SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8
This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.
My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.
This is a launch report. In other words, it's simply a new model announcement. The driving experience was limited to a short drive over a prepared course chosen to make the product look good. We can therefore not tell you what it will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical it is, or how reliable it will be. A very brief first impression is all we can give you until such time as we get an actual test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.
Posted: 18 October 2015
• More power for 2.2-litre TDCi
• Improved economy for flagship diesel
• Petrol Base models retained
• In-car connectivity expanded
• Luxury car safety features for Wildtrak double-cabs
• Early transmission issues resolved
Ever wished you could dump that expensive European luxury car from your personal fleet, but your conscience won’t let you because your family’s safety comes first?
Now you can; 2016 Ford Ranger Wildtrak double-cab pickups, with their special colour schemes, 3.2-litre Duratorq diesel motor and six-speed automatic transmission, offer seven airbags, adaptive cruise control with forward alert and heads-up display, lane keeping aid with lane departure warning, driver impairment monitor, front and rear park assist and tyre pressure monitoring.
Not impressed yet? All models above Base specification have ABS brakes with EBA and EBD, and ESP with traction control, adaptive load control, trailer sway control and hill launch assist. Four-by-fours have hill descent control as well.
Other Wildtrak features include automatic headlights and wipers, electro-chromatic rearview mirror, dual channel electronic climate control, powered windows and folding mirrors, dual 4.2” TFT screens in the instrument cluster and the feature-packed SYNC®2 system that incorporates voice control, multimedia functions and Bluetooth phone. There’s a reversing camera for reassurance and trailer hitching.
It boasts an intuitive eight-inch touchscreen for easy navigation between phone, multimedia and climate control functions. A flattened command structure allows up to 10 000 verbal instructions to be executed more seamlessly. That’s whether accessing the contact list to make a hands-free call, selecting a music track via song, artist, album, genre or playlist, or reading incoming text messages.
Connectivity ports include an SD card slot and two USBs, or create your own mobile Wi-Fi hotspot with a USB modem or by tethering a smart phone using Bluetooth. SYNC®2 also downloads photos you can set as wallpaper on the eight-inch touchscreen.
For lesser models, Base and XL-Plus Rangers are fitted with standard audio systems, with first-generation SYNC® as an option on XL-Plus. Moving up, XL has Bluetooth and voice activation while XLS offers SYNC® as standard.
All ranges above Base sport a sophisticated car-like dashboard that includes an eye-catching new instrument cluster with the twin colour screens mentioned earlier. They can be customised to provide a wide range of ancillary information; including switching between the digital rev. counter and off-road driving gauges on 4x4 models, accessing the car’s infotainment and phone systems and displaying the multi-function computer.
Other changes include variable ratio, electrically power assisted, steering for easy manoeuvring in tight spots and improved road feel at freeway speeds; an electronically controlled transfer case on 4x4 models; reprogrammed suspension settings for improved comfort and handling, and easier shifting on manual ‘boxes. The electric power steering not only reduces noise but cuts fuel consumption by as much as three percent.
Here’s something for those sages who reckon that: “Rangers are all very well, but their gearboxes are troublesome.” Jeremy Pillay, Ford SA’s product development manager assured us that, while early manual transmissions did experience some shifting issues, the problem was traced to supplier quality control, and fixed, back in 2011. The 2.2-litre, 4x4 diesel Rangers we drove on this launch shifted as smoothly and easily as most saloon cars do.
What has not changed is Ranger’s 230 mm ground clearance, approach and departure angles of 28- and 25 degrees and its 800 mm wading depth on 4x4 models (600 mm on 4x2s).
Thirty-three derivatives span four engines, three body styles, three gearboxes, 4x2 and 4x4 drive trains and six trim levels. The introductory engine (Base models only) is a 2.5-litre petrol motor putting out 122 kilowatts and 226 Newton metres. Next is a Struandale-built 2.2 diesel producing either 88 kW and 285 Nm, or 118 kW and 385 Nm.
The latter has just received a boost of 8 kW and 10 Nm to bring it up to these levels. Finally, the other locally made diesel, the 3.2-litre, 147 kW / 470 Nm, five-cylinder unit was treated to a new exhaust gas recirculation system that helps to improve fuel efficiency by as much as 18 percent.
Body choices consist of single- super- and double-cabs, while trim levels are Base, XL, XL-Plus, XLS, XLT and Wildtrak. Gearboxes include five-speed manual on Base models, a six-speed manual at all other levels and an improved version of Ford’s six-speed automatic on selected upper-range versions.
We could give you a laborious breakdown of the features and engine choices available at each level, but you would only get bored and stop reading. Go to your dealer and ask for a brochure instead. Or, better yet, download one from the Ford SA website: http://www.ford.co.za/e-brochure
We were let loose in a selection of 2.2-litre, 4x4 diesels with six-speed manual boxes, 3.2-litre XLT double-cabs with automatic transmission, and top-of-range Wildtrak 4x4 automatics. Depending on spec’, interior fittings ranged from very acceptable to OTT modern, while ride and handling quality was car-like throughout.
We tackled a privately owned off-road course out in the boonies at the wild end of the Karoo before lunch, then it was “up the rocky mountain” to get ice-cream for dessert. Newbies experienced heart-in-throat syndrome occasionally, but the Rangers didn’t put a wheel wrong anywhere.
Good to know: All models are sold with a four-year / 120 000 km warranty with three-years / unlimited km roadside assistance, a five-year / unlimited km corrosion warranty and a five-year / 100 000 km service plan (excluding Base models). Servicing is at 20 000 km intervals on all derivatives.
All 4x4 vehicles sold include a free 4x4 training course.
On-sale date is November 2015, with prices ranging from R212 900 to R596 900.
Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored press launch
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.
Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8