2009 Ford PK Ranger XLT SuperCab Road Test Review

PUT ANYBODY in a modern 4X4 ute, drive them around for a bit, and before long they’ll come out with something like, “Goes alright this, doesn’t it?”

And they’d be right. The days of the ‘tradie-fourby-ute’ being a loose conglomeration of tin and cheap vinyl, with an agricultural diesel or coarse underpowered four up front, are long gone.

They’re now almost car-like… almost. With potent V6s and new-gen turbo diesels under the bonnet, and slick interior appointments, you can drive them at highway speeds without going deaf and getting numb in the pants region.

Take Ford’s PK Ranger. Released at the Melbourne International Motor Show in February, it is very easy to live with, competent enough off-road (if not best-in-class), and well-up to some serious hard graft as a working ute.

It comes in 2WD and 4WD,  with three specification levels for the 4×4 variants: XL, XLT and the well decked-out ‘Wildtrak’ (ignore the dumb name) with bigger wheels and other ‘US-truck style’ dress-up bits.

We had the XLT Supercab with RX8-style suicide rear doors, TDCi 3.0 litre diesel mated to the five-speed auto and class-leading towing capacity (3000kg braked).

In deep serpentine green metallic, sitting on neat alloys and nicely-trimmed inside, it looked the part.

The Ranger is the Goldilocks-buy in the segment: not too rough, not too soft; powerful enough but no torque monster, and comfortable and refined enough for the weekend run with the tail bikes and family in tow.

Styling

Despite the ‘dress-up’ features and revised front and rear, the Ranger’s age is starting to show. It looks narrower and is somewhat more slab-sided and tippy-toed than others in the segment. It also feels smaller at the wheel.

Put someone bulky in the passenger seat (and we’ve got a couple of them here at TMR), and you’re aware that the internal dimensions are narrower than, say, the Navara. It feels about as wide inside as a Corolla for instance.

That said, there is nothing wrong with the Ranger’s style. Designed by Ford Australia (though built at Rayong, Thailand), its lines and personality grow on you. When released, a comment on this site was critical of its “Tweety Bird eyes”, but most photos don’t do the front a lot of justice.

The wrap-around lights are not as prominent as the lens seems to capture and the car overall looks better in the metal.

It doesn’t have the stylish swooping lines of the Triton, but it doesn’t look ponderous like the Navara and HiLux and has a better overall styling balance than the Colorado/D-Max.

More than one of the neighbours was moved to comment positively (“Looks alright that one, what’s it like…?”).

There are enlarged side mirrors (that can be folded into the body if negotiating a tight laneway or bush track), chrome door handles and rear step bumper, 16-inch alloys (standard on the XLT, 18-inch for the Wildtrak), clear tail-lights (that don’t do much for me) and over-fender arches with integrated mud-flaps.

Importantly, at 1753mm x 1456mm, the rear tub of the Supercab is a good size if the Ranger is pressed into work duties or for carrying the trail-bikes up the highway. Even the crew cab offers a quite reasonable1530mm x 1456mm.

The larger Navara King Cab offers only slightly more capacity at 1855mm x 1560mm (1511mm x 1560mm for the crew cab).

One of the interesting design features of the Ranger is the large lower-grille opening for the turbo intercooler.

Mounted forward of the radiator, rather than above the engine as some in the sector do, Ford claims it improves intercooler performance by sitting in a more consistent flow of cooler air. (But you may need to watch it if sloshing all day through muddy bogs.)

Interior

Things work pretty well inside. The Ranger, to these eyes, like the Mazda BT-50 on which it is based, offers one of the best interiors in the sector.

The materials are good, controls are logical and well-placed for easy use, and there are no crashing angles and gargoyle-style vents hanging off things – it’s just neat, logical and understated. Which is what most of us want in an interior.

The seats are a bit shapeless, but comfortable enough with appealing hard-wearing fabrics and reasonable under-thigh support.

We’re talking about the front seats here; in the XLT Supercab, the rear seats are little more than corn-pads… ok if you are just heading to the next building site, but too small and cramped for adults if travelling any distance.

That said, when not deployed moving bodies about, the large space back there is ideal for carrying camping clobber or the leathers, kit and helmets for the trailbikes. It is also easy to access thanks to those backwards-hinged rear doors.

It is easy to get ‘set’ behind the wheel, which adjusts for rake but not reach, and vision all round (and for being able to see the extremities) is good.

The handbrake, an under-dash umbrella-type, is a little out of place and not ideal for use off road with the manual. (It’s not such an issue with the auto we were driving.)

The XLT (and Wildtrack) comes with side airbags as standard in addition to driver and passenger airbags; cruise control is also standard. The audio system, with CD and radio, also comes with an aux-in plug for iPod/MP3 players across the range.

Mechanical Package

Ford’s TDCi 3.0 litre DOHC in-line four-cylinder Duratorq diesel in the XLT is a beauty. With four valves per cylinder, common-rail electronic injection, and turbo with intercooler, it’s strong, spins freely, and, when warm, is the smoothest in the business.

Cold, it sounds like any other diesel workhouse. But once warmed, it is the pick of the bunch and clear leader for smooth clatter-free operation.

At the wheel it goes about things with a nice diesel ‘humm’ – there is a particular appealing character about the sound of an efficient and well-balanced modern diesel that grows on you.

The further you drive the Ranger, the more you’ll enjoy that smooth free-spinning diesel.

Both the 3.0 litre and 2.5 litre turbo TDCi Duratorq diesels (the smaller unit in the 4×2 part of the range) come with variable-geometry turbo technology. The 3.0 litre, with 380Nm at a very accessible 1800rpm, is particularly lively.

(The smaller 2.5 litre unit produces 330Nm, and, though we are yet to drive it, also promises reasonable performance.)

Dulling the output a little for the test car was Ford’s five-speed auto transmission. I prefer a manual in a working car (although the auto has distinct advantages off road), but the transmission in the Ranger is easy enough to live with.

Thanks to the responsive 3.0 litre diesel, good sound-deadening and class-leading smoothness, it doesn’t groan like the CVT-equipped Navara and is well-mapped for highway driving.

An auto with a good torquey diesel can also be less of a handful in the rough than a manual. Off road, the Ranger has ample torque underfoot for picking a path up a steep pinch.