SHED: FORD RANGER WILDTRAK

THE MUSSO CONTINUES TO IMPRESS AND INSTILL OFF-ROAD CONFIDENCE IN OUR LESS-EXPERIENCED CREW.

OUR Musso continues to serve as my daily transport, as well as back-up vehicle for the photo team when we’re away on shoots. Photographer Alastair Brook has taken it out on a few shoots of late and was also among the team in it on the 4X4OTY road test in the Victorian High Country.

Alastair said of his time in the Musso, “It’s pretty capable with the off-road tyres. Even a newbie such as myself could get up stuff others needed a couple of goes at. Plenty of toys included for the price point; heated and cooled seats and Carplay in a car that size for the price point is commendable. The dash is good and I like the occasional reminder of the tyre pressures.

“The ride is decent and on-road manners are quite good. The space in the back serviceable; probably more so than that rental Hilux we had on the Flinders trip.”

Those off-road tyres Alastair was referring to are the Maxxis RAZR AT811 all terrains we fitted early on in the test, and they are performing excellently, covering all sorts of terrain and holding up well. The RAZRS are the same 265/60-18 size as the OE tyres Ssangyong fits to the Musso, so there was no trouble fitting them and they have given us peace of mind when travelling out on the tracks – and some of those rocky High Country tracks were punishing!

They have around 5000 kilometres

on them now and still look as new. That said, the Musso’s standard tyrepressure monitoring system (TPMS) is showing that the driver’s rear has a slow leak in it, which we’ll have to investigate before we head out of town again. The TPMS reminds us of this every time we get in the car and is a great feature.

A few of the drivers of late have mentioned the Musso can be tricky to park, partly because of its size but also as the rear corners of the tub are relatively high. At 5.4 metres long, the Musso is longer than most cars, even other double-cab utes, and it does hang its tail out beyond the marking in the local car parks. So, yes, it does take a bit of extra care when negotiating such places, but front and rear parking sensors plus the reversing camera make the job a lot easier. The image from the reversing camera is bright and clear on the large in-dash screen.

“PLENTY OF TOYS INCLUDED FOR THE PRICE POINT; HEATED AND COOLED SEATS AND CARPLAY IN A CAR THAT SIZE FOR THE PRICE POINT IS COMMENDABLE”