2018 Ford Ranger
The Ford Ranger has always been in the shadows of its bigger brother, the F150 pickup. Especially over in North America, where the Ranger was discontinued. But over the years, Ford has slowly nurtured this mid-sized pickup, slowly refining it and improving upon an established formula to create one of the best pickups money can buy today.
While it might not be the dominating force in the pickup truck race, it is certainly enjoying a fair share of the market over in the UK. In fact, currently, I think the Ranger may be the best looking compact pickup available today.
Coming home
Currently, there isn’t much information available, most of it is just speculation. One of the biggest bits of news though, is the fact that the 2018 Ford Ranger marks the Ranger’s reentry into the north-american market. Technically, it’s will be on sale during 2019, but Ford expects the new Ranger to be in production during mid-2018.
The new Amercian Ford Ranger will enjoy a minor facelift over the previous T6 Ranger. Reported changes include a new fascia, grille, and headlights. Powertrain details are scarce and mostly conjectures, but it’s surmised to have the 3.2-litre 5-cylinder diesel found in the Transit.
So, why the sudden reintroduction? Basically, Ford found out that there’s a noticeable resurgence in the interest of mid-sized pickup. There’s a big, still fresh market out there for this segment right now, and Ford decided to pounce on the opportunity.
But that’s not interesting, what we’re here for is the Ranger that probably only folks over at Oceania will get to enjoy. The Ford Ranger Raptor.
A ranger, more sinister
Details are even scarcer for this ‘ultimate performance off-road truck’. All we got were a video of the Ranger Raptor throwing some serious dirt and staying on the edge in the Australian Outback. But that was enough to get us all hyped up, and now we want one.
From the video, the Ranger Raptor will likely boast seriously beefed up suspension components that will definitely handle ravenous terrains. If that’s not quite enough, from the way the Ranger Raptor picks up pace and quite literally leap over bumps even on quite chunky off-road tyres, it’ll feature a torque centric engine.
Why is this such a big deal? Well, initially, we shrugged it off as a concept to ‘show what Ford can do’. But as Ford themselves have confirmed plans for production, it garnered massive interest. I guess that makes it more disappointing that it’s likely that only Australia and New Zealand will get one.
Current proposition
With that said, if you are someone who’s, say, living in the UK, it’s no breaking news. If you are considering a pickup truck, the current well-appraised truck with the Ford Ranger fender flares might already be your ideal choice. But you might not be quite ready to take the plunge yet.
There are certainly some flaws to the pickup truck, but companies have been manufacturing products to make pickups more livable and endurable as a daily driver. A solid example are trunk canopies for pickups. Say, you don’t want to get your cargo soaked because the British weather is quite unpredictable, the solution? Trunk canopies.
In a sense, they do transform the pickup truck into a SUV. However, you retain all the towing and weight capacity of a pickup truck. Having a locked enclosure will also assure that your load doesn’t get nicked. Fibreglass is a common material used to fabricate canopies, and here’s all you need to know about fibreglass canopies.
Verdict
Currently, the Ford Ranger is one of the more refined pickups available on the market today. However, it owes ride comfort to a brutish, less sophisticated suspension setup. If you want something capable off-road though, the Ford Ranger is said to drive like a car with cheat codes off the road, which is quite high praise.
There are also a lot of options available for the Ranger to suit individual needs on both ends of the spectrum. From the basic workhorse XL to the full blown gravel eating 4×4 WildTrak, so there ought to be the model for you.
What do you think? The new Ranger is shaping up to be interesting news, or would you rather wait for the 2020 Ford Bronco? Write your thoughts down below!
