THE VERDICT
BOTH these utes start on the high side of $60K, and by the time you get them on the road there won’t be much change from $70K. So, how does the new D-max X-terrain shape up against an established benchmark like the Ford Ranger Wildtrak?
Looked at from a value-for-money perspective in terms of features, the D-max starts out just under $3K less expensive and has features the Wildtrak doesn’t get. These include tiltand-reach steering wheel adjustment, rear cross-traffic alert, blindspot monitoring, a driver’s knee airbag, a centre airbag, remote start, automatic walk-away locking and ‘Lane Keeping Assist’, which is a next level-up technology from lane-departure prevention providing a degree of selfsteering on motorways while still not allowing the driver to take his or her hands off the steering wheel.
Standard features that the Wildtrak gets but are absent on the X-terrain include heated front seats, tyrepressure monitoring, a towbar, a 12-volt outlet in the tub, and park assist, which self-steers the car into a parking spot. You can make you own mind up on what suite of extra features you would prefer.
In more general terms the new D-max has come a long way from its predecessor, and not just by offering a class-leading level of safety features right across the model range. More significant in terms of everyday driving is the far more composed ride and handling and the more confident road feel. The more muscular yet more refined powertrain also adds to the new-found driving pleasure. Off-road it’s more capable, too.
Still, for all that, the 2.0-litre Wildtrak with its more sophisticated and complex powertrain still shades the X-terrain for on-road refinement, and its chassis also has a few on- and off-road tricks the D-max can’t match.
As a heavy-duty tow vehicle, though, past experience and future expectations favours the D-max of this pair. However, if heavy-duty towing is your requirement, you want a Ranger with the older 3.2-litre five-cylinder diesel and not one with the bi-turbo 2.0-litre engine, regardless of what the claimed power and torque numbers suggest.