Ford Ranger vs BYD Shark 6

What's the difference?

Ford has given its Ranger ute range a mild facelift. And mild is the word. If you look closely, you might notice some small visual changes, but the real news is under the bonnet where a new entry-level powerplant lives.

And however you look at it, this new engine that addresses the ownership issues experienced by some Ranger buyers since the bi-turbo diesel engine was released back in 2018, was probably overdue.

But the new powerplant comes at a cost; in terms of power and torque, even though the vital towing statistics remain for the Ranger.

The other changes that come with this facelift include some new tech, and the availability of the V6 turbo-diesel (which is unchanged) across the entire Ranger 4X4 dual-cab line-up.

For this review, we’ve concentrated on the new engine as being the major point of difference, and we’ve driven it the base-version XL trim specification. That means this is potentially the lightest variant, and heavier specifications might blunt the performance a little. But overall, this is representative of the new powertrain and represents the biggest point of difference in what is otherwise a very minor facelift.

The BYD Shark 6 Performance is the top-shelf variant in the Shark 6 line-up and, as such, it has a larger 2.0-litre petrol engine, an improved off-road system (or so BYD reckons), and 3.5 tonnes towing capacity (up from the Premium's 2.5 tonnes).

This Chinese-built plug-in hybrid electric ute also has more power and torque than the standard Shark 6, with maximum outputs totalling 350kW (up 29kW from the standard Shark 6) and 700Nm (up 50Nm).

And, if speed’s your specific cup of tea, it might delight you to know that the Performance can do the 0 to 100km/h sprint in a claimed 5.5 seconds.

So, with an updated Crawl mode claimed to simulate traditional low-range gearing, is this Shark better off-road than the Premium version?

Read on.