Ford builds a better Wildtrak
Aussie motor noters reckon its new 2.0 litre engine is ‘ too small’. But that hasn’t stopped canny Kiwi buyers turning the ‘ Raptor-engined’ Wildtrak into Ford NZ’s latest Ranger success story. Look, I’d like to say that I take absolutely no pleasure in exposing what a bunch of backwardlooking ‘ things-were-better-back-inmy-day’ boofheads the massed ranks of Australian ‘motoring journalists’ are.
The truth though, is that I do ( take some pleasure) from exposing what, if it is not a blatant bias against a particular brand, is at the very least misinformation being propagated for some reason other than to inform, and at the worst fake news.
At the heart of the issue is Ford’s need to eventually retire for good what has been one of its best ever power plants – the in-line five-cylinder single turbo 3.2 litre diesel – and replace it with its latest, future-proofed, twin-turbo two-litre, four cylinder diesel.
Never mind that the new hi-tech, highperformance twin-turbo four cylinder first saw the light of day in Ford’s groundbreaking Ranger Raptor production race truck, the Aussies climbed up on their high horses en masse, regurgitating the clichés that ‘ there’s no substitute for cubic inches’ and ‘only milk and ice cream comes in two-litres.’
Because I didn’t make the invite list to the Australasian launch of the all-new Raptor then didn’t get one to drive here for another three or four months I – of course – saw no reason to doubt these claims; wondering in fact why Ford had not followed Gazoo Toyota Racing’s Dakar Rally example and simply ‘shoe-horned’ a late-model, quad cam 32-valve family V8 into the engine bay.
You can imagine my surprise – my ‘ delight’ even, when I finally got to drive a twinturbo two-litre Raptor here then twin-turbo two-litre WIldtrak in Australia this time ( Give or take a month or two) last year.
As far as I was concerned Ford’s decision to plumb for the new 2.0 litre power plant was a master stroke. And I couldn’t quite fathom why the Aussies were – to quote my teenage daughter – hating on it!
As I have said in previous reviews of the
Raptor the key difference between the old five and new four-cylinder engines actually lies in the 10-speed transmission. That and Ford’s Crusader-like zeal to constantly and incrementally improve the Ranger’s already impressive NVH ( Noise, Vibration & Harshness) levels.
With another 10kW of peak power and extra 30 Nm of peak torque the twin-turbo 2.0L four is more than a match for the single turbo 3.2L five cylinder power plant it replaces, while also being quantifiably smoother in operation, considerably quieter through the rev range, and easier on the wallet thanks to better fuel economy.
This makes it an excellent fit for the latest, even more refined, top- of-theline Wildtrak model, at the very least justifying it’s $ 1000 price premium over the ( still very much available) 3.2 litre, five-cylinder version.
So impressed was mate-of-the-magazine, Steve Cardno, with the 2.0L ( after I recommended he try both before deciding) that he recently bought one of the newlook Wildtrak models so fitted.
For his use as his daily- driver the new 2.0L is pretty much perfect. Though, as I found when I used a 2.0L Wildtrak to tow my drifter from Auckland to Taupo and back for the big CAR-nival meeting earlier in the year, if you do a lot of towing you might be better sticking with the 3.2L five-cylinder.
While there is absolutely no difference either way out on the open road ( or for that matter up the southern slopes of the Bombays) there is just off idle, making getaways from a standing start a lit tle bit slower and less composed than I remember from towing the exact same load behind a 3.2L five-cylinder model.
That – literally – is the only thing I can split the two on, and like Steve, if it was my money, and me doing the buying, it would be the 2.0 litre all the way because 1) it makes more and better power; 2) Ford continues to refine the basic package, and 3) because smaller capacity, boosted engines are the future... a fact that many of my colleagues across the Tasman are still struggling, it seems, to grasp!