Ford fans might not have realised, but they already know the new ute’s six-cylinder diesel. It’s a heart that beats on, and on, and on.

The new-gen Ford Ranger (above) is the next of two local market recipients (the other being the 2023 VW Amarok) for the Lion/Power Stroke V6 … but among past recipients are, in ascending order, the Ford Territory, Land Rover Discovery, Peugeot 406 and Ford F 1-50.

THE core engine for the next Ranger has a multilingual past – Kiwis have already heard past iterations ‘speak’ in French, plummy Pom, ‘Strine and American accents.

The biggest Kiwi link dates back to 2011. That’s when the Territory gained a 2.7-litre V6 turbodiesel, developed during the Blue Oval’s partnership with Jaguar Land Rover.

The implementation was a long time coming; the engine, in fact, had already by then accomplished a six-year tour of duty in assorted Peugeot, Citroen and JLR vehicles. The 406 coupe, the Jaguar S-Type and the Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover Sport being particular luminaries.

Such are the ways of the motoring world that the engine had pretty much retired from its Euro escapade – six years being basically an entire model cycle for some of the original applicants - before it took up a new challenge down in this part of the world.

No matter, it was still up to the intended job of revitalising of Ford Australia’s home-grown Falcon-based family-friendly sports utility. It was so liked the big fella maintained healthy demand right up to when production was curtailed.

Believe it or not, it’s a full six years since the big T died. As did our association with that powertrain. Or so we thought …

Not for good, as it transpires. For this we can give credit to … the Americans.

Turns out America-land, diesel distain, has been keeping this one on life support. What we knew as the ‘Lion’ V6 was also, it turns out, the ‘Power Stroke’ recently used in the Ford F-150 in the United States.

And the point of explaining all of the above?

Mainly because the Lion is back on the prowl here. Now as a twin turbo 3.0-litre for the new Ranger.

The marriage is kinda fitting. Just as the engine is new but not totally’, neither is the Ranger. Insofar that the T6.2 line coming around July is based on the T6 platform that entered life in 2010. But in both cases, we’re not unhappy, because each job represents a thorough re-engineering and modernisation of something that we all seemed to like a lot beforehand. Hence why Ranger has been, not just the country’s best-selling ute, but also in some years our best-selling new vehicle.

The V6 seems set to be optional across key models of Ranger and, of course, also slots into the new Everest. With 184kW of power and 600Nm of torque, it comes paired to a 10-speed automatic transmission and full-time four-wheel drive system. Tasty enough?

Pritika Maharaj, Ranger and Everest programme manager, says Ford decided to give this engine a third life because “some customers told us they wanted more power and torque for towing and extreme off-roading.

“When you drive a Ranger with the V6, it feels like a much bigger truck. And it feels strong in the sense that it’s got plenty of power and torque, which is exactly what our customers told us they wanted.”

That’s good news not just for Ranger fans. It translates well into German, as well. The strongest-selling version of the current Volkswagen Amarok already runs a 3.0-litre V6, married to a full-time all-wheel-drive. That’s a VW set-up that won’t carry into the new Amarok, out next year … because that next gen German ute is, of course, a Ranger in lederhosen.

So, anyway, it seems a whole new adventure awaits an engine whose design dates back to 2004, and has been used in a variety of applications, has represented in two capacities and has run single and sequential twin-turbocharged iterations.

Interestingly, the version coming for Ranger will be the second-most powerful for a production model. The gruntiest format was that used by the previous Discovery 5 TDV6 and Rangr Rover Sport: Behind the green oval badge it made 225kW and 700Nm.

Volkswagen’s current V6 makes up to 190kW and 580Nm, with 200kW available for short periods in the ‘overboost’ function.

The most important counts from the new V6, given the impact they make on your spend beyond what’s asked as a recommended retail, are the fuel economy and emissions.

The latter will assuredly be above 192 grams per kilometre, the absolute point beyond which the April 1 Clean Car – aka the ‘ute tax’ – penalties apply. Chances are that this will add another $3500 to $4500 to the bottom line. But it’s all guesswork until Ford shares that and other core information (including the price tags).