The replacement for the Ford Ranger is imminent. The company is ‘teasing’ artful images of the new Ranger. In the meantime the company has released the Wildtrak X. Does it live up to the reputation these trucks have built?

Ford is busy. It is preparing for the global launch of the new Ranger and at the same time it scrambles to fulfil forward orders that went a bit crazy when the ‘ute tax’ was proposed. It’s a nice problem to have.
So adding a ‘package’ model to the range might seem un-necessary given the Ranger already dominates both the ute/commercial sales stats and the overall passenger vehicle market.
Ute-hungry New Zealand new vehicle market, meet Ranger Wildtrack X.
The ‘X’ overlays the most capable and stylish Ranger yet with a unique ‘pack’ of hardware, trim and colour.
The pack features a signature colour called ‘Saber’ – at a guess this is an American spelling of the word ‘Sabre’. The colour, blending orange and bronze, pops up on the Ranger’s grille ‘nostrils’ and as an accent strip on the truck’s ‘sailplane’. It’s also present in the interior in the form of a trim strip in the leather seats and in the contrast stitching of the dashboard and seat leather. It’s a nice way to tie visual elements together.
The colour accents work well with the slightly restricted five-hue colour palette of the X, which ranges from Arctic White to Shadow Black.
At the front, the ‘X’ has a light-bar mounted atop a soft-feel satin black nudge bar. Officially it’s not for on-road use, and it has a separate on switch. Anybody who has driven behind a light bar will know how spectacularly they augment the standard lights of the vehicle.
Down the truck’s flanks there are new wheel-arch extensions in gloss black and the aluminium alloy wheels are 18-inch with road-oriented Bridgestone Dueler 265/60 tyres. This pattern is unique to the ‘X’.
The test truck was fitted with a factory Ford-branded tow-bar and the truck shares the Ranger family’s braked tow rating of 3500 kg.
So how does it go?
The Ranger’s bi-turbo 2.0-litre diesel engine is paired with the company’s 10-speed automatic transmission and its drive mode is selected using a rotary dial close to the shift lever – 2-hi, 4-hi or 4-lo.
The 2.0-litre diesel four cylinder makes big power and torque numbers but that has to be seen in the context of propelling three tonnes of ute away from rest. That’s where the 10-speed automatic’s ratios come into play. Though the ratios are wide-spaced, it’s smooth enough that there’s no surge between gears. The top three ratios are over-driven for on-highway economy.
With a small-ish engine pushing a big body the Wildtrak takes a little push to get going, but once it is moving the auto and engine interact seamlessly. It can occasionally twitch off line on rough wet narrow tarseal, when there are potholes to grapple with, or when dealing with gravel road corduroy corrugations designed to send drivers and passengers off to the dentist to replace fillings.
The X feels planted and solid in all conditions, and the ABS was only activated once in our time with the truck, which was unrelentingly stormy.
Traction – even on slick and badly maintained rural tarseal – is a strong point and even when the stability control light does get a-pulsing the driver is left with only the sense of mild retardation of forward momentum. On gravel roads, selecting 4-hi calms down the pothole reactivity and there’s a diff lock selectable for when the going gets properly tough.
Subjectively, the X pack is actually a very worthwhile addition to the Ranger family. It’s an individualist that can stand out from the many, many Rangers on New Zealand’s road without requiring further enhancement. It rides on excellent road-oriented rubber that fulfils the needs of most owners almost all the time. But it loses none of the tough ethos that has propelled the Ranger to the top of a very diverse food chain.