with cooling.
04:33 In addition to that as well, under the bonnet,
04:35 you can fit a second battery
04:37 as part of all of the Ford Ranger range,
04:39 except the Raptor with the V6 petrol.
04:41 Every other version can get a second battery option
04:44 and fit it under the bonnet there.
04:46 Side steps down here,
04:47 you've got roof rails up here.
04:49 These can actually carry a 350 kilo load now,
04:52 so they are highly functional.
04:54 Privacy glass.
04:55 Down the side here for Wildtrak, you get these hoops.
04:58 I don't know, they're kind of just stylistic.
05:01 They don't really serve a purpose.
05:02 You're not gonna wrap anything around those.
05:05 They're just there for styling.
05:06 But on the side here, you do have functional side support,
05:09 so you can wrap things around there if you need to.
05:11 Now, have a look down here.
05:12 Not the entire Ranger range,
05:14 but some specs within the Ranger range,
05:16 come with rear disc brakes,
05:18 and that's a big improvement from the drum brake setup.
05:21 It just feels so ancient and archaic.
05:23 I know it's a cost-saving measure,
05:24 but yeah, I think having an actual disc brake there
05:27 will make this just look, feel,
05:29 and even brake a whole lot better.
05:31 Now, behind here, you've got a set of leaf springs.
05:34 And I know that you're thinking,
05:35 "Well, leaf springs aren't that good
05:37 "because without load, this is gonna ride terribly."
05:39 Well, Ford managed to tune this quite well
05:41 in the previous generation of Ranger,
05:43 so I'll be interested to see
05:44 whether they've done the same thing here.
05:46 The only variant in the Ranger range
05:48 that doesn't have leaf springs is the Raptor,
05:50 which has the Fox live valve suspension
05:53 set up with coil springs.
05:54 And in addition to that,
05:55 I found some other interesting things under here.
05:56 So the exhaust pipe just dumps to the ground,
05:58 which is really just weird, I reckon.
06:01 You have a full-size spare wheel, which is good news.
06:04 Then in addition to that,
06:06 the dimensional changes to this mean
06:08 it has a 50-mil longer wheelbase,
06:10 so that is the length between the front and rear wheels.
06:13 And in addition to that,
06:14 it has a 50-mil wider track,
06:16 so it should feel more sure-footed out on the road.
06:19 And the other changes they made to that damper setup there
06:21 is that it now sits outboard of the outer side
06:24 of that chassis rail instead of being inboard.
06:27 So that should also mean
06:28 you get better lateral load improvements
06:31 when you're driving too.
06:31 So can't just say how well that works.
06:33 Over on the side here, you get a step.
06:36 So that means instead of standing on the tire
06:39 and potentially slipping and smacking your jaw
06:42 on this sturdy thing on the side here,
06:44 you can just step into here.
06:45 It holds plenty of weight.
06:47 It'll hold me and potentially Sean on there as well,
06:50 although I don't wanna break that.
06:51 But you have one of these on each side as well,
06:53 so it will make getting things out of the tray much easier.
06:56 And we're gradually making our way to the rear.
06:58 This here, blind spot radar.
06:59 So that signifies that this does have a blind spot sensor,
07:02 but has a really clever feature.
07:05 And you can program the length of your trailer.
07:07 What happens after that is that it uses the length
07:11 of the trailer to determine the blind spot
07:13 and when that comes on.
07:14 So normally when a vehicle enters your blind spot
07:17 around here, you get the light come up on the wing mirror,
07:19 whereas now it will measure where the vehicle is
07:21 with respect to your trailer.
07:23 And as a vehicle enters the zone of the trailer,
07:25 you're gonna get that blind spot warning.
07:26 Means you're not gonna accidentally merge into people
07:29 with your trailer, which is very good news.
07:31 Now, come around to the back.
07:33 So have a look at the rear.
07:34 So LED taillights here with that optional package
07:37 that this car has fitted.
07:39 Again, these help with the zone lighting
07:40 'cause they project light onto the roadway.
07:43 The road behind the vehicle.
07:44 You've got black WildTrack badge,
07:46 black Ford badge there again,
07:48 with Camry nestled into there,
07:50 and then a black 4x4 badge.
07:51 I really do like this bottom section here,
07:53 how they've styled it as an indent
07:55 and then Ranger is embossed down the bottom.
07:58 Kind of just shows you that they haven't been lazy
08:00 with the design.
08:01 They've put a lot of effort into this tailgate
08:03 just to make it look and feel a whole lot more premium
08:06 than it should be for a work ute.
08:08 Down here, you've got another step
08:10 to load yourself into the tray.
08:12 We'll call out as well with the towing.
08:14 So three and a half ton brake towing capacity.
08:16 The entire Ford Ranger range
08:18 comes with an integrated brake controller.
08:20 And that means that you have all of the accessories
08:22 you need inside the cabin
08:24 when you do go and put a tow bar on the vehicle.
08:27 So you don't need to go wire things inside the car,
08:29 which is good news.
08:30 And then in addition to that,
08:31 when you do have your trailer wired up,
08:33 you can use the FordPass app
08:35 to do a light check on the trailer.
08:37 So that means that you can stand behind it
08:39 and you don't have to have a second person.
08:41 You don't need to run back and forth
08:42 to check if all your lights are working.
08:44 It'll run through the entire sequence.
08:45 So that's a cool feature.
08:47 Now let's look at this tailgate
08:49 because this car doesn't have it for whatever reason.
08:52 I think it's a pre-production car,
08:54 but in all of the production models,
08:55 you'll find a ruler built into the tray here.
08:57 And then here is where you have clamp supports.
09:00 You can fit a clamp into there
09:01 and actually use this as a work utility if you need to.
09:06 There's a torsion bar in here as well,
09:07 which means closing this is a pretty straightforward process.
09:10 Wildtrak comes standard with this electric roller shutter.
09:14 So let me show you how that works.
09:15 We'll get the key out.
09:17 So I press this twice
09:19 and then that slides entirely out of the way.
09:22 Very impressive.
09:23 Now let's talk dimensions of the tray here.
09:25 So it is bigger now.
09:26 It actually fits a pallet in there, a Euro-sized pallet.
09:30 It's a little over 1500 millimetres long.
09:32 And to fit that Euro-sized pallet,
09:34 it's at least 800 millimetres wide
09:36 between those wheel arches.
09:37 On the payload front,
09:38 you can have just under one tonne of payload in the tray.
09:42 And then in addition to that,
09:43 you have a GVM of 3,280 kilos
09:46 and a GCM of 6,350 kilos.
09:49 I like this load management system.
09:51 So you have these sections here
09:52 that can slide out of the way.
09:54 And it means that you can adjust your tie down points
09:57 if required.
09:58 You then have inbuilt tie down points on the side there.
10:01 Then in addition to that,
10:01 you have a 12 volt outlet over here.
10:05 Now there is something interesting.
10:06 I did notice when we were having a look at Raptor,
10:09 it actually had in this section here,
10:11 whole bunch of electrical outlets
10:12 that they had to plug into 40 volt devices.
10:15 Because of Australian design rules,
10:18 we're not allowed to have that.
10:20 But I think once that issue is overcome,
10:23 you'll be able to fit that to the tray here,
10:24 which will make this even more versatile.
10:26 And finally, there is a switch in here as well,
10:29 which operates that roller shutter too.
10:31 So it's fully functional.
10:33 Now, let me know in the comment section below,
10:36 what do you reckon about the new Ford Ranger?
10:38 Do you like the design?
10:39 Do you think they've put enough features
10:41 for the exterior here in the Wildtrak version?
10:44 Let me know what you reckon in the comment section below.
10:46 So we're inside the new Ranger.
10:48 Let's start off with the keys.
10:49 So you've got unlock, lock,
10:52 and then you have a button here to open the tray.
10:56 Now this also has a remote start function,
10:58 but you use that through the app,
10:59 which I'll show you later on.
11:00 On the back there, you've got a Ford logo
11:02 and it has a proximity sensing key
11:04 with a push button just here on the steering wheel.
11:06 Might be wondering what this is.
11:07 It's a giant warning about the lithium battery
11:10 within the key, so I don't swallow that.
11:12 Now, what about this interior?
11:14 What do we think of it?
11:16 Look, I've got to tell you,
11:16 since we first exposed exclusively
11:19 that this was going to get this enormous screen
11:21 a couple of years ago,
11:22 and then also videoed this screen for you all to see,
11:25 I've just been dying to play with it
11:28 and getting a better understanding of how it works
11:31 and whether it is actually easy to use
11:33 and good to use as well.
11:35 So I'll get onto that in the infotainment section,
11:37 but it does look fantastic here inside the cabin
11:39 and it really just gives you an impression
11:41 that this is an ultra high-tech car.
11:44 In terms of the materials they've used,
11:46 it's all soft touch along the front here.
11:48 This stuff up the back is scratchier,
11:49 but it still has a rubberized element to it.
11:52 You've got a, what I believe is a speaker here.
11:54 This car has the optional B&O Play sound system,
11:57 and I think that's a speaker up the top there,
11:58 while track also has extra storage up the top here
12:00 for that stitching, which I think looks good as well.
12:03 As you move down the bottom here,
12:05 all this stuff is scratchy plastics,
12:07 but I'm not too fussed by that,
12:09 given this is a work ute,
12:11 I think that it's okay to have that sort of
12:13 scratchy material down the bottom there.
12:16 This stuff, soft to the touch
12:18 and also soft on the door as well.
12:20 How soft are they?
12:21 We've got our durometer,
12:23 tested the main surfaces in this cabin.
12:25 If you want to see how this car compares to others
12:27 that we've tested before,
12:28 look at the link in the description below.
12:30 Now, builds quality.
12:31 I think we're wonky through there.
12:35 I'm gonna actually see that flexing a bit in the center there
12:38 which is a little bit disappointing.
12:39 Maybe they have to build flex into these things
12:41 for off-road driving, that sort of thing.
12:44 That all sort of feels okay around the dashboard there.
12:47 Door test, you'll notice here the door handle
12:49 is a little bit different instead of being up here.
12:51 It's actually one of these ones that you pull towards you.
12:53 Let's see what that sounds like.
12:55 (door handle thuds)
12:56 Yeah, that sounds really nice and sturdy.
12:58 Very impressed with that.
12:59 Let's talk infotainment.
13:00 So this is probably the thing I'm most excited about
13:04 which is probably a little sad,
13:05 but I've just been wanting to have a play with this
13:07 for a while and I think that it looks imposing
13:10 when you think about the other vehicles in this segment.
13:13 None of them come even close to matching the Ranger
13:16 in terms of a tech offering.
13:17 So I'll run you through this in a bit of detail today
13:20 simply because there is a lot here to talk about
13:22 and I think it is worth covering as much as we possibly can.
13:25 So the highlight features first,
13:26 you have inbuilt satellite navigation.
13:29 Now, either way, whether you have satellite navigation
13:32 or smartphone mirroring displayed up the top there,
13:34 you can supersize it and then it basically increases in size
13:37 and drops the shortcuts to smaller size.
13:40 So this is some of the stuff you've played with recently
13:42 so it's easy to recall.
13:43 The other cool thing as well
13:44 'cause we're at the proving ground today,
13:46 I'm gonna zoom out on this and go towards the city.
13:50 And when you go towards the city,
13:52 what you have is not only your traffic overlays,
13:55 but as you zoom in,
13:56 you then get 3D overlays of buildings and stuff like that.
14:00 So if I go into the city here,
14:02 you can actually see things like Marvel Stadium,
14:06 which you can see the people.
14:08 That guy there is having a beer or something like that.
14:10 But yeah, it's just interesting stuff.
14:11 You can switch that stuff off if you want.
14:13 You can change from a 3D view to a 2D view
14:16 and so on and so forth.
14:17 So really like that setup.
14:20 It is pretty quick,
14:20 but I have found when I go through different menus here,
14:23 sometimes it is napping a little bit.
14:25 So it can be a tiny bit laggy.
14:27 So I'm gonna keep an eye on that when I do get my Raptor
14:29 just to see how that performs,
14:31 but it looks good so far.
14:33 On the radio front,
14:34 you have AM, FM and DAB plus digital radio.
14:39 In addition to that,
14:39 you also have MyTuner,
14:40 which is the ability to listen to radio stations
14:43 when you're out in the middle of nowhere.
14:44 Often when you do have digital radio running,
14:46 it drops out pretty quickly,
14:47 but the MyTuner setup allows you to use data
14:50 to listen to any radio station in Australia or globally,
14:53 which I think is a pretty cool setup.
14:54 This car I mentioned earlier
14:55 has the optional premium package,
14:57 which means you get a 10 speaker B&O sound system
14:59 with subwoofer.
15:01 Now I never thought I'd say this about a ute,
15:02 but the sound system is actually really good.
15:04 It's not gonna blow your head off
15:06 in terms of the sound performance,
15:07 but for a ute,
15:09 the sound system is fantastic
15:10 and definitely the best in the segment
15:12 in terms of just letting you listen to your beats.
15:14 On the smartphone mirroring front,
15:16 you have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
15:20 The cool thing with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
15:22 is that they're both wireless.
15:24 And again, you can change the size of those displays
15:27 if you want.
15:28 And you can see here that all works really nice
15:30 and quick as well without any complaints.
15:31 You also then have a voice recognition system
15:33 that works with the native infotainment system
15:35 or alternatively works through your smartphone,
15:37 which is a great little setup there.
15:39 And then of course,
15:40 given that wireless smartphone mirroring
15:41 uses so much of your battery,
15:43 you have wireless phone charging as well.
15:44 I'll show you what Android Auto looks like.
15:47 So again, full screen integration,
15:50 nice and fast there as well.
15:52 And that's what it looks like
15:53 when you switch between those two screens.
15:56 It's not a bad setup.
15:57 Now let's have a look at some of the other features in here.
15:59 So climate controls are down the bottom here,
16:01 but good news is you can control volume.
16:04 You can control all of your climate controls
16:05 down here as well.
16:06 So while you can use the screen,
16:08 you can just go ahead and use manual controls as well,
16:10 which I think is fantastic.
16:11 It's just, it's one less point of failure
16:13 and something you don't need a faff with
16:15 if you are in busy traffic
16:17 and you don't wanna be taking your eyes off the road
16:19 too much.
16:20 Up in this top menu here
16:22 is where you're gonna find the onboard owner's manual.
16:25 So this is kind of a trend
16:26 they're all moving to to save paper
16:28 and also give you more information that can be updated.
16:31 Sync 4 comes with the ability
16:32 to be remotely updated as well.
16:34 So if they do get any new features and stuff like that,
16:36 they can send it to the car.
16:37 And also with your manual, for example,
16:40 they can send all of those features to the car
16:42 if something new pops up that they didn't know previously.
16:45 So you can do a visual search
16:46 or you can actually search for things as you go.
16:48 So easy setup there.
16:50 Games, look at this.
16:52 You can come into sketch and using sketch,
16:56 you can draw whatever you want on the screen there.
16:57 I don't really understand what the purpose
17:00 of this is entirely,
17:01 but the fact that you can draw stuff onto the screen there
17:03 and save that for later use is kind of cool.
17:07 Now in this menu here,
17:10 this is where you can control all of the vehicle settings.
17:12 And I mentioned earlier with the towing setup,
17:15 this is how you can go ahead and enter your towing details.
17:20 And this is where you can set things
17:22 like the trailer length,
17:23 and that allows your blind spot monitoring
17:25 to light up when there is a vehicle within the blind spot.
17:28 This is also where you can control things
17:30 like the trailer gain for your brake controller as well.
17:33 That's all sort of listed in this section here.
17:35 Ambient lighting, this is where you can set the brightness
17:38 of the ambient lighting within the cabin.
17:40 You've also got things like your mobile apps.
17:43 Now, as Ford rolls more and more apps out,
17:46 this allows you to basically connect them into the screen
17:48 and download them to sit within this infotainment system.
17:52 So that will come over time as Ford develops apps for this.
17:55 Things I'm thinking of are things like HEMA maps,
17:57 so off-road maps that specifically help you find
18:00 four-wheel drive tracks and your way out
18:01 of the four-wheel drive tracks.
18:03 They should be able to roll all of that stuff out here.
18:05 You can perform system updates here as well.
18:08 Connectivity-wise, you can connect to a wireless network.
18:11 If required, you can also then project your wireless setup
18:14 through your phone to the car.
18:15 So if you do need other people to connect in,
18:17 you basically use this setup here to do that.
18:20 And then over in the controls section,
18:22 this is where you can do your zone lighting.
18:23 So when we flick this on,
18:25 you can basically set it up to run the sides.
18:28 You can run the entire car if you need to.
18:29 It's telling us here it's off to conserve battery power,
18:32 but you can configure all of that on the screen.
18:35 You have an off-road menu here as well,
18:36 and we're gonna play with this
18:38 when we do drive a little bit off-road,
18:40 but this is where you can see visually
18:41 what the car's doing in terms of the rear diff lock
18:43 and also where it's sending torque.
18:45 At the moment, it's in two-wheel drive.
18:46 Rear diff lock is open, but you can lock the diff there
18:49 and also activate your hill descent control.
18:51 And this is the forward-facing camera,
18:52 so as you do crest things,
18:54 you'll be able to see what's over the top of them,
18:56 which is very handy sometimes.
18:58 So one of the things I love the most here
18:59 is the FordPass Connect app.
19:01 So once that is open, it presents you with your vehicle,
19:06 and it allows you to connect to the vehicle remotely.
19:08 So you can see our WildTrack there.
19:10 What I can do with that is remotely start it,
19:12 lock and unlock it, check the status of it,
19:14 see whether I did in fact lock it or unlock it.
19:17 It gives me the range, where the car's located.
19:19 But down here on Features and Settings,
19:21 I can actually activate remotely zone lighting.
19:23 So once that's on, it will basically trigger
19:25 the zone lighting around the car.
19:27 And this is also where I can do
19:28 my trailer signal check as well.
19:30 So there's obviously no trailer connected at the moment,
19:33 but when there is, it allows me to cycle through
19:35 all of those different trailer settings,
19:38 and I can see visually whether that's all working or not.
19:41 Later on, when Ford does subscriptions,
19:42 which I'm sure they will to take advantage of people's money,
19:46 you can activate those through the Subscriptions menu.
19:49 And then finally, you can change all the settings here
19:51 for things like roadside assistance.
19:53 You can check on your warranty
19:54 where your local dealer is for servicing.
19:56 And then you can also send navigation destinations
19:58 to the car as well, which is a fully featured app.
20:02 There's really nothing missing from this
20:04 in terms of functionality
20:05 for an internal combustion vehicle.
20:07 So there you go, there's been a look at Ford SYNC 4 here.
20:10 In addition to all of that, ahead of the driver,
20:13 you have a digital display here.
20:15 This gives you things like your trip computer,
20:16 off-road status, you've got a digital speedo in there,
20:19 and a number of other functions as well.
20:21 Keep in mind that the Raptor is the only one
20:23 that gets the full digital display here,
20:25 which I think is a little bit disappointing.
20:27 I would have liked to see the Wildtrak
20:29 be able to be optioned with a full digital display,
20:31 given it is the top spec model ahead of the Raptor.
20:34 So anyway, it does the job, it looks fine,
20:36 but I think it could be a little bit bigger there,
20:39 even if this is the top spec model.
20:41 Let's talk about safety tech.
20:42 So you've got autonomous emergency braking,
20:45 you've got an auto-dimming rear vision mirror,
20:47 you have rear cross traffic alert,
20:49 you have trailer sway control,
20:51 you've also got the blind spot monitoring system
20:53 built into the wing mirror that covers trailer as well,
20:56 radar cruise control with stop and go function
20:58 for traffic jams, you have a lane departure warning
21:01 and a lane keeping assistant with a steering assistant.
21:04 One of the things that we're introducing to our reviews now
21:06 is I'm actually gonna test this live with you guys
21:08 in the car and we'll see how well that works
21:11 when we do go for a drive.
21:13 In addition to all of that, you have both front
21:15 and rear parking sensors with a 360 camera.
21:18 So let's have a look at the quality of that.
21:20 There it is there.
21:21 So front view, that looks pretty good.
21:23 Top down view is not too bad.
21:25 It's a bit blown out around the edges there.
21:28 Now that looks cool, so I can actually zoom in
21:30 on different sections, which is kind of interesting.
21:35 What does that do?
21:36 Oh, that's cool.
21:36 It gives me guidelines out the front there
21:38 that work with the wheel.
21:40 I suspect it'll do the same out the back.
21:43 That's weird, I've pressed back, but it stays forward.
21:47 Okay, and then you can zoom in on these other sections.
21:50 So in addition to that as well, you can go over here
21:53 and pick different things that you wanna see.
21:55 So this is our sonar.
21:56 I love that.
21:57 Look at how that indents a little bit with the green there
22:00 with our suitcase out the back.
22:02 That is a really cool setup.
22:04 And then you also have supersized wide angle view
22:07 out the front.
22:08 Then you've got the view out the back there.
22:09 So you can see it says, please subscribe.
22:11 You can see the trailer line there as well.
22:13 And then you even have a trailer hitch view too
22:15 when you are getting a little bit closer
22:17 to connecting your trailer.
22:18 So on the parking front, this is pretty awesome there
22:21 in terms of fully integrated parking features.
22:24 Moving on to practicality,
22:25 and we'll start off with your connectivity.
22:26 So down here, you've got a wireless charging pad.
22:29 You've also got a USB-A and a USB-C slot.
22:32 Up the top here, you have another USB-A slot.
22:34 That's specifically for dash camera coverage.
22:37 So it's a good idea to have that
22:38 'cause you can plug up here
22:40 and you don't need to run cables behind all this stuff.
22:42 It's just a very handy setup.
22:45 In addition to that, you also have a 12 volt outlet here
22:48 inside your glove box.
22:51 Now, what about storing your devices?
22:53 So your phone can live down there on the wireless charger,
22:56 which is great, but you can also leave your phone here,
23:00 which is interesting because it's kind of gonna be
23:03 pretty distracting if it keeps flashing on you,
23:05 but at least you can have it there
23:07 with ready access if required.
23:09 Coffee cup, coffee cup can slot into here.
23:11 It holds in nicely.
23:12 You can pull it out without any dramas.
23:14 There's teeth in there as well.
23:16 But in addition to that, you can put your coffee cup here
23:18 in front of the air vent.
23:19 There's a little cup holder that pops out.
23:21 Now, this is gonna sound a little bit probably pedantic,
23:24 but I tried to use it this morning
23:26 and the spring rate on that thing is a little bit crazy.
23:28 So when you feed the coffee into it,
23:31 gotta be careful 'cause the coffee can almost get ejected
23:33 out of there 'cause it's holding it so tightly.
23:35 So I ended up just putting the coffee down here,
23:37 but I think for bigger drinks and stuff, that should be fine.
23:40 Now, speaking of bigger drinks, water bottle,
23:42 fits into there without any problems.
23:44 Fits into the door without any problems.
23:47 We'll just try it in our little bottle holder over there.
23:50 Yeah, it fits into there fine.
23:51 And it means that if it is a hot day,
23:53 you can have that air vent blowing on your bottle
23:54 and keeping it nice and cool.
23:56 Big bottle, we'll see if that fits inside the door.
23:59 Yes, fits in there as well.
24:01 So they have thought of everything.
24:03 Other storage, you're gonna set a console here.
24:05 That thing is big as well.
24:07 So you've got plenty of storage space in there.
24:09 You have a glove box down the bottom here
24:11 that's reasonably sized.
24:13 Little container here with a grip pad
24:15 if you do wanna store your phone up there as well,
24:17 or someone else's phone, your passenger's phone perhaps.
24:20 WildTrack also gets this little nook up the top here
24:22 for bottle storage, which I like.
24:25 Then you have a sunglasses holder up here too.
24:28 While I'm up here, this is also where you'll find
24:30 your auxiliary switches.
24:31 So you can feel like a fighter pilot here
24:34 flicking all of these things on.
24:36 So six switches there to play with.
24:38 So yeah, love it.
24:39 Hook up lights and stuff.
24:42 And now your comfort.
24:43 So you have dual zone automatic climate control
24:45 up the front here, heated seats for the front row.
24:49 You also have electric seat adjustment
24:50 for both the driver and front passenger.
24:52 So you can go forwards, backwards,
24:54 backrest can go forwards, backwards.
24:56 You can lift the height of the seat as well.
24:58 And you have electric lumbar support.
25:00 And then on the seat comfort front.
25:02 So in terms of the design first,
25:03 you have WildTrack insignia there,
25:06 the sort of yellow highlights as well.
25:08 And then it's got like a rough section up there
25:09 and then soft through the middle there
25:11 with a bit of ribbing.
25:13 Now in terms of the seat comfort itself,
25:15 actually good.
25:16 They don't really hug you in like a D-Max seat, for example,
25:20 but they are pretty comfortable for a longer distance drive.
25:23 So yeah, I'm quite happy with this
25:25 in terms of seat comfort.
25:26 Oh, and steering wheel offers both tilt
25:30 and reach adjustment now.
25:32 And on the reach test,
25:33 all of this stuff is easy to reach while you're driving.
25:35 Now, before we hop into the back, check this out.
25:38 So this lifts up, give that a little pull
25:40 and then away it goes.
25:41 You've got a hook here as well
25:42 if you want to hold that into position.
25:44 Now beneath here, you've got plenty of storage.
25:46 So storage on this side, storage on that side.
25:49 This is where you can keep, I guess, valuables
25:51 if you want to leave the car parked somewhere
25:54 and you don't really want stuff to be seen.
25:55 It is one of the downsides of utes.
25:57 If you don't have a cover like that,
25:58 you kind of have to put stuff inside the cabin,
26:00 which is what you have to deal with, I guess.
26:03 You've got some tools.
26:05 And then what you can also do,
26:06 if you drop that back out of the way,
26:08 this falls and that goes flat.
26:11 So you can load things in sideways if you need to.
26:14 There are some cool features here as well.
26:15 So look at this, it says Ranger since 1983.
26:18 Cool little Easter egg.
26:20 You have the subwoofer, you have the amplifier over there,
26:23 two top tether points,
26:24 and this is where your jack is located.
26:26 Pop that back up.
26:28 Now I am hoping that given, grab handle as well,
26:32 given this has a 50 mil extra long wheelbase,
26:35 that we'll have more room here.
26:37 Look, it's okay, it's not too bad.
26:39 Knee room is okay.
26:41 Toe room is pretty good actually.
26:42 And headroom is not too bad.
26:44 I was hoping for maybe just a little bit more room here
26:47 inside the cabin.
26:48 This is fine though.
26:49 I have my seat pretty much all the way back.
26:51 So I have enough room here to sort of just kick back
26:54 and relax, which is good.
26:55 Creature comforts, you've got a USB-C port,
26:57 a USB-A port, air vents, thank goodness.
27:00 You also have map pockets in the back of the seats.
27:03 ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats.
27:05 Center armrest, so you don't just pull that,
27:07 you lift it up, it unclips,
27:09 and then you have two cup holders there.
27:11 They hold our bottle in very nice and tight.
27:14 That bottle can go inside the door as well.
27:18 Now, our window test, see what happens.
27:21 So it's not auto down, you just gotta push and hold.
27:24 Oh, boom, it goes all the way down.
27:26 Very impressive there for the new Ford Ranger.
27:28 So I've just hit the road in the Ranger.
27:34 So I mentioned earlier, this is available with a V6 diesel,
27:37 but today we're driving the two litre four cylinder diesel.
27:40 Now, this engine may seem familiar,
27:42 and that's because it was the same engine they used
27:44 in the previous generation Ranger,
27:46 but there are some changes.
27:47 So new fuel injectors,
27:49 they've also adjusted the mapping on the 10-speed automatic.
27:52 The 10-speed automatic now has a new torque converter.
27:54 There's also a different configuration
27:56 for the turbochargers as well.
27:58 So they have tweaked a lot of that
27:59 to give this a better drive experience.
28:01 And look, to be honest, I never had issues
28:04 with that first generation Ranger two litre diesel,
28:07 but if we take off from a standing start here,
28:09 we'll just see what this feels like.
28:11 It all kind of feels the same to me.
28:14 The gearbox has that similar sort of gruffness to it,
28:17 and that's one thing that I think
28:18 they do really well with Ranger.
28:19 They make the engine sound a whole lot gruffer
28:21 than it actually is, which is interesting
28:23 'cause it's only a two litre bi-turbo four cylinder.
28:26 Now, it does make 154 kilowatts of power
28:28 and 500 newton metres of torque.
28:31 Still, given this weighs, what, 2.2, 2.3 tonnes,
28:35 it is a lot of weight to be moving around.
28:37 So let's see what it feels like behind the wheel.
28:40 It's actually really good.
28:41 So the 10-speed auto is quick to shift down.
28:45 Even if I catch it napping there,
28:47 it really gets up and goes nice and fast.
28:50 I just don't have any complaints about it.
28:52 It actually just picks up and moves really quickly.
28:54 And I think that the fact that it is a 10-speed
28:56 means you're getting your fuel economy benefits,
28:58 but in addition to that, you're also getting a gearbox
29:02 that's been tuned well and doesn't hunt too much.
29:04 Now, Ford claims a combined fuel economy
29:06 of just over seven litres per 100 Ks.
29:09 We're currently sitting on 9.2,
29:12 and our driving has been probably more realistic
29:14 of what you'd expect, 'cause we did a city loop,
29:17 we did the highway loop out to the proving ground,
29:18 and then I've done some hot laps around here as well.
29:20 So about 10 litres per 100 Ks is where I think
29:23 you'll sit with this if you're using it day-to-day,
29:25 not strictly doing highway driving.
29:27 Let's talk about the ride.
29:31 One of the things that I really, really like
29:33 about Ranger and Everest is the amount of effort
29:36 that's gone into the ride and handling tune.
29:38 And here in Australia, where they do development work
29:40 for this car, it really feels at home.
29:43 It copes with our roads really well,
29:45 in and around the city, it's good.
29:46 It feels a little bit firm at times,
29:48 but that is due to the fact it is a ute,
29:50 and on the highway, it just gets along really nicely.
29:53 So we'll dial it up to 130 here for our sine waves.
29:57 Last ute we drove here was the sporty version
29:59 of the Amarok, so I'll be keen to see
30:01 how this performs over the sine waves.
30:04 So we have 130 there.
30:06 Whoa! (laughs)
30:09 That is really floaty.
30:11 Yeah, there's not a great deal of body control
30:13 at the top end there.
30:14 Unfortunately, this is one of the downsides
30:16 to having a leaf spring setup.
30:19 The way that leaf springs work is the more load
30:21 you put on them, the second you unload them,
30:24 they're like a slingshot.
30:26 They just wanna shoot whatever is holding onto them
30:28 right up, and that's the effect you're getting
30:30 there on those sine waves.
30:31 As the speed picks up, the car just wants
30:33 to stay up before coming back down.
30:36 It's not the end of the world.
30:37 It doesn't feel significantly worse than the Amarok,
30:39 the Amarok had a much sportier tune.
30:41 So it's not bad, but it's just not amazing
30:44 as the speed picks up on highway roads.
30:46 Now let's talk about road noise.
30:51 So unfortunately, the downside to the all-terrain tyre
30:54 is that you do get road noise coming into the cabin,
30:56 especially on coarse chip roads.
30:58 And I've figured out a way for us to quantify this for you.
31:01 At The Proving Ground here, we have a noise road
31:03 that has a smoother surface and then a coarse chip surface.
31:06 So what we've done is we've tested the Ranger
31:08 over both the smooth surface and the coarse chip surface
31:11 at 100 k's an hour and 80 k's an hour.
31:13 You can see the results on the screen there.
31:14 If you do wanna see how this compares
31:16 to other vehicles that we've tested,
31:17 have a look at the link in the description below.
31:19 We'll update that as we test more cars.
31:21 But hopefully you find that test useful.
31:23 Let us know in the comment section below if you do.
31:25 Okay, so here's a new test we're introducing as well.
31:31 We thought we might as well just to give you a better idea
31:33 of how some of these systems work
31:34 instead of me just telling you how they work.
31:36 So this car comes with lane departure warning
31:38 and a lane keeping assistant as well.
31:41 And you can see when it's active
31:42 'cause you've got the little steering wheel down there
31:43 and then also the lanes just next to it.
31:46 And it means that as I let go of the wheel,
31:49 it's able to guide us around our bowl here.
31:51 We've got lane markers on each side.
31:53 So this all works well.
31:55 Each car we're gonna test to see how well it holds
31:57 in each of the lanes.
31:58 The banking increases and the idea behind that
32:01 is just that we can simulate roads
32:03 where you have uneven surfaces.
32:05 And it's normally those uneven surfaces
32:07 that confuse these systems.
32:08 So we'll see how well they work.
32:09 So tick for lane one, we'll head over to lane two now,
32:13 which is slightly steeper.
32:15 Here we go, moving over to lane two.
32:19 Okay, so we're in lane two now.
32:20 And once it's centered, the light has come on.
32:23 I'm gonna let go of the wheel
32:25 just to see if that holds on its own.
32:26 So right now that is holding within that lane on its own,
32:30 which is really damn impressive.
32:32 At some point there, it's gonna come up
32:33 and tell me to take control of the wheel.
32:35 Obviously, if you're on a public road,
32:36 you're not meant to take your hands off the wheel,
32:38 but for the purposes of us testing this,
32:40 I just wanted to show you how it works.
32:41 So pass for lane two.
32:43 Let's hop up to lane three now,
32:45 which is the steepest banking we have.
32:47 And this is probably the one that's gonna cause this
32:49 to become so upset.
32:51 Now, the reason for that is it's forcing the car down
32:53 and it's having to counter the steering assistance
32:56 to keep it in the lane.
32:56 So, but look at that.
32:58 So it's keeping us in our lane at the moment.
33:02 That is really impressive.
33:04 I was not expecting that to work as well as it is.
33:06 So it is keeping us up in the steepest part
33:09 of the embankment here.
33:10 And there's that message telling me
33:11 to regain control of the steering wheel.
33:14 So that is bloody impressive.
33:16 So big pass for the Ranger on lane one, two,
33:19 and three of our bolt.
33:21 Okay, it's time for our next test.
33:23 So I wanna test right out cruise control
33:25 and also stop and go to see how the car handles situations
33:28 where the car in front comes to a stop,
33:29 such as in a traffic jam or something.
33:31 So I've got Sean in front of me.
33:32 I'm gonna give him some instructions
33:33 to come to a full stop.
33:35 We'll set our cruise at 60 Ks an hour.
33:40 There it is.
33:41 And I'll get Sean to come to a stop and then take off again.
33:43 Okay, Sean, you're good to slow down
33:45 and come to a complete stop.
33:48 So I mentioned before,
33:49 this is simulating something like a traffic jam.
33:52 I don't like using cruise control in traffic jams,
33:54 but if that's your thing
33:55 and you wanna use the stop and go,
33:56 this is how it'll work.
33:57 I'm hovering over the brake just in case here,
33:59 but Sean's coming to a stop.
34:02 We're coming to a stop as well.
34:05 Okay, all right, hold it there, Sean.
34:08 And we've come to a full stop.
34:09 Okay, take off.
34:10 See what happens.
34:12 It's taken off on its own
34:13 and it's now accelerating on its own.
34:16 40, 50, and our set marker was 60.
34:22 Look at that.
34:23 Very impressive.
34:24 So big pass there for right out cruise control
34:27 with stop and go as well.
34:30 (car engine roaring)
34:31 Now there is no sport mode,
34:33 but I'm just going to give it a little punt
34:35 around our circuit here.
34:36 We'll see what it feels like.
34:38 Okay, coming up to our first corner.
34:41 Here we go.
34:42 There is a little bit of body roll there
34:48 and we are on the all-terrains.
34:50 They don't have a great deal of grip available,
34:54 but it's actually doing a commendable job.
34:57 I can just stay in the throttle here
34:58 and it's picking up speed nicely.
35:02 Got a little bump here that normally unsettles cars.
35:05 That feels good.
35:06 Okay, so it is actually moving along
35:08 at a decent amount of pace here.
35:10 Doesn't actually feel like it's going all that fast,
35:15 but when you look at the speedo,
35:16 it's actually getting along
35:17 about as quick as some of the non-utes
35:21 we've driven around here.
35:22 We'll see what it's like on this back section.
35:25 (car engine revving)
35:28 Speed picks up a bit.
35:31 The brakes feel great.
35:32 So rear disc brakes there.
35:33 I can lean on that pedal
35:35 and it gives me more than enough feedback.
35:38 And I feel confident in the brake pedal as well.
35:40 It doesn't sort of feel like it's giving way on me
35:42 and it feels like a proper four-wheel disc brake setup.
35:46 All right, pound the throttle onto the back straight here.
35:49 Here we go.
35:50 All right, so it's running out of puff there a little bit,
35:53 but we are picking up speed.
35:55 It's actually doing okay along the back here.
35:57 We're sort of nudging the kind of speed you'd expect
36:00 in some of the sort of hot hatch type cars.
36:02 So yeah, look, it's actually not that bad.
36:05 Pretty impressed with how it handles,
36:06 despite its size, its weight,
36:09 and the fact that it's running on all-terrain tyres as well.
36:11 This actually feels like a sporty ute
36:14 and it's not even the sporty version of it.
36:16 Now Ford doesn't have an official zero to 100 time,
36:22 but this is how it went up against our stopwatch.
36:24 So this is another test we're gonna start doing now as well.
36:40 And this has kind of been the video
36:42 where we're introducing all of these tests.
36:44 And let me know in the comment section below
36:45 whether you do like them or not.
36:46 We wanna see how fast each car will go in reverse.
36:49 It's just something I'm always being curious about.
36:51 So I've got a camera on the speedo here.
36:54 We're just gonna go straight back
36:55 and we'll see what happens.
36:56 Jeez, it takes off okay.
36:59 Okay, there we go.
37:01 42 kilometres an hour is where we're maxed out at.
37:06 But it sounds like it's actually on the limiter there at 42.
37:09 So yeah, not too bad.
37:10 And it picks up really quickly when you step on it.
37:13 So yeah, impressive, 42 k's an hour there
37:15 in reverse for the Ranger.
37:17 Now let's talk visibility.
37:20 So this is a big ute,
37:21 but ultimately it doesn't actually feel
37:23 all that big behind the wheel.
37:24 The seating position's great.
37:25 I can see clearly down the front edge of the bonnet there.
37:28 And I can also see the wig mirrors.
37:30 They are ginormous.
37:31 So I get great visibility down the side of the vehicle.
37:34 Got the blind spot monitor there
37:35 that covers the trailer of course as well.
37:37 Visibility out the back is good too.
37:39 The headrests don't really get in the way of things there.
37:41 And you've got a litany of cameras and sensors here as well.
37:44 So it's not entirely difficult to park,
37:46 which I think is the best news out of everything here.
37:49 Righto, let's do a little bit of off-road driving.
37:54 I'm keen to see whether they've improved Ranger
37:57 in terms of how it performs off-road.
37:59 So this is our new off-road course.
38:01 So many new things in this video.
38:03 So it's pretty straightforward,
38:04 but I'm gonna take you up a steep ascent
38:07 that's quite sort of muddy and soft at the top.
38:09 We'll do a hill descent control.
38:11 We've got a river crossing, some rocks.
38:13 So it's got a little bit of everything.
38:14 So let's start off with all of the specs here.
38:17 So the four-cylinder version of the Ranger
38:19 comes just in two-wheel drive.
38:21 So when you're driving it normally, it is just two high.
38:23 The V6 versions all have the ability to drive in four high
38:27 on sealed and unsealed surfaces.
38:29 Whereas this, you can only use it in four high
38:32 if it is an unsealed surface.
38:34 Now, if that doesn't make sense to you,
38:35 click up here to watch our video
38:37 where we explain why that's the case.
38:39 And that means you are gonna have to switch
38:40 between the different drive modes
38:42 to make all of that happen.
38:43 In terms of the off-road specs,
38:44 you've got over 230 millimetres of ground clearance.
38:47 You've also got a 30 degree approach angle
38:50 and a 25.6 degree departure angle.
38:53 So they're the angles that you can approach a face with
38:55 at the front and also at the back.
38:57 So that gives you a bit of an idea
38:59 of how much room you have to work with.
39:00 Keep in mind as well that if you do have a tow bar
39:02 on the car, it is going to reduce
39:04 your departure angle as well,
39:05 'cause it's gonna collect every single time
39:07 you go up and down steep inclines.
39:09 Weighting depth, 800 millimetres, which is pretty decent.
39:12 And you also have a rear differential lock
39:15 and the ability to go into four-wheel drive low range.
39:18 So let's give this a crack.
39:19 I'm gonna press this button here.
39:21 That brings up the four-wheel drive menu.
39:22 That gives us the camera that looks over the front.
39:24 Also gives us an idea of what the car is doing.
39:26 Let's go hardcore here.
39:27 I'm gonna stick this into four-wheel drive low range.
39:32 So the shift is in progress.
39:33 It comes up there telling you what it is doing.
39:36 Then in addition to that,
39:37 I'm gonna lock the rear diff as well,
39:39 just to be on the safe side.
39:41 Go into drive, also change the drive mode.
39:43 So we've got normal, eco, towing,
39:47 slippery, mud, ruts, and then sand.
39:50 So we'll just go to mud and ruts,
39:51 'cause it is quite muddy up the top there.
39:53 And we will see exactly what happens here.
39:57 So keep in mind, it turns off traction
40:00 and stability control when you do lock the rear diff
40:03 and go into low range.
40:04 Parking sensors noise, there's a button there for that.
40:07 Switch that off.
40:08 I do like with this camera,
40:09 I'm able to see the path that we're taking,
40:12 especially as we get closer to the top here.
40:13 A little bit of slip there.
40:15 Gee, it is climbing so effortlessly.
40:17 That's one of the big benefits of the all-terrain tire.
40:20 It means that it can really dig in
40:22 and climb up there without too many problems.
40:24 So we've got a bog hole just here.
40:26 I'm gonna take that with a little bit of pace.
40:28 All right, and here's our descent.
40:31 So I'm gonna engage hill descent control as we crest this.
40:35 So again, I'm able to use that camera.
40:37 This is so cool to see exactly where I need to go.
40:39 Okay, so I'm gonna let go of the brake.
40:42 You can actually adjust the descent speed
40:44 using the cruise control switch.
40:46 That's in the lowest setting now.
40:48 And I can increase the speed of that as we go.
40:51 This is seriously impressive.
40:55 It's just completely idiot proof.
40:58 So even literally a novice can drive this.
41:00 Now, novice can drive this
41:04 and really not wind up in any dramas.
41:06 And to think that the Raptor is even crazier still
41:10 with a front diff lock as well is pretty bloody awesome.
41:13 So, all right, let's roll around to our river crossing.
41:17 Okay, so this is our river crossing.
41:20 To get there, we've got a couple of obstacles.
41:22 So we have this little hill here
41:24 that drops into quite a muddy rut
41:28 that we don't wanna fall off to the left side in.
41:34 So we're gonna go through that.
41:36 And then we turn left here to go into our bog hole.
41:39 So at the moment, it has a depth of about 650 to 700 mil.
41:45 So we're sort of getting close to the upper limits
41:48 of the range here as we descend into it.
41:52 Here we go.
41:54 Camera is currently submerged.
41:58 Okay, here we go.
41:59 So we've got a concrete climb out the other end.
42:02 Don't wanna hit that too hard.
42:05 Okay, so again, that camera's gonna come in handy
42:08 for cresting this.
42:09 Oh man, that is so impressive.
42:13 It is seriously effortless.
42:15 Look, I know that this terrain
42:16 isn't the hardest terrain in the world,
42:19 but to be honest, this is probably about as hard
42:21 as an average person is going to drive.
42:23 And to think that it can do all of that
42:25 without any problems is pretty damn good.
42:27 So last thing we're gonna try is our rocks,
42:30 just to see how it goes for clearance.
42:31 There is a sort of protected underbody at the front there.
42:34 So if you do hit any rocks,
42:35 it's not going to rip the sump out of the car.
42:37 Then in addition to that,
42:38 this also has load rated recovery points.
42:41 So if you do need to get snatched out,
42:42 you're not gonna rip the front end off the car as well.
42:45 Okay, so we've got our rocks here.
42:50 Yeah, look, I mean, I'll leave this in low range
42:53 for the moment.
42:54 I've unlocked the rear diff.
42:55 I'm just keen to see how it performs here
42:57 in terms of brake modulation and throttle control.
43:01 (car engine roaring)
43:03 It's actually really good.
43:04 So my strategy with rocks is just to ride the brake
43:07 and the throttle at the same time.
43:08 So it gives you just a little bit more control
43:10 as you're going over things.
43:11 A little touchdown there at the front.
43:13 'Cause what happens is if you're on and off the brake,
43:16 the car will surge constantly
43:18 and you'll end up potentially getting a bit too much
43:20 momentum and lacking the front end of the car.
43:22 So look, this does feel really comfortable in here as well.
43:25 I'm not getting thrown around too much.
43:28 We only had that little touchdown at the start there.
43:30 And that's probably actually pretty damn good, so.
43:34 (laughs)
43:37 This is awesome.
43:38 Very impressed with this off-road.
43:39 So the new Ford Ranger, look, to be honest,
43:48 I knew it was gonna be good,
43:49 but I wasn't expecting it to be this good.
43:51 And I don't know, this kind of sounds like an add-on.
43:53 I feel bad about that,
43:54 but this is well and truly the best ute in the segment.
43:58 And I think it's gonna be the best ute in the segment
43:59 for a long time,
44:00 because looking at the horizon of things to come
44:03 from other manufacturers,
44:04 there is nothing that is even close to this yet
44:08 or on the horizon.
44:09 So yeah, look, I don't know.
44:10 I thought that perhaps the four-cylinder
44:12 wasn't going to be anywhere near as good as the V6,
44:14 but to be honest,
44:16 if you are faced with waiting six or 12 months for a V6
44:19 or you can pick up a four-cylinder, just get that.
44:21 It is still an excellent engine
44:23 and the refinements have made to it
44:24 really makes it drive great.
44:26 In terms of the negatives,
44:27 so I will touch on a few things.
44:28 So it is disappointing that the four-cylinder
44:31 is still a two-wheel drive
44:32 and can't be used in four high-on-sealed surfaces.
44:35 You can do that with the V6 models.
44:36 I really think they just need to do that
44:38 and integrate it into here
44:39 and it would really complete that package.
44:41 Or perhaps that's the reason they force people
44:43 to go to the V6.
44:44 And then in addition to that,
44:45 the infotainment screen is great.
44:47 The system is fantastic,
44:48 but it can be really laggy at times,
44:50 which I'm, I don't know,
44:51 I just don't know why they haven't
44:53 just thrown this giant CPU at it.
44:55 So it just runs nice and fast and crisp.
44:57 So that is a little bit disappointing as well.
44:59 But outside of that, this is incredibly hard to fault.
45:02 And I don't know, it just makes me,
45:04 whoop, I wrapped it even more.
45:06 So I can't wait for that.
45:07 Now let me know in the comments section below,
45:09 did you enjoy this video?
45:10 We have a stack of other Ford Ranger content coming.
45:12 So make sure you subscribe to the channel
45:14 so you can see all of that
45:15 and you'll get notified when it comes through.
45:17 If you did enjoy this video,
45:18 please make sure you share it with your mates
45:19 and also hit that like button as well.
45:22 But until next time, take it easy.