Ford Ranger review 2020 Is this the utetruckbakkie to buy this year
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TechTranscript
00:00G'day, I'm Paul. Behind me is a ute. It is the Ford Ranger. What's a ute? You know, Australians,
00:05we love to shorten everything. It's a utility, so we call it a ute. In other markets, you'd
00:09call it a pickup truck, a truck, or if you're in South Africa, a backy. There's all these
00:13sorts of different names for them. But in Australia, the Toyota Hilux and the Ford Ranger
00:16are two of the best-selling cars every single year. In the States, the F-150 is often the
00:22best-selling car as well. So people have an affinity with dual-cab utes because they can
00:27work and then play. This one here is called the Ford Ranger FX4. It's a special edition
00:33of the Ranger. It kicks off from just over $63,000, so it's getting right up there in
00:38terms of pricing. But it comes with all these bells and whistles that I'm going to run you
00:41through. Today, we're going to do a detailed review, but we're not going to do any off-roading
00:44or towing. It is just what this car is like to live with as a daily driver. Now, if you
00:49are impatient, you can skip ahead to other parts of this review by using the time codes
00:54on the screen, or if you're on YouTube, just use the chapters below. And if you haven't
00:58done so already, I'd love it if you could hit subscribe and also press the bell icon.
01:01That'll tell you every single time we drive something new.
01:05Let's talk exterior. The FX4 comes in five different colours, and all but white and red
01:10are $650 extra. Have a look at this. So FX4 comes with a stack of these black highlights,
01:16but I quite like what Ford's done here. The Ranger looks really tough. Ever since this
01:20car was released on the T6 platform, it's always had that sort of gruff appearance to
01:24it, and it doesn't look as soft as some utes in this segment. I love what they've done
01:28here with the grille. If you run your hands along that, that's got some nice sharp edges
01:31to it, and then you have a couple of intakes on the side here, and then a big gaping grille
01:35down the bottom. You get front and rear parking sensors, and let's look at some of the off-road
01:39specs. 800mm of wading depth, so that is the depth you can reach with water before you
01:44start touching any electronics or parts that don't like water. You have an approach angle
01:49of 29 degrees, that is the angle of the face you can approach with the front of the car
01:53before you hit anything. A departure angle of 21 degrees, and that makes this a pretty
01:58serious off-roader in addition to that rear differential lock. Let's talk headlights.
02:02Full LED headlights with LED daytime running lights. You've got fog lamps tucked in under
02:07there, and then come around the side of the car. Down here you've got 18-inch alloy wheels.
02:12This is the 3.2-litre, so the engine that you have changes the badge on the side here.
02:17You have a 2.0-litre available as well, but this is the 3.2. Black highlights here, more
02:21black. You get the FX4 sign writing on the side of the car. Some side steps there, come
02:27around to the back. A big old roll bar there as well for the FX4. Another FX4 badge. This
02:33one's 3D as well, it sticks out, looks pretty cool. Down here, tow bar, 3,500kg of braked
02:39towing capacity, and I love this. So, normal tray, but what they've installed in here as
02:45part of the Ranger update is, it's a torsion bar effectively, so that when you close it,
02:50instead of having to put a lot of effort into closing this, you can literally lift it with
02:53one finger, and then shut it. So, pretty impressive setup there. What about load space? You've
02:58got just under 1,550mm of load length, just over 1,550mm of load width, and then in between
03:06the wheel arches you have a little over 1,100mm of space. And then to top it all off, 993kg
03:13of payload, so it's just under 1 tonne. Plus, you've also got two cup holders, required
03:18for those dare ice coffee drinks. Over here, you've got hooks, a 12V outlet, and then lights
03:23built into the bar. So, we're inside the Ford Ranger, and while this model has been out
03:27for a little while now, Ford has progressively updated the interior to keep it looking nice
03:32and modern. You may remember when the first T6 Ranger came out, it had that poxy little
03:35screen up the top there, and it just looked ridiculous. So, fast forward to today, and
03:39they've really done a good job with getting soft-touch plastics and soft-touch materials
03:43in the car. I'm going to test that in a second, and just making it look nice and passenger
03:48car-like. It doesn't feel like you're in a work office. This feels like you're in a car,
03:53but you can use it for work as well. So, how soft is the soft-touch material around the
03:58car? We have a durometer, which is a hardness tester. This is just something we use for
04:02fun because motoring journalists always go on about soft-touch materials, so we want
04:05to put a number against it. It measures from 0 to 100, where 0 is soft and 100 is hard.
04:11Let's try it out on that dashboard. Yeah, it's not bad. It's in the 60s there. Let's
04:16try this centre armrest as well. That feels really soft. Wow! I haven't seen a car that
04:21soft before. I wasn't expecting it to be in a dual-cab ute, so yes, it is presented nicely.
04:26What about the build quality? Look, it actually doesn't feel too bad. This is a little bit
04:31wonky, but it's not too bad. This car is built in Thailand, as with most of the dual-cab
04:36utes that are sold in Australia, but they tend to all be put together pretty nicely.
04:40Let's talk infotainment. One of the reasons the Ford Ranger is so popular with tradies
04:44and people that live out of their cars for work is the infotainment system. Ford uses
04:49SYNC 3 in the FX4. It's an 8-inch screen and it's a colour touchscreen. It comes with Apple
04:55CarPlay and Android Auto, but it is a wired system. It's not wireless. I'll show you what
05:00that looks like. It takes up the entire screen and it's quite a nice integration that works
05:03really well. And then if we jump back to the main infotainment system, I'll disconnect
05:07CarPlay. You have native in-built navigation with traffic. That works really well. It's
05:11nice and fast. And then you have context menus down the bottom here that allow you to switch
05:15between audio, climate, phone. In the audio menu, you have AM, FM, DAB plus digital radio
05:21built into it. And then you have the ability to integrate mobile apps into the car. Ford
05:26is also working on FordPass Connect, which allows you to remotely connect to the car.
05:30That is coming soon. And if you are looking to buy a Ford Ranger brand new, I would actually
05:35hold out until this tech is integrated, because it means that you'll be able to use your phone
05:39to remotely start the car and check on the car from wherever you are at the time. And
05:44then in the settings menu, you do have a valet mode as well, which hides all your recent
05:47calls and settings and that kind of thing. If you do want a more in-depth walkthrough
05:51of Ford SYNC 3 infotainment system, click up here to have a watch of that.
05:55OK, let's talk about the other features that come standard with the FX4. You get dual zone
05:59climate control, an auto-dimming rear vision mirror. You get folding side mirrors, standard
06:05cruise control, but you can get radar cruise control as part of a tech pack and also a
06:09self-parking function. And then you have a voice recognition feature here that works
06:13really well and can also pass commands through to your phone. You also get a 12-volt outlet
06:17and two USB ports. Then ahead of the driver, you get two LCD displays on either side of
06:22the speedometer that display things like your trip computer and warnings. Then in terms
06:26of four-wheel drive equipment, you have a low range transmission. You have a rear differential
06:30lock, a hill descent control. On the safety front, you have autonomous emergency braking
06:34that detects pedestrians as well. There's also a reverse camera with a zoom function
06:38for connecting a trailer. And what does the key look like? Here it is. So you have unlock,
06:43lock, a blank button down there, and then on the back, you have the Ford logo. It's
06:48proximity sensing, so you keep it in your pocket, grab the door handle to unlock it
06:52and then push button start. How practical is the Ranger? Where can you put your phone
06:56and other bits and pieces? So phone, let's see if it'll fit down the front there. Yes,
07:00it fits a big phone, which is kind of cool. It's almost impossible to get out though.
07:04I've got to use my little fingers. There we go. You can also stick it in here too. So
07:09plenty of places for your phone. What about bottles of dear iced coffee? You can fit that
07:14in there perfectly. You've got those little teeth on the side and then inside the door,
07:19you have stacks of room for, you can even put two bottles side by side and then other
07:24odds it ends in here. You have a multi-tiered center console. It's quite deep as well. Plenty
07:31of room in there. And it also looks like it's air conditioned, which is kind of cool. And
07:35then a glove box. Let's have a look at the side of that. That's actually pretty good
07:38as well with a storage slot for your manual. So you have plenty of room either side. And
07:43then your sunnies live in there. What about comfort? If you're going to be spending a
07:48lot of time here, you want it to be a nice place. This seat feels really good. Only problem
07:53is it's all manually adjustable, no electric adjustment, which is a bit disappointing for
07:56a $60,000 something dual cab ute. Steering wheel sits nice in the hand too. No paddle
08:01shifters though.
08:02So before I get in here and show you how much room and stuff there is, check this out. So
08:06you can drop this entirely. This is where your jack is located. You also have top tether
08:10points here. Pop this back up and then you have storage under here. This is a really
08:17big storage box. So I'll show you what you can fit. That's a bottle. Easily fits in
08:21there, including that one as well. There's also a pouch in here, a bit like a kangaroo's
08:26pouch.
08:27Okay. What about space? Let me hop in. Yeah, it's okay. I have my seat in my regular driving
08:35position, which is a little bit far back. So you can see my knees are kind of digging
08:39into there. I've got no toe room either. So it's a pretty cramped space, but it is okay
08:44for short journeys or if you've got the kids in the back.
08:47Speaking of kids, ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats. Center armrest here with two
08:52cup holders. That kind of only just fits in there. And then you have bottle storage in
08:59the door as well. I love this. So you have a 240 volt outlet here for charging laptops
09:05and other devices, and then a 12 volt outlet adjacent to it. So lots of power options.
09:10Mat pockets in the back seat as well. And just overall, not a bad place to be seated,
09:15although it is just a tiny bit cramped.
09:19We've hit the road in the Ranger and that gruff noise is the engine under the bonnet.
09:24I reckon it's a really good sounding diesel. It's a 3.2 litre, five cylinder turbocharged
09:29diesel engine. It makes 147 kilowatts of power and 470 newton metres of torque. Now this
09:37is of course also available with the new two litre twin turbocharged diesel engine
09:42and that thing produces 157 kilowatts of power and 500 newton metres of torque. So it is
09:47probably the better option if you are going to be towing over this engine. This engine
09:52still also has the older six speed automatic transmission as opposed to the 10 speed that's
09:57in the new two litre.
09:58Now in terms of fuel economy, it is going to sip through 8.9 litres per 100 kilometres,
10:04but in reality you are going to be closer to around the 10 litre per 100 kilometre mark.
10:08Right now we are on around 10.3 litres per 100 kilometres. So you don't really have any
10:13drive modes to choose from, but there is a sport mode. So if you push the gear lever
10:17across to sport, it drops down a gear and makes everything a little sharper. So if I
10:21kick it now, it sort of has a little bit of urge to it. It actually feels pretty fun behind
10:27the wheel. I don't know, dual cab units aren't meant to be fun, but I just love the noise
10:31this engine makes. It just feels like it's always willing and ready to go.
10:35The interesting thing with the Ranger compared to something like the V6 Amarok is that it's
10:39two wheel drive permanently, but to go into four wheel drive high, you have to be on an
10:44unsealed surface. Otherwise you'll bind up those gears. Same story with low range. That
10:48means if you do come to a stop on a hill or something like that, and then you give the
10:52throttle a punch, it just loses traction really easily. So if you don't have a load over the
10:58rear, you're going to hear that noise a whole lot of time.
11:01If you do enjoy your four wheel driving, all of this stuff here is really idiot proof.
11:05So going into four high or four low, it gives you instructions on what to do. Same story
11:10with engaging the differential lock. It will tell you when it can and can't do it. And
11:13the good thing here is that a lot of utes in this segment require you to be in a four
11:16high or four low range to engage the rear diff lock. This works in two high as well.
11:21So it means you don't have to faff about with things. You just need that little bit of extra
11:24traction. Let's talk about the ride. Unlike the Raptor, which uses coil springs at the
11:29rear, the Ranger range, the rest of them that aren't the Raptor, use leaf springs.
11:33The tune here is actually pretty good. Unlike a lot of other utes that require weight over
11:39the rear axle for a leaf spring to feel comfortable, Ford's engineered that compliance into it
11:44so that when you're driving along, everything feels good. There's never a point when it
11:48feels like it's too firm or too soft. It just sort of sits there in the middle and doesn't
11:52pick up a lot of the ruts and the imperfections you'll find on some road surfaces.
11:56Same translates to the steering. It's not too light, but it's not too heavy. So you
11:59still feel like you're doing a little bit of work, but it's not going to give you fatigue
12:04if you're parking all day long in the city. Turning circle comes in at 12.7 metres, which
12:09is a pretty big turning circle, but that's the case with a lot of utes. They need a big
12:14turning circle given they have hardware on the front axle for that four wheel drive system.
12:18What about road noise? There isn't a great deal that comes into the cabin, but it is
12:22a noisy diesel engine. Every time you lean on the throttle, you can hear it sort of
12:25thrumming through, and if you really get stuck into it, it makes a whole lot of noise.
12:29But it's not a bad noise. I quite enjoy the noise of this diesel engine, so it's not that
12:33big of a deal. Visibility is excellent out the front. I can see everything. Out the back,
12:38it's really good as well. There's really big wing mirrors as well, so I can see clearly
12:41down the side of the car. I really feel like I'm in command here. I'm in control of it.
12:45I think that's secretly why a lot of people love driving these things.
12:49There is a reason so many people buy the Ford Ranger. It is such a good car to drive. I
12:55say car because it kind of just feels like a car. It doesn't really feel like a utilitarian
12:59work truck. It actually feels like a passenger car. So, it is really good to drive. It rides
13:04really well, and you can use it as a work vehicle and a play vehicle. So, play stuff
13:09on the weekend with the family and then work during the week. So, it really doesn't have
13:12many downfalls. The only thing I would recommend, though, is picking the 2.0-litre instead of
13:16the 3.2. That engine's got a bit more torque, a really nice gearbox, the 10-speed auto,
13:20and it just drives really well. And it is worth pointing out we have an exclusive story
13:24on the 2022 Ford Ranger. You can click up here to have a look at that. That'll give
13:28you a bit more detail on what is coming for this car and the design. But in the meantime,
13:32take one for a test drive because they have done a really good job with this, plus Australian
13:35engineering. So, win-win. Let me know in the comments below. Did you buy a Ranger? What
13:38do you think of it? Are you enjoying it? What are the downfalls? What do you like about
13:42it? If you did enjoy this video, don't forget to hit the like button, follow it up with
13:45a subscribe, and also press the bell icon so you can find out every single time we drive
13:49something new. But until next time, take it easy.