Why every one-tonne rival will be feeling blue about the T6.2.

‘CAR-like’ design and feature attributes were the big news of the previous Ranger and are all the more prevalent now – yet there’s one feature now embedded into Ford passenger models that didn’t transition.

In Ford-speak, it’s the ‘rotating prindle’. The latter being a conversion of P-R-N-D-L (so ‘Park’, Reverse’, ‘Neutral’, ‘Drive’ and … erm … “Low’ when that’s appropriate).

To change the settings on a Ford Focus, Puma, Escape and so on, you turn a dial set into the centre console. That was also the plan for the Ranger. To start with.

All the initial engineering went into making it so, but then came the customer clinics, from which a very firm, thumbs down response was elicited.

The mantra for ‘keeping the gear stick’ was not just for practical reasons. Ford’s research showed Ranger customers also expected their tough truck to feature something more robust than a dainty dial.

Long story short, the versions with a freshen of the previous line’s 10-speed gear much the same kind of shifter as before, while the high-end V6s – in diesel, that’s the Sport and Wildtrak, in petrol the impending Raptor – take a stubby hand shifter that’s quite similar in look and shift-movement action that you’ll find in some high-end Volkswagen Group products. Which is (no pun intended) handy, as this Ranger is also the basis for the 2023 VW Amarok. For all that, the top models’ shifter having that familiarity is entirely a happenstance, says Ian Foston, the Ranger’s chief platform engineer.

 The headline guest for the NZ media event further explained the decision to equip the top level editions with a six-cylinder and also a constant four-wheel-drive (though it has a rear-drive fallback setting) – the two core sales-attracting ingredients of the outgoing Amarok – was made a full year before VW signed into a co-development programme. Knowing it was getting those, Foston says, made it all the easier for Germany. “They were just rapt. They were chuffed to bits. We basically showed them everything we were doing and they just said ‘great, you’re doing everything we want’.”

 How much of the old Ranger has transferred to the new? Basically, very little. Even the ingredients that did previous time have been altered, that 10R60 transmission being a good example. It has undergone a considerable makeover since it appeared in the previous gen behind the 2.0 biturbo diesel, and it is also used in the Mustang, F Trucks and other Ford Global products. For this new T6.2 Ranger, it gets a new torque converter and closer gear ratios to make it more refined and responsive.

There’s a ‘something old, something new element’. That hero 3.0-litre V6 engine is from the ‘Lion’ family, which relate back to the 2.7-litre version we remember from the Land Rover Discovery 3 and Ford Territory, while the latter 3.0-litre version was used in other Land Rover models and most recently in the Ford F-150 for a short time.

So much has been said over the past year about this new generation of Ford New Zealand’s most important model for the past decade, the successor to the T6 Ranger that has accounted for up to 75 percent of total sales, and yet, on meeting it in the metal at last, there’s still a lot of detail to learn.

This, after all, is a family of utes spanning three body styles – though, arguably, in the NZ scene the mid to high-end double cabs matter a lot more than the more work-oriented single and supercab – and a decent price spread, from $46,990 through to $89,990, the latter attaching to the Raptor that’s not showing until September or October and, by the by, is being considered by Ford as a completely different model line to the mainstream Ranger.

Powertrains span single turbo 125kW/405Nm 2.0-litre diesel, the 155kW/505Nm biturbo 2.0-litre diesel we know so well, single turbo 184kW/600Nm 3.0 V6 diesel and (strictly for Raptor) biturbo 292kW/593Nm 3.0-litre V6 petrol, economies from 7.6L/100km (XL rear-drive single cab) to 11.5L/100km (Raptor), transmissions are six-speed and 10-speed automatic, there are rear-drive and all-wheel-drives (the latter in two formats, the V6s taking an on-the-fly system that basically gives the model full-time AWD for the first time) and, yes, everything cops a Clean Car penalty, from $1840 to $5175. AdBlue is required for both the bi-turbo four-cylinder and V6 turbo-diesel; Wildtrak is the sole model to adopt both engines.

 Had everything been on hand for the media event in Hawke’s Bay, we’d have been kept busy for a week. Ford giving us doublecabs alone in Wildtrak, Sport and XLT in biturbo and V6 for the introduction Outfoxed, an outdoors events venue at Te Awanga near Havelock North, made for an easier day. Had it been a day. In fact, we have just a few hours to acquaint – for those who were not taking away a vehicle for further evaluation, it would have seemed an incredibly brief taster.

As well as some generally tame off-roading – the most challenging tests being dips in the Tukituki River and a stream to test the 900mm wading depth – we drove over a mix of sealed and gravel roads in the immediate vicinity, finishing back at Outfoxed with some circle work skids in a paddock.

 All utes were unladen and there was no demonstration of towing; a shame as hefting loads in the deck and off the hook is clearly going to be a V6 virtue. The off-roading was shortened due to the area being dumped with a month’s load of rain over the week leading into our stint – we had the only fine weather of a programme that had also provided dealer training. The vehicle coped fine with the plotted challenges. Both the part-time and full-time all-wheel drive systems were tried and neither had any trouble. The electronic traction control, rear differential lock and good articulation made relatively light work of the terrain we took on.

I was pleased to be able to have been given an old-model Wildtrak X to run for the week leading up to this, and to have a Wildtrak V6 to bring home, again for a further seven days’ exposure. That experience has hammered home just how what we get now – and might have for another 10 years - is no quick freshen. It boils down to this: Outgoing Ranger, to its last day, was best in class. The new builds on that quality, and massively so. I cannot think of anything else in the category that is going to be a full match for the V6 Wildtrak.

Foston and exterior design manager Leigh Cosentino say their common goal was to make this ute feel more premium and polished. They’ve aced that and more. The impressively composed ride and dynamic feel, plus the fresh cabin treatments make the Ranger special. The huge technology imprint, which thanks to over-the-air update ability will keep enhancing, is just as compelling. And, of all the engine choices so far tried, the V6 is the one that’ll light up your dial the most. It’s a fantastic powerplant.

Will it cripple the biturbo’s status? Ford reckons each will find their own fanbase, and also suggests that while the order book – which shows 5055 entries so far – have to date heavily favoured the six-cylinder, they believe the trend will swing back, in time, to give the four-cylinder a stronger showing.

That’s good to hear. The biturbo, after all, was the previous line’s premium engine (it debuted in the Raptor before becoming an option on others) and it is still hugely relevant. It keeps impressing for hefty punch. If ever an engine undermines the whole ‘there’s no replacement for displacement’ ideal, it’s still the biturbo.

And yet, if ever there’s an engine to prove that hoary old saying actually DOES contain a kernel of truth … it’s the V6. On paper, the new choice ‘only’ has a 29kW/100Nm advantage; in all driving conditions, it simply consistently feels far more muscled and relaxed. All it does is accomplished with less effort; it purrs in challenges that make the 2.0-litre roar. On the road, it’s also simply stronger and quieter. Yes, it’s thirstier, but according to official testing, over consumption is just 0.8 litres per 100km greater.

That showed in comparing the economies from the Wildtrak X and Wildtrak V6 from having driven each respectively on the same route, though obviously in reverse direction. The X on the two hour run from my Manawatu home to Havelock North returned an even 9.2L/100km. The V6 on the drive back sat at 9.8L/100km.

There some irks about Ranger, which I’ll get more fully into with the Wildtrak V6 test that’ll come soon, but nothing that would make you think other brands might have an upper hand.

Sure, the frontal design is a touch confronting – I take onboard Costentino’s view that it is ‘recognisable as a Ranger from 100m away’, but also feel the patent US-centric tobacco-spittin’ influences also look slightly overdone here - and as much as the front of the cabin is brilliant, not just in operability but also materials quality, it’s a shame Ford didn’t find a way of freeing up the whole space by just few extra millimetres.

Even though this cabin feels airier and sitting in the back is better, it’s mainly because the back bench is more comfortable. Though deeper sculpting of the front seat backs allows more knee room, rear seat space remains a bit tight.

Small item storage space around the cabin is weirdly limited. How come Wildtrak alone has a neat dual glovebox design and those flip-out cupholders? And why is Sport V6 on a road-oriented tyre and not the same all-terrain items fitted to XLT and Wildtrak?

Still, it’s not a basic ute. Even the entry XL gets a cleanly integrated 10.1-inch portrait-oriented touchscreen running the SYNC4A system, climate control, locking rear diff and, for the first time on a Ranger, a reach adjustable steering column and rear air vents. NZ skips the next step XLS, but goes straight to XLT, so you get four drive modes (Normal, Eco, Slippery and Tow/Haul), 17-inch alloys, a power tailgate lock, a better six-speaker stereo, side steps, rear disc brakes, LED lights, dual-zone climate control and keyless entry. The traditional worksite hero grade here also features low-profile rear box illumination, which is a plus when unloading the tub in darkness.

The new to type Sport trim is a dark horse. It’s 4x4 only and adds Mud/Ruts and Sand settings to the rotary drive mode controller. It also comes with eight-way powered driver's seat adjustment, dark finish grille and exterior accents, 18-inch alloys and wireless phone charging. The V6 Sport costs the same as a biturbo Wildtrak. But a V6 Wildtrak costs just $5000 more … and it has every single thing you’ll feel compelled to gloat about to mates.

Exterior zone lighting, roof rails, a powered roller shutter for the bed, a 12-inch touchscreen, heated and power-adjustable front seats, as well as an integrated trailer brake controller. But not for NZ the premium pack embracing fully automatic matrix-beam LED headlamps, a 10-speaker, 660W Bang and Olufsen stereo and a roof-mounted switch pack (that allows you to control auxiliary driving lights and other accessories) that our neighbours across the Tasman achieve, albeit as a cost extra.

The driving experience is quite a revelation. With its longer and higher bonnet, it feels like a bigger car from behind the wheel, even though the overall dimensions are similar. This, and the new V6, gives the car an all-new feeling. It is more planted on the road through the bends largely due to its 50mm wider wheeltrack.

Top tip: The first thing you need to do before driving, but particularly before heading off-road, is familiarise yourself with the various systems that control everything. While the new V6 has a full-time four-by-four transfer case, fully unleashing the talent requires more than simply selecting low range and taking off.

Ranger has six selectable drive modes, two of which are dedicated to off-road use. These are Mud/Ruts and Sand modes and when you select these via a dial on the console, the car makes all the hardware selections for you, including the transfer case operation and differential locks. The on-road drive modes include Normal, Eco, Tow/Haul, and Slippery. The Ranger Raptor adds Baja, Sport and Rock Crawl modes but loses the Tow and Eco modes.

With Mud/Ruts selected the Ranger is good for tackling significant muck; it also made light work of wading through some water-logged shingle.

An off-road screen can be selected on the huge centre stack monitor which shows all the settings and the view from the off-road cameras and allows you to select them on the touchscreen.

 In low range either engine has the goods to allow Ranger to crawl along smoothly at low revs. But the V6 demands less throttle; you can simply let the torque do the work. From gut feel, the bigger mill’s maximum 600Nm is feeding in at lower revs than the biturbo’s 500Nm; it’s hard to tell because the tachometer now only represents as digital graphics that don’t impart as accurately as good old analogue.  

One of the obstacles was to demonstrate the cross-axle articulation and how this Ranger does better than the old model thanks to its longer wheel travel and sharper traction-control calibration. Since the media day, I’ve tried it on a truly tough bit of terrain that, a week ago, tested the X to the wheel-scrabbling, chassis touching limit. The V6 just smashed it … without, well, smashing it. And the area had been rain-sodden when I did in it in the new truck.

One neat assist for Ranger is the forward-facing camera. It’s there to help particularly when you’re heading up and over blind crests; if from the wheel you can’t see which way the track goes, the camera view does the job.

The on-road driving demeanour is also where Ranger is set to slam its rivals. My exposure on seal was purely restricted to Sport and Wildtrak in biturbo and V6. They’re well-sorted. You note, in particular, how much sharper, more linear and better-weighted the steering is. Everything driven was unladen, yet the ride is more composed than previously in that state. The Wildtrak is closest to a sports utility; the Sport and lower grades have more jiggle. But none are uncomfortable.

With the V6 versions, it’s best to leave the fully-automated all-wheel-drive system in its ‘4A’ setting, which in apportioning 10 percent of the power to the front, everything else rearward is delivering just enough to lend a secure all-paw feeling (with readiness to alter the servings if it senses more traction is required up front) that every Amarok owner is already familiar with and finds so enjoyable. As do I. I’d rather have a 4wd ute that actually is that way, all the time, than one that has the label but can only deploy all-wheel action on low traction surfaces.

Ranger’s development testing saw it clock 1,250,000km of customer driving and 625,000km off-road durability testing – that’s purely Ranger kays, not anything involving the Amarok - while conducting approximately 5000 interviews with owners.

That’s the level of dedication put in by the Ford Australia crew which deservedly received huge plaudits for the outgoing PX Ranger. As good as that one was (and still is), the new is generally so much better there is, in some instances, no point in comparing.

That the T6.2 is set to go 180 markets seems only right. It is, in so many ways, ready to take on, and conquer, the world.