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Ford has quashed speculation that the new Ranger Raptor will spawn a luxurious highway grand tourer version to sell alongside the off-road focused version.
Reports had starting to circulate that the company has been considering a flagship GT or Lariat version of the new Raptor, possessing similar bold styling but with increased luxury features, and retuned suspension offering more car-like steering, handling and ride, as well as more on-road suitable tyres.
The goal was to broaden the Ranger Raptor’s appeal to include urban truck buyers seeking something with greater comfort, better dynamic performance and top-level technological features without such extreme 4x4 capability.
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While Ford says the new Ranger Raptor is both the most effective production off-road and luxurious on-road mid-sized pick-up to ever wear the now-famous Ford Performance branding, it has elected to focus on the former attribute because that’s what consumers expect first and foremost… at least, for the time being.
“No customers have come back to us, and we haven’t identified that niche yet as a sub-segment of customers who would want that kind of product,” according to Ford Australia engineering boss, Ian Foston.
“But we’re always keep listening… and keep talking to our customers and understanding if that’s something which they would like.
“And if that becomes a sub-segment we believe is an opportunity, then we’ll look at it in the future, but so far that’s not something we’ve looked at.”
When questioned about offering – as a first step – a more on-road biased tyre than the new Ranger Raptor’s BF Goodrich K02 T285/70R17 All-Terrain 17-inch tyres, Mr Foston believes the standard rubber specification offers the best compromise.
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“I think the BF Goodrich tyre we’ve chosen – specifically the KO2 because of its all-round capability – is not only good on the rough stuff and it’s clearly very durable, but it also gives fantastic grip not only in acceleration and deceleration but also during cornering.
“And combined with the electronic two-speed transfer case and the permanent four-wheel drive system we now have on Raptor, the actual on-road capability of the vehicle is now equally as good.
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“So, in terms of traction on-road, no matter the conditions of the road, even in the wet, with a torque-vectoring permanent 4WD system, it puts the performance to the part of the vehicle that actually needs it, as well as the ESC systems actually provide a lot of control in all conditions, whether it’s off-road or on-road.
“We’re happy that we’ve got the balance right in terms of the tyre choice right. There really was no other choice for us in terms of what we thought was the right tyre for the job – and that’s for off-road as well as on-road driving.”
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