Ford Ranger 2020 review: XL 4x2 Hi-Rider pick-up 2.2L auto

Our test vehicle was a Ford Ranger XL 4x2 (rear-wheel drive) dual-cab Hi-Rider with a 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine and six-speed automatic transmission. It has arctic white paint – any other colour, except for true red, is considered a prestige colour and costs $650. This vehicle also did not have the optional $500 heavy-duty suspension pack, which includes new front and rear dampers, thicker rear springs with revised spring rates, and a specific ABS and ESC calibration. This option – designed for comfort while carrying loads, Ford reckons, not to improve load-carrying ability – is available on all XL variants, except the 4×2 Low-Rider.

It has that distinctively chunky Ranger look on the outside.

The MSRP for this vehicle is $40,390, includes GST.

But what does it have? Well, it has 16-inch steel wheels, cloth seats, and vinyl flooring – and not a whole lot else. But that’s perfectly suited to this ute and its main purpose: work … with a touch of play, perhaps.

It does have Ford’s SYNC3 multimedia with 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto (no voice-activated controls though), as well as a reversing camera, rear parking sensors, and a lift-assisted tailgate.

Inside is an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.

It does not have 4WD or Ford’s terrain management system, but it does have a rear diff lock – as do all Ranger Hi-Rider variants.

This Ranger has a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine – producing 118kW at 3200rpm and 385Nm at 1600-2500rpm – and a six-speed automatic transmission. This is a perfectly serviceable combination, neither too lively or too refined (in fact, it’s quite noisy but I’ll get to that later). 

Under the bonnet is a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel making 118kW/385Nm.

Remember: this ute is a 4x2, it is not a 4WD.

This Ranger’s tray is standard dual-cab tray size at 1549mm long (at the floor) and 1560mm wide, but it is 1139mm wide (between the wheel-arches) – and that’s not wide enough to cop an Aussie pallet, which is 1165mm wide.

From ground to floor load-height is 835mm and the rear opening is 1330mm wide.

There are four tie-down points in the tray – one at each corner – but no power sockets.

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The lift-assist tailgate has a slow-ish drop to it when opened and is easy and smooth to lift and shift again. It has a manual lock.

To protect this ute’s rear window from potential damage when you’re carrying heavier, harder-edged loads, the tray is equipped with a cab guard, basically vertical metal struts that sit proud of the glass and are designed to somewhat shield that surface from the load in your tray if it shifts forward.

I wanted to load up the Ranger so I headed to our mates at Agriwest Rural CRT Bomaderry and we threw 780kg of horse feed in the tray. With that load onboard, the front of the Ranger lifted 30.5mm, and its rear-end dropped 77mm.

Add to that a, ahem, 90kg driver and assorted in-cabin gear and we were tickling 100kg in terms of cabin weight, so, with the load in the tray, that’s a total of 880kg onboard the XL.

This Ranger’s payload is listed as a decent 1230kg. (Payload is gross vehicle mass – GVM, in this case 3200kg – minus the vehicle’s kerb weight, which, in this case, is 1970kg.) Remember: any payload figure has to take into account the combined weight of driver, passengers, pets, and all your gear, and, it’s worthwhile noting too, that if you decide to add any aftermarket gear to your ute – bullbar, canopy etc – that will also ‘eat into’ your vehicle’s payload capacity.

So, was the Ranger’s ride and handling at all adversely affected as a result of almost 900kg extra kilos in it? No, the bulky burden never registered in a negative way, but it did smooth out the ride even more and make it even more compliant than it was unladen.

The suspension remains settled, even through more pronounced speed bumps. As mentioned, our test vehicle did not have the optional $500 heavy-duty suspension pack, but it did fine and was very comfortable without the thicker rear springs, revised spring rates and specific ABS and ESC calibration. 

The Ranger performs consistently well in most aspects under load: steering continues with that nice light feel; the transmission held consistent speed going uphill – not kicking down or revving too harshly; and the 2.2-litre engine was never over-worked and always seemed to have grunt enough and be responsiveness enough to move the whole loaded-up Ranger along smoothly, with little to no stress. 

Any niggles that revealed themselves during the laden section of this drive had been evident during unladen drive loops – including that aforementioned low-speed drivetrain vibration, and marginal lag once your boot’s down etc – so the load couldn’t cop the blame for those lingering characteristics.

This Ranger was controlled and comfortable at all times – and, for the driver, knowing that, and getting that distinct impression consistently from your load-carrying vehicle inspires a lot of confidence.

The Ford Ranger has a five-star ANCAP rating, as a result of testing in 2015.

This Ranger has six airbags (dual front, front side and full-length curtain airbags), as well as AEB, cruise control (not adaptive), lane-keeping aid, reversing camera, rear parking sensors, trailer sway control and a lift-assisted tailgate. There are two ISOFIX child-seat anchor points and two top-tether points.