We both love driving the Ford Ranger in any of its guises and have done for over a decade. We tested the Ford Ranger XL 2.L diesel 6 speed manual finished in a crisp frozen white colour, or at least that was the colour we started with but we reckon the Ranger looks better with muddy splashes! It looks just as it should, a rough and ready for anything statement but it manages to incorporate a bit of style into the mix which you cannot say for all commercial type vehicles. The truckbed is huge, suitable for carting equipment around or even just all those laborious trips to skip.
Climbing up inside is easy with the help of the handle and the steering wheel, even Lorraine’s 87 year old mother managed it, and that says something. The Ranger’s dashboard has a huge touchscreen, similar to the Ford Mustang Mach – E’s (which we also love) and it also has the now familiar Ford’s latest SYNC 4 connected infotainment system with all the bells and whistles and all easy to navigate and we like the physical buttons too. There is plenty of storage space, in all nooks and crannies for all our bits and bobs, phones, i-pads, notebooks, umbrellas etc.
Seats are comfortable back and front with loads of head and legroom in both. We headed out on the road on a couple of trips to Edinburgh in all weathers by the way, sleet, gale force wind, torrential rain but nothing was too much for this hardy truck. It is not going to win any races at Knockhill but it saunters along very nicely on all types of road. It is a big car but it doesn’t feel overly huge when driving it. It corners well and both braking and steering are really positive. The Ranger has lots of safety features too, reverse parking aid, lane keeping aid, rear view camera, to mention a few.
The Ranger appeals to agricultural drivers, painters, joiners, and folk like us who just like driving it and that is why is was voted best Utility/4×4 of the year at the Scottish Car of the Year awards, late last year.
Price for this version starts at £35,760.
Ally says – The Ford Ranger delivers exactly what you would expect and the pricing is spot on for the type of vehicle. I do prefer the automatic version, probably because I am getting lazy in my old age!
Lorraine says – None of my female friends quite understand my love for this vehicle and the pleasure I get from of driving it, they really do not know what they are missing!
