SA Roadtests
South Africa
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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. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.
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Posted: March 15, 2021
The numbers
Price: R811 800
Engine: 1996 cc, CRDI, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder with twin turbochargers
Power: 157 kW at 3750 rpm
Torque: 500 Nm between 1500 and 2000 rpm
RPM at 120 km/h in 10th: 1800
Zero to 100 km/h: 10.5 seconds*
Maximum speed: 170 km/h*
Real life fuel consumption: About 10.0 l/100 km
Turning circle: 12.7 metres
Tank: 80 litres
Payload: 860 kg
Tare: 2195 kg
GVM: 3200 kg
GCM: 6000 kg
Maximum towing mass within GCM: 3500 kg
Ground clearance: 237 mm
Standard tyre size: 265/60R18
Spare: Full size alloy
Maximum wading depth: 800 mm
Approach/departure rampover angles: 25.5/21.8/18.5 degrees
Warranty: 4 years/ 120 000 km, with 3 years’ roadside assistance
Service plan: 6 years/90 000 km at 15 000 km intervals
*Australian tests
Turns out that Paul, who owns the neighbourhood car wash and workshop, is a Ranger fan. His current ride is a Wildtrak of the same mechanical specification as our test unit, a Ford Ranger Thunder 4x4 dual cab.
The differences are in the added Thunder Pack consisting of 3-D “Thunder” decals, bed divider in the load box, black exterior detailing, lockable roller cover for the bin, bespoke black wheels, new grille with red detail, leather seats with logo and red stitching, and red strips on the bin bar that Ford calls a “Sports Hoop.”
He found the roller cover interesting but paled a bit at its price, if added as an option to his Wildtrak, of R20 090. That’s when I pointed out the included bed divider – useful for separating delicate groceries from more robust cargo – and that spares, camping gear, valuable equipment or tools, saved from independent shoppers, would pay for the cover rather quickly. Driving with it closed also prevents turbulence in the bin and saves a bit of fuel. “Sound logic”, he agreed.
Other things setting these more costly machines apart from the herd are almost every safety item you can shake your water depth checking stick at. (You do use one, don’t you?) How about seven airbags, ESP and traction control, roll-over mitigation, tyre pressure monitoring, dipping rearview mirror, adaptive cruise control with distance alert, HUD, front collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, lane keeping, driver alert, and automatic high beam control.
Nice-to-haves include three 12-volt sockets and a 230-volt, 150-Watt converter. And if you need impressing further, how about parallel parking assistance, seven-colour ambient lighting, warmed front seats with eight-way powered adjustment for the driver, Sync3 on the touchscreen, hill hold, downhill crawl, warmed windscreen and rain-sensing wipers? Any more details would just sound pretentious so I’ll stop.
Its 4x4 system is conventional – a ten-speed automatic gearbox with a transfer case bolted on and dial-in selection of 2H, 4H and 4L – no fancy autosensing diffs with guess-o-matic torque transfer for this one. And rear differential locking only happens when, or if, you decide to push the button. It has a proper handbrake too.
Minimum ground clearance of 237 mm, respectable approach and departure angles and 800 mm wading ability place it among the more competent, standard-spec, 4x4 pickups. Although “my” local forestry trail has fallen into studied neglect lately and become almost nasty, the Thunder shrugged it off as if bored. The most exciting part was getting out five or six times to trim back overhanging or encroaching branches (didn’t want to scratch Mr. Ford’s paintwork) and a small tree that narrowed the pathway…
Rubberware consisted of 265/60R18 Continental CrossContact LXs. They are described on the company website as "summer grade SUV tyres for on-road and light off-road use, providing excellent handling and braking performance, good protection against aquaplaning, precise steering response and superb straight-line tracking." They did the job on-trail and behaved well on asphalt.
While on the subject of road behaviour, this Thunder displayed none of the low-speed jitteriness, on rough dirt roads, that I found with the XLT I drove in 2019. It seems that Ford has been doing some homework since then.
Summing up, this thing ain’t cheap; too much modern kit for that, so it’s more of a well-heeled gentleman’s lifestyle machine than a farm truckie. But it could easily be press-ganged into agricultural service if needed.
Test unit from FMCSA press fleet
We drove a Stormtrak 4x4 in 2022
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 or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.
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.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8