Back in May 2018, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa confirmed the refreshed version its Ranger bakkie would be offered with the Raptor’s 2,0-litre turbodiesel when it launched locally at some point in 2019. Now the range has been detailed in Europe, where the downsized oil-burner will be available in three states of tune.
Ford in Europe says the new 2,0-litre EcoBlue diesel engine features “selective catalytic reduction” for optimised emissions, delivering up to a nine percent fuel-efficiency improvement when mated to the new 10-speed automatic transmission.
As we already knew, the Ranger engine line-up will be led by the bi-turbo version borrowed from the Raptor, delivering 157 kW and 500 N.m. In addition, however, a single variable-geometry turbocharged version churning out 125 kW and 420 N.m will be offered in Europe, along with a base engine of the same configuration, offering 96 kW and 340 N.m of torque.
Ford says the compact single turbocharger has been specifically designed to deliver more air at lower engine revolutions compared with the 2,2-litre TDCi unit (which, along with the 3,2-litre five-cylinder, falls away in that market).
It’s not yet clear whether the new 2,0-litre engine will be offered with various outputs in South Africa later in 2019 (so far, the local arm of the Blue Oval brand has confirmed only that the 157 kW version, which is produced by the Struandale Engine Plant in Port Elizabeth, will be available) nor whether the current 2,2- and 3,2-litre diesel engines will soldier on in our market.
