Ranger puts safety first

DOUBLE CAB: PLENTY OF SPACE FOR THE HUMANS AND THEIR CARGO ON LONG JOURNEYS It will monitor your handling throughout the trip.

Last month, I said we were planning a trip down to Knysna and the Garden Route over the holidays, and that is exactly what we did. It gave us the perfect opportunity to explore all that our long-term Ranger Wildtrak X offers a family on a long, open road trip.

The most obvious benefits of being a double cab are space for the humans, and cargo for days in the rear load bin, under the electrically operated shutter.

There are multiple tie-down points, so securing your luggage is no problem, and everything is kept dry.

But there is one tiny issue with a solid shutter, and that is if any of your luggage or cargo cannot be configured to fit under it, you have no wriggle room like you would with a good old-fashioned tonneau cover.

We didn’t have this problem. Fully packed and out on the road – and it is a long road down to a coast, some 1 200 km- away – is where the technology and safety offered by the Ranger Wildtrak X is truly appreciated.

It is a war zone on our roads. More than 12 000 people were killed on our roads in 2021 and 2022. That is an average of 34 people a day, and not just over the holidays when it’s the only time anybody pays attention to the carnage. The figures for 2023 are still to be released, but my guess is they will be no better than before.

Besides the seemingly suicidal tendencies of impatient drivers overtaking straight into the face of oncoming traffic, one of the biggest contributing factors of crashes on long journeys is driver fatigue.

Here, the Ranger Wildtrak X offers the likes of adaptive speed control coupled with a lane-keep assist function, so driving at the speed limit while staying in your lane, and the identification of slower-moving traffic and braking is all done for you.

Not having to stress about these issues keeps you that little bit mentally fresher and allows you to concentrate on other lifesaving things you need to be doing on the road, like constantly scanning to see what other drivers are doing around you.

And if you do push too far and the Ranger Wildtrak X detects that your steering inputs are getting too erratic, a warning to stop for a break will pop up on the dash. What also helps when travelling long distances is that you spend as little time as possible on the opposite side of the road when overtaking, and in this is the case, the 154kW of power and 500Nm of torque offered by the 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel engine in the Wildtrak X, makes easy work to get past slower-moving traffic, and out of harm’s way.

But there is a caveat to having lots of power and that is it needs to be fed.

Trying to keep this Ranger’s fuel economy under 12-litres per 100 kilometres around town, and 10l/100km on the open road, is a bit of a challenge.

But I guess if you have the R1 million for a large, full-house, luxury, 4x4 double cab, fitted with chunky all-terrain tyres, factory racking system and side sills, which can take you anywhere in absolute comfort, then this is a small price to pay.

For next month’s update, we will be taking our pavement princess into the bush to get a little bit dirty and bring you some info on the standard fitment hardware and technology on board that makes going off-road easy.

Ford’s Ranger Wildtrak X 2.0-litre BiTurbo 4x4 10AT retails for a suggested R1.01 million and includes Ford Protect, comprising a four-year/120 000km warranty, four-year/unlimited distance roadside assistance and five-year/unlimited distance corrosion warranty.

Customers can buy service or maintenance plans up to eight years or 135 000km.

The warranty can be extended to seven years or 200 000km and roadside assistance for an additional one or two years.