Ford Ranger vs Toyota HiLux

What's the difference?

The standard Ford Ranger is a comfortable ute and a capable 4WD, and while the Tremor treatment doesn’t offer any real enhancement in terms of on-road comfort or handling, it certainly improves an already impressive 4WD’s off-road efficacy.

The Tremor is a sensibly upgraded package with real 4WD boosts across the board – full-time 4WD, heavy-duty suspension, more ground clearance, and decent all-terrain tyres – which make a meaningful difference.

Sure, it’s no Raptor, but it offers enough in terms of dirt-driving advantages over the regular Ranger to give the Tremor plenty of appeal – and it will likely rattle the cages of rivals like the HiLux Rogue and Navara Warrior.

The HiLux’s age-defying sales and resale values confirm it’s still one of the top two 4x4 dual cabs on the market. However, its new V-Active technology feels underdone, as it adds weight (we reckon about 40kg) and complexity without gains in performance you can feel or economy you can meaningfully measure. Hopefully, Toyota’s next crack at a 'hybrid' HiLux will be more convincing.

The Tremor stands out from regular Rangers because of its taller stance, 30mm wider footprint (on chunky General Grabber AT3 all-terrain tyres), and greater ground clearance (second only to the Raptor).

It has a honeycomb grille up front, a bash plate, 17-inch alloys, pronounced cast-aluminium side-steps and a sports bar.

The Tremor also has a raised Tremor badge on the tailgate, Tremor stickers here and there on the outside, and black Ford oval badges at the front and rear are nice touches.

If nothing else, its exterior at least gives the impression that the Tremor is capable of serious 4WDing.

The interior has those aforementioned rubber mats and Tremor-branded stitching to set the Tremor apart from standard Rangers.

Overall, it compares well in the looks department with rivals such as the HiLux Rogue or Nissan Navara Warrior, who both also share an understated gnarliness about their appearance.

The HiLux’s enduring appeal is the ‘unbreakable’ feel when you step aboard. Even though its curvaceous styling is increasingly dated, we can’t fault the build quality as it displays a peerless standard of fit and finish which never wavers.

Our only major gripe (since its launch in 2015) is the cramped rear seating. It’s particularly tight for tall people, giving that I’m 186cm and when sitting in the rear seat with the driver’s seat in my position, my knees are pressed into its backrest and my head rubs on the roof lining.

Shoulder room for three large adults is equally challenging and tolerable only for short trips. We reckon the Ranger’s more accommodating rear stalls are significant in its sales leadership.

The Tremor cabin is simply a Ranger interior with a few brand-specific touches, so it’s a roomy and comfortable space and scores well in terms of overall practicality.

The multimedia system is a decent size with clear and crisp colours and is easy enough to operate – but you need to repeatedly stab your finger onto the screen in order to work your way through menus and sub-menus to figure it all out. My tip: get your head around all of its functionality – some of it counter-intuitive – while the vehicle is stationary. Also, the fact that some controls are on-screen and some are off-screen creates more than a little bit of confusion.

Driver and front passenger have easy access to storage options, such as centre console, cupholders, door pockets and a pocket-dump shelf, and charging points (wireless charger, USB and USB-C sockets).

There’s plenty of space for the driver and the passengers, front and back, and the seats are supportive and comfortable and only marginally less so in the back row. There’s enough room back there to hopefully avoid any whinging – I sat behind my driving position and had loads of space.

Second-row passengers get a fold-down centre arm-rest, door pockets, map pockets, air-con vents and controls.

The Tremor’s tub measures 1464mm long (at the floor; 1217mm between the wheel-arches), 1520mm wide and 525mm deep. Opening width at the tailgate is 1393mm.

The tub is standard Ranger stuff – with a sturdy-looking liner, four fixed-in-place tie-down points, a 12-volt outlet, and LED lighting – but it also has two sliding tie-down points mounted high on each inner sidewall of the tub and that adds some flexibility to the cargo area.

Noteworthy is the fact that the Tremor has a built-in step on both exterior sides of the tub towards the rear, providing a safe place in which to put your foot when you want to gain a higher position in order to pack or adjust something in the cargo area, or even climb into the tub.

With its 2150kg kerb weight and 3050kg GVM, the SR5 V-Active has a 900kg payload rating. It can also tow up to 3500kg of braked trailer but with its 5850kg GCM (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) that would require a substantial 700kg reduction in payload to only 200kg, which could be used up by a driver and passenger alone. 

Alternatively, you could lower the trailer weight limit by the same 700kg to 2800kg (which is still a sizeable trailer) and retain the SR5’s maximum payload. We reckon most owners would do this anyway, given few (if any) would need to tow 3500kg.

The load tub is 1570mm long, 1645mm wide and 495mm deep with 1105mm between the wheel housings. Therefore, it can’t carry a standard Aussie pallet but will take a Euro-sized one. There are four load-anchorage points and we welcome the new lower/raise assistance for the hefty tailgate.

Cabin storage includes a large-bottle holder and bin in each front door, plus pop-out cupholders on either side of the dash, upper and lower glove boxes (with the upper having access to air-con) and an overhead glasses holder.

The latest centre console layout has a wireless phone-charging pad and vertical phone-storage slot, small-bottle/cupholder, a bin for small items and a box with padded lid that doubles as an elbow rest.

Rear passengers get a bottle-holder and bin in each door, pockets on each front seat backrest and a fold-down centre armrest with two more cupholders.

Only the narrower driver’s side of the 60/40-split rear seat base-cushion can swing up and be stored vertically as the passenger-side is now fixed, given the V-Active’s 48V battery resides beneath it and is ventilated by a louvered air intake in the passenger footwell.

The new electrically-assisted drivetrain is available only in SR/SR5 4x4 dual cabs and the Rogue, paired with the HiLux’s ubiquitous 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel and six-speed automatic.

Our SR5 V-Active 48V test vehicle has a list price of $63,260. It’s also equipped with the optional premium interior package, which for an additional $2500 adds black leather-accented seats and door trims, heated front seats and an eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat. Its eye-catching 'Nebula Blue' premium paint option adds another $675.

Latest MY24 updates feature a redesigned front fascia with black ‘honeycomb’ grille, plus wireless phone charging, two USB-C ports in the centre console for rear seat passengers to use and a tailgate equipped with gas-struts to ease opening/closing effort.

 Otherwise, it’s the same SR5 with which we’ve grown very familiar. Standard equipment includes 18-inch alloys and 265/60R18 tyres with a full-size alloy spare, along with LED lighting, side-steps, sports bar, privacy glass and more, even though Toyota still won’t throw in a tub-liner.

Inside is remote keyless entry/start, dual-zone climate, an air-conditioned cooler box, multiple USB ports/12-volt sockets and a 220-volt outlet, premium-grade steering wheel and shifter-knob, driver’s 4.2-inch colour multi-info display, a 360-degree camera view and more.

 The 8.0-inch touchscreen for the multimedia system, including six-speaker audio, appears to shrink as each year passes, but is easy to use and offers multiple connectivity including Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and digital radio. It also projects imagery for the various camera views.

The Tremor has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel engine – producing 150kW at 3750rpm and 500Nm at 1750-2000rpm – and that’s matched to a 10-speed automatic transmission.

It and the Wildtrak X are the only non-V6 Ranger variants that get the more advanced full-time 4WD system. This set-up has selectable two-wheel drive (2H), four-wheel drive high-range (4H), four-wheel drive low-range (4L) and four-wheel drive automatic (4A = 4Auto) that sends drive to the front and rear axles as needed, and which can be safely used on high-traction surfaces, such as bitumen.

The Tremor has a variety of selectable drive modes – including Normal, Eco, Tow/Haul, Slippery, Mud/Ruts, and Sand – and a locking rear diff.

The venerable (1GD-FTV) 2.8 litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel with V-Active produces the same 150kW and 500Nm as the standard engine, driving through a six-speed torque converter automatic.

However, Toyota claims fuel economy gains of up to 9.5 per cent when this drivetrain is combined with the new hybrid technology, which comprises a 48-volt electric motor-generator, 48-volt lithium-ion battery and idle-stop system.

The turbo-diesel engine uses a silent-belt to drive the motor-generator, which charges the battery under the rear seat. This battery, which Toyota claims weighs less than eight kilograms with 4.3Ah capacity, also supplies electricity to the vehicle’s 12-volt system through a DC/DC converter.

This system can send up to 8.4kW of power and 65Nm of torque through the motor-generator to assist the engine. Toyota claims this delivers smoother and quieter yet more responsive performance and reduces engine load under acceleration. It also results in a small reduction in idle speed from 720rpm to 600rpm.

Deceleration and braking energy are also recovered, converted into electricity and stored in the 48V battery for later use.  Toyota claims “hydraulic braking combined with regenerative braking creates a more effective and natural deceleration feel and supports downhill manoeuvring.”

The idle-stop system does not use the starter motor like conventional set-ups. Instead, the electric motor-generator, which is permanently connected to the engine via its belt-drive, delivers this function with greater smoothness and quietness.

Idle-stop duration can also be extended by the driver and, when restarting the engine on inclines, the idle-stop system retains brake pressure until enough drive force is generated to ensure smooth acceleration.

In another first for HiLux, its part-time, dual-range 4x4 system (with switchable rear diff-lock) in V-Active variants is paired with 'Multi-Terrain Select' to enhance off-road ability.

The driver can switch between six traction control settings tailored to suit a variety of terrain including 'Auto', 'Sand' and 'Mud' (high- and low-range), 'Deep Snow' and 'Dirt' (high-range) and Rock (low-range).

The Ranger Tremor has an official fuel consumption of 8.7L/100km (on a combined cycle, with stop-start engaged) or 9.3L/100km (on a combined cycle) if you have Ford disable that system at no extra cost.

I recorded 10.4L/100km on this test. I did plenty of 4WDing but I also spent a lot of time on highways so that levelled out any impact the off-roading had on fuel consumption.

The Tremor has an 80-litre fuel tank so, going by my on-test fuel-consumption figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 770km from a full tank. 

Note: the Tremor requires AdBlue diesel-exhaust fluid.

We completed a total distance of 580km, which comprised a mix of city and suburban driving with an empty load tub and up to four adults on board, plus some freeway/highway running with a near-maximum payload.

When we stopped to refuel at the end of our test, the dash display was claiming average combined consumption of 9.5L/100km, which was lineball with our own 9.4 figure calculated from fuel bowser and tripmeter readings.

Both are higher than Toyota’s official 7.2L/100km figure but within the usual 2.0-3.0L/100km discrepancy between OEM ratings and real-world figures.

Interestingly, the last time we tested a 4x4 SR5 auto dual cab ute (without V-Active) in 2023, using similar routes and payloads, we achieved 9.6L/100km. So, the V-Active’s drop in consumption was only about 2.0 per cent, compared to Toyota’s claim of up to 9.5 per cent.

So, based on our real-world figure, you could expect a useful driving range of around 870km from its 80-litre tank.

Time and distance are two crucial factors that always help to crystallise accurate and objective scrutiny of a vehicle.

And so it was on this test.

Long stretches on open roads punctuated by short, sharp bursts of tough, technical 4WDing – and the Tremor did well in both realms but, of course, proved much better suited to off-roading.

The Tremor is nice to drive on-road – quiet, refined, comfortable and the engine and transmission are a relaxed and clever combination – but it’s off-road-suited suspension is firm through patches of chopped-up back-country bitumen and corrugated bush tracks and the like – sometimes jarringly so – and the chunky all-terrain tyres don’t help on sealed surfaces either. No surprise there.

But on the open highway at cruising speed, the Tremor exhibits all of those smooth-driving characteristics the Ranger line-up is so well known for. It sits on the road nicely, with that wider footprint yielding a settled stance, and this ute simply rumbles along the blacktop with nary a care in the world.

The brake pedal feels a tad spongy – taking some time between initial foot pressure to actually ‘biting', and then the brakes – discs all round – do clamp effectively into action.

Unsurprisingly, the Tremor does even better than a standard Ranger when 4WDing because that’s what it’s been engineered to do.

This ute is 5370mm long (with a 3270mm wheelbase), 2208mm wide and 1914mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 2419kg. This is not a petite ute by anyone’s measure but even with a turning circle of 12.9m, it manages to never feel unwieldy on bush tracks.

It’s based on the Ranger Sport, which is no slouch in the off-roading department but, as mentioned earlier, it has the line-up’s full-time 4WD set-up not the part-time 4WD system.

The 2.0-litre engine is rarely stressed, offers plenty of torque across a decent rev range and it never has to work hard to get through most obstacles or challenges.

The 10-speed auto transmission is clever – there’s no scrambling between ratios – and you can take over duties yourself you can do so via the manual shifter. The ‘e-Shifter’ is mildly annoying but it irritates me less every time I use it.

Low-range gearing is adequate and the Tremor has an electronic rear diff lock for more traction-boosting control. It’s worth noting here that the Raptor has front and rear diff locks.

There’s plenty of driver-assist tech onboard and off-road driving modes include Mud/Ruts and Sand. These are no substitute for track-worthy 4WD mechanicals, but these modes do effectively adjust engine throttle, transmission, braking, traction and stability controls to suit the driving conditions.

Driver-assist tech is sound: off-road applications are displayed on screen – with driveline/diff lock indicators, steering, pitch and roll angles depicted – and hill descent control held the Tremor to a controlled 3-4km/h as I tip-toed down to the bottom of a difficult slope.

The Tremor upgrades have further boosted the Ranger’s capabilities off-road.

The power steering, light and sporty in all scenarios, has been tweaked with a heavy-duty tune and retains a confident feel in difficult conditions.

The suspension set-up – working off IFS with wishbones and coils at the front and live axle on leaf springs at the rear – now benefits from heavy-duty off-road engineering with new springs and Bilstein dampers with external reservoirs.

Wheel travel – how far the axle can move up and down vertically wheel to wheel relative to the chassis – is slightly better than a standard Ranger’s, with this ute’s tyres stretching further than the regular version’s.

Rubber is all-important when it comes to 4WDing and the news is good here: the Tremor has General Grabber AT3 all-terrain tyres (LT 265/70 R17) and these light-truck construction tyres are grippy and effective in the dirt.

The Tremor benefits from more driver-assist tech including low-speed Rock Crawl driving mode, Trail Control (which adjusts throttle to suit low-speed low-range 4WDing), and Trail Turn Assist (which, at low-range 4WD speeds, brakes the inside rear wheel to assist in tight turns.

Where a standard Ranger might scrape its underbody when off-road terrain becomes particularly challenging, the Tremor is higher off the deck than its regular stablemates. Its claimed ground clearance is 261mm but is probably closer to 220mm. I’ve said it before, but it’s worth noting again: as with any measurements provided by any vehicle manufacturer (ground clearance, wading depth, towing capacities etc), consider those figures with healthy scepticism. I’m more inclined to avoid maxing out on any listed measurement, just to be on the safe side, rather than have complete faith in any car-maker claims and perhaps risk strife as a result.

Continuing on: wading depth is listed as 800mm and its off-road angles are sound for this part of the market: for your reference, approach, departure and ramp-over angles are listed as 32, 27 and 24 degrees respectively.

There are a couple of niggles, though.

I’ve previously expressed annoyance at the auto transmission shifter – a kind of joystick on a light cycle of steroids and just as touchy. It’s especially finicky on bumpy terrain but it’s another Ranger-based characteristic to which I’m gradually becoming accustomed.

The operation of some off-road driver-assist tech can be confusing as it’s divided between the rotary dial (to select drive modes) and the screen (to engage the rear diff lock etc). Not a deal-breaker, but it takes some getting used to.

Back to regular programming: the Tremor has a listed payload of 901kg, and towing capacities of 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg (braked) – and that’s where it bests its Raptor stablemate, which can manage 2500kg.

It has a listed GVM (gross vehicle mass) of 3320kg and a GCM (gross combined mass) of 6350kg. Remember: any onboard loads – such as people, pets, camping gear or aftermarket equipment (bullbar, roof rack etc) – must figure in your payload and GVM equations.

If you’re expecting a tangible difference in performance with the V-Active system, you’ll probably be disappointed. Fact is, after almost 600km of testing, on a variety of roads with a variety of loads, we could not detect any noticeable gain in acceleration, braking or smoothness compared to a standard SR5.

That’s not to say the V-Active system is not delivering up to 8.4kW of power and 65Nm of torque, as Toyota claims. It’s just that these gains are modest and delivered so discreetly that they are undetectable in real-world driving.

This was perhaps best demonstrated when we loaded 650kg into the load tub, which when combined with our two-man crew was a total payload of 830kg. That was only 70kg shy of the payload limit.

It made light work of our 13 per cent gradient 2.0km set climb at 60km/h by self-shifting down to fourth gear at 2250rpm, where it tapped maximum torque to easily haul this payload to the summit.

However, in our previous test of a standard SR5, on the same incline with 100kg more payload, the gear selection and engine rpm were the same as the V-Active. The same applied to engine-braking on the way down.

The HiLux achieved a maximum five-star ANCAP rating in 2019, so its six-year validity will expire next year. Even so, there are seven airbags plus AEB with pedestrian and daytime cyclist detection, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane keeping, active cruise control, speed-sign recognition, panoramic view/reversing camera and more.

The rear seat offers ISOFIX child-seat mounts on the two outer seating positions plus top-tether restraints on all three seating positions.

The Tremor is covered by Ford’s five year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is the standard for dual-cab utes.

Roadside assistance is available for up to seven years as long as the Tremor’s owner has the ute serviced at an authorised Ford dealership.

Service intervals are scheduled for every 12 months or 15,000km and a fixed-price servicing plan applies to the first four years/60,000km if you pre-pay the $1385 required (GST included).

Toyota covers the HiLux with a five-year/unlimited km warranty which is par for the course in the mainstream market.

Service intervals are relatively short at six months/10,000km whichever occurs first. Capped-price servicing for the first five years/100,000km totals $3889 or an average of $779 per year.