The new Ford Ranger Sport has launched! And with it comes a new look and cabin experience. It’s been so hotly anticipated that most of the people I discuss it with develop an almost feral-like gleam in their eyes.
Slightly longer than its predecessor, the new Ranger Sport seems much larger with its robustly squared shape. It’s not boxy or ugly, far from it, but it seems more purposeful than the previous gen.
It also has the usability of a tray designed to fit a warehouse pallet and a backseat large enough to comfortably fit harnessed child seats. It seems like the perfect all-rounder: a work-horse and a family car.
But does it have heart as well as size? I’ve been driving it with my small family of three for the past week to find out.
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Ford Ranger 2023: Sport 2.0 (4X4)
| Engine Type | Diesel Twin Turbo 4, 2.0L |
|---|---|
| Fuel Type | Diesel |
| Fuel Efficiency | 7.6L/100km (combined) |
| Seating | 5 |
| Price From | $48,840 - $56,100 |
| Safety Rating |
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What does it look like?
My first thoughts? It’s big enough that you could imagine Martin Riggs owning one, for any Lethal Weapon fans out there, but not so daunting that you feel you couldn’t handle the local Westfield car park!
When you’re standing next to it, it does feel quite big and that’s probably got a lot to do with the ‘go large, or go home’ motto that seems etched in every design aspect.
The shape is very robust, squared off and there’s no sleek tapering in sight. The large LED headlights look awesome and wrap around the wide dark grille menacingly.
The pronounced nose and dark accents make it look mean – my family nicknamed it ‘Bruce’, after the shark in Jaws (or Finding Nemo, for the toddler parents).
The interior carries through the sense of space with its big multimedia screen, cool honeycombed air vents and wide seats.
The doors feel and look solid, like slabs of steel protecting you from the elements without feeling clunky to use. The tray sides are tall and thick, giving a greater sense of space because of the added depth.
It’s a design that means business and actually looks like it can work under tough conditions. So, it’s big but it’s not all puff.
How does it drive?
The driving and handling performance is a delightful surprise. Despite having the smaller four-cylinder engine for the Sport grade, the engine is more than sufficient at moving the beast around.
There’s plenty of power and it’s at home cruising anywhere from urban streets to the open road. You feel like there’s heaps of power in reserve when you go up a hill and the engine doesn’t whine at you either, but tackles the ascent like a pro.
It's responsive and the 10-speed auto transmission makes for almost seamless gear shifting. Even at low speeds, when you can sometimes get a little bunny-hop, this keeps its cool.
Suspension is lovely and you won’t feel like you’re bumping around in your seat, and that goes for back seat passengers, which can't be said for all dual cab utes like this.
The engine is pretty quiet for a diesel, too. It’s growl is understated but that’s quite nice as you do get some road noise in the cabin, and it would have been too intrusive if it was really guttural.
And even though it’s tall, it handles winds and higher speeds really well. It’s stable and there’s not as much roll in corners as you might expect.
Ford has released a 3.0L V6 version in this grade, but honestly, you won’t be left wanting with the smaller engine if you’re doing normal driving.
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How spacious is it?
It’s quite generous with space but front passengers will benefit the most. Back seat occupants will still be reasonably comfortable in everything but legroom. It is a little tight and is something to consider if you transport taller teens or adults regularly.
The storage throughout is quite good. The glove box is shallow but the front passenger gets a little shelf for their things, plus there is a little cubby on either side of the dash. But it’s really only suitable for a small wallet (men’s wallet, mind).
Each door has a storage bin and a drink holder, plus each row gets two cupholders. The middle console is big enough for decent storage.
The back enjoys map and device pockets plus under-seat storage. The extra space is always handy but if you have kids in car seats, you won’t be able to access it unless you take out the car seats (which will be a pain).
The rear tray has been designed to fit a forklift pallet – so it’s definitely large enough to fit your gear.
How easy is it to use every day?
It’s not a hard car to drive and parking is surprisingly good, too. It is long, so there were some smaller car parks where I had to do six-point turns to move it out of a spot, but the optional 360-degree camera and reversing camera takes out any fear you might have. And before the end of the first day, I had no qualms about tackling a park.
The sidesteps are needed, and because of them, I didn’t have to lift my five-year old in and out, which saved time (and my back). It’s a bit of an effort fitting a child seat but it won’t annoy you if you ‘set and forget’.
If you have to move them regularly because you share seats with in-laws etc, it will become very tiresome.
Everything is sort of where you expect it to be, buttons and controls are easy to access from the drivers position, and visibility out of the windows is fantastic.
A lockable hardtop for the tray would have been welcomed but you can get this fitted aftermarket for around $4000. It seems almost redundant to fit one, though, when you can shop up to the Wildtrak model for basically the same cost and you get extra luxury features thrown in for the upgrade.
The optional liner is sprayed on and aids with gripping your gear, so things don’t slide around as much. It costs an extra $500 but does seem to help.
If things do slide to the back, there are handy side steps next to the back wheels to help you access the tray. It is easy to operate the tailgate. It’s light and very wide.
You also have clamp clip points, to help you create a proper workbench when you’re on a worksite or just working on a project at home. The Sport comes with a tow bar and full-size spare wheel, so you should be sorted for whatever adventure throws at you.
How safe is it?
You want some good safety features on a big car and the Sport doesn’t disappoint. It comes standard with rear cross-traffic alert, a reversing camera, blind-spot monitoring and lane keeping and departure aids.
It also has AEB and nine airbags, which is more than most utes. At the time of this article, it hasn't been crash tested by ANCAP.
There are ISOFIX mounts on the outboard seats and two top tether child seat mounts. It’s wide enough that you’d probably get three seats side-by-side if they're the right size, so it’s disappointing that this doesn’t have a third top anchor point. This does limit some flexibility for families with three younger children.
Fitting a child seat is an experience. To fit a seat, you have to push the front seat forward to enable you to pull the back seat forward enough to access the tether point. I find this on other utes, too, but I can’t get my top tether as tight as I would normally, which irks me.
There’s an okay amount of space for the front passenger when a 0-4 rearward facing child seat is installed, but it will encroach on the drivers position a lot more, and if you’re tall, that could get uncomfortable.
What’s the tech like?
The tech feels more intuitive and pronounced than the previous generation. The 10.1-inch multimedia touchscreen looks like a giant iPad but it still works well with the dashboard aesthetic.
It has built-in sat nav, which is easy to use. But you don’t have to access the touchscreen to handle your climate or volume, which is always a plus in my books.
It also has something I haven’t seen before… a sketch pad game. Or, what I would call Paint. Might come in handy if you’re stuck in traffic or at a rest stop and the kids (or you, no judgement) get the urge to doodle.
The digital instrument panel is simple but customisable and the information is displayed plainly, making it easy to read (something my father was quick to mention).
The Sport features wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and it was easy enough to connect my iPhone 8 Plus, but I did have to forget all the stored ‘phone’ connections until it felt like a seamless connection.
This might get frustrating if you share the car with your family or work mates. It also has a wireless charging pad, which has been handy this week and if you can’t get the wireless connection going, there is a USB-A and C port.
The only thing that was a little annoying was that the headlights default back to 'Auto' after you turn off the car. In this setting, the adaptive high beams come on, too. Something I discovered while going around bends with oncoming traffic and they dipped on and off. I felt like I was flashing the headlights at everyone.
How much does it cost to own?
The Ranger Sport is the model before you get into the flagship ‘Wildtrak' and macho 'Raptor’ versions, and in Bi-Turbo form will cost you $63,690, before on-road costs.
The model I’m driving has the optional 'Touring Pack', which adds a trailer brake controller, 360-degree camera, four-zone exterior lighting and puddle lamps for an extra $900. Because it helps so much with parking, the 360-degree camera alone is worth the extra money for me.
You do get more luxury features on competitor models for the same price and because this model misses out on items like heated and ventilated seats, heated steering wheel, tray cover and electric passenger's seat, the price tag starts to feel a little high once you get into the nitty gritty details.
The Ranger comes with Ford's five-year/unlimited km warranty, which is standard for this class. However, it does come with an unusual guarantee, that if your Ford is beyond repair and less than three years old, Ford will replace it with a new one.
It comes with four years capped-priced servicing, which is less than average, but services are reasonable at $329 annually.
Servicing intervals are standard at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.
The official combined cycle fuel figure is 7.6L/100km, and I averaged 7.8L/100km on a mix of open road and city driving.
The fuel consumption is impressive, especially given how massive this car is to move. Naturally, if you’re in the city or heading off road, expect that figure to be higher, but the diesel engine has proven to be quite economical!
Verdict
It’s a big and mean-looking ute but very easy to handle. The driving performance really won me over and I love how smooth the ride is. It was a bit finnicky fitting a car seat and there’s not heaps of flexibility with kid stowage but it suited my small family just fine. I’d want some more luxury features for the price tag, but it still earns an 8.5/10 from me. My son was plotting ways on how we could keep this car. It totally had him besotted and, naturally, he gave it a 10/10. He’s very disappointed we didn't get to keep it.
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