Continental Tyre South Africa says the locally built Ford Ranger Raptor is now fitted as standard with General Grabber AT3 all-terrain rubber.
When we tested the Ranger Raptor back in July 2019, we noted the bakkie rode on BFGoodrich tyres.
Now, however, the Ranger Raptor – which is built at Ford’s Silverton plant and sold both locally and in various export markets – has switched to the aforementioned General Grabber rubber, produced at the Continental Tyre SA plant in Port Elizabeth.
“We are delighted that our General Grabber AT3 has been selected for 100-percent fitment on the Ford Ranger Raptor,” said JJ Dowling, general manager for manufacturing at Continental Tyre SA.
“Matching the bespoke suspension and performance characteristics of the Ranger Raptor to the correct tyre is a task that the Ford engineers take very seriously. Accordingly, our tyres were subjected to a punishing range of tests before being selected as the new OE tyre fitted on all Ranger Raptors produced at Ford’s Silverton assembly plant for domestic sales and exports markets around the world.”
The tyre size of 285/70 R17 remains unchanged, though Continental says this new version was developed with Ford. The tyre company also says General Grabber AT3 rubber is now available “off the shelf” at tyre dealers, allowing Raptor owners to easily replace damaged items.
“Achieving OE status with our Grabber AT3 for the high-performance Ranger Raptor is a fantastic achievement, as vehicle manufacturers provide very detailed and specific requirements that the tyres have to comply with, including wet and dry grip performance, interior and exterior noise, rolling resistance and durability,” Dowling said.
“The Grabber AT3 performed exceptionally well in all of the highly critical tests, reinforcing its established reputation for exceptional performance across all types of terrain and driving conditions.”
