Ford Ranger vs RAM 2500

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.

It was a couple of years ago when Ram Australia attempted to ween its faithful off the Hemi petrol V8 engine. It wasn’t an easy process, either, as the warbling V8 had really resonated (no pun intended) with buyers Down Under.

But Ram still turned the PR machine up to 11 to convince us that the new turbocharged inline six-cylinder replacing the V8 in the 1500 pick-up was the full quid. As in, we were invited to perform 0-100km/h dashes in the outgoing V8 and the new turbo-six, to demonstrate how much faster the new six was (and it was, particularly in High Output form).

So guess what happened next? Yep, Ram is reintroducing the Hemi V8, claiming its buyers never stopped wanting one. Of course, it’s not that cut and dried: The V8 won’t be available in the 1500, but it is making its first volume appearance in the 2500 Heavy Duty version of the Ram pick-up. (The 2500 range was updated about a year ago.)

So it’s not quite the about-face by Ram that it might seem. But it’s still recognition of the fact that the people who populate the full-sized pick-up market aren’t quick to dispense with tradition.

Speaking of tradition, the badge on the new Ram 2500 V8 is 'Warlock' a name first used on Chrysler’s (and Dodge’s) tricked-up pick-ups of the 1970s and sold under the 'Adult Toys' range of utes and vans.