Earlier in May 2018, we showed you the updated Ranger from Ford. And now Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa has confirmed that the refreshed version of the bakkie will be offered with the Ranger Raptor’s 2,0-litre turbodiesel when it launches here in 2019.
Of course, the local arm of the Blue Oval brand assembles the Ranger at its Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria, with engines – including the new Raptor’s twin-turbo, four-cylinder oil-burner, which is worth 157 kW and 500 N.m – produced by the Struandale Engine Plant in Port Elizabeth.
Ford says the refreshed Ranger will continue to be exported from South Africa to more than 148 markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
With the new mill in the local line-up, Ford SA says its Ranger will offer a “greater choice of powertrains” (from what we understand, the current 2,2- and 3,2-litre diesel engines will soldier on unchanged). As we’ve previously reported, the new unit will be paired with a 10-speed torque-convertor automatic transmission and allow a braked towing capacity of 3 500 kg.
Besides the styling tweaks (led by that fresh grille design), Ford SA promises that the new range will feature “a clearer distinction between models visually, with bumper treatments and colours reflecting the unique character of each model”.
In addition, Ford’s local arm says selected models will gain bolstered safety credentials, in the form of a pre-collision assist function (using inter-urban autonomous emergency braking with vehicle detection and pedestrian detection technology), along with keyless entry (with push-button start) and active park assist (essentially allowing semi-automatic parallel parking).
Furthermore, all models will gain an easy-lift tailgate as standard. Ford says that thanks to a new internal mechanism, the Ranger’s tailgate will be easier to lift, with a 70-percent reduction in initial force required to raise it for closing.
As we pointed out in our earlier story, the Ranger’s suspension has also been tweaked to “reduce and better control roll, with an emphasis on improving the driving experience when fully-laden and towing”. Ford says geometry changes to the suspension set-up will also bring an improved ride and improved steering precision, without impacting load and towing capacities.
