While the truism about suddenly seeing the same type of car as the one you’re driving is generally best avoided when writing about them, you hardly need to be a Ford Ranger owner to appreciate their proliferation on UK roads in the last 15 years or so. Not on the same prodigious, ubiquitous scale as the Transit family, of course - yet certainly sufficient for it to seem like there’s one around every corner. This is a pickup, lest we forget, that started life in Europe as a rebodied Mazda B-Series, a look so drab it seemed fit for abandoning in a barn straight from the showroom. Now look at it. You’ll need more than two hands to count the number of new cars less handsome than the current generation Ranger.
The time spent on making it look good is indicative of how much the average customer cares about it. Because while there are legitimate practical reasons for choosing a pickup (as anyone farming or farming adjacent has been doing for yonks), the Ranger and its direct rivals have overlapped with ‘lifestyle’ considerations in a way that no humble white van ever could. Hence the wide array of upper-tier trim options available to the Ford buyer - Tremor, Wildtrak, Platinum, even MS-RT - not to mention its decision to introduce a toned-down version of the V6 petrol-powered Raptor in Europe.
The imminent arrival of a plug-in hybrid variant ought to fan the Ranger flames higher than ever. It will combine Ford’s 2.3-litre four-pot (yes, that one) with an 11.8kWh battery and 75kW electric motor for a total output of 281hp and 514lb ft of torque - and up to 26 miles of silent running. What could be more modern and people-pleasing than that? Here’s a good benchmark: a figure no less enthusiastic about cars than PistonHeads’ own Ben Lowden, a man still impatiently ticking off a must-own-one-day list with the fervour of a 17-year-old plumber, asked about running one in 2025 as a ‘Sunday Service wagon’, which is PH code for ‘drive all the time, everywhere’.
That Ford’s messaging around a ‘best-of-both-worlds solution for work, play, and family’ has penetrated the thought process of a chap usually preoccupied with the ideal camber angle for an old MX-5 rather says it all. For now though, we have no way of knowing if the long-promised petrol-electric version is any good - nor how expensive it will be when it arrives in the UK. For the record, the flagship Ranger Raptor, which produces significantly less torque thanks to its emission-based neutering, starts at around £52k before VAT.
Interestingly, while Ford will allow you to buy the Raptor with the much more economical 210hp 2.0-litre diesel engine, it will not allow you to twin it with the 3.0-litre V6 EcoBlue unit that delivers an additional 30hp, and, much more importantly, 443lb ft of torque where the petrol V6 can only summon up 362lb ft. This, as you might expect, is something of a shame. Because in lowlier, but still very nice Wildtrak trim grade, the Ranger and its burliest oil burner go together like Hall and Oates.
We can thank VW for this. Reportedly it was the Amarok side of the developmental coin that bolstered the case for a six-cylinder diesel, and it brings with it all the refinement and mid-range impetus that you’d hope for in an upmarket double cab truck. The initial throttle response and low-end delivery have clearly been mapped with one eye solidly fixed on fuel consumption - and even when empty you won’t mistake it for anything less than a 2.3-tonne commercial vehicle - but around town this just makes the V6 Ranger seem considered and even magnanimous in a gravelly sort of way.
It doesn’t take much to liven things up. In the Raptor, you find yourself chasing revs to make the most of the trick chassis; in the Wildtrak, the earnest in-gear acceleration, and the ten-speed auto’s capacity for locating its sweet spot, chime splendidly well with the simpler, softer suspension setup. Sure, you can’t hit speed bumps like a Baja trophy truck - but on 18-inch wheels and all-season tyres, the Wildtrak does a much better job of soaking up drain covers. And while it needs 8.7 seconds to nudge the national limit, it is handsomely good at remaining there, in all conditions, on all surfaces.
There is a limit to this composure, but with your expectations recalibrated for a body-on-frame pickup, the Ranger rarely makes it seem like a restriction on your enjoyment. As there is less pay-off for giving the Wildtrak death, you tend to drive everywhere at seven-tenths, elbow welded to the door frame, with an oddly contented look on your face - i.e. the one traditionally associated with marrying a big oil burner to languid bump absorption. Think Disco 4 and you’re in the conceptual ballpark. Factor in switchable all-wheel drive, a well-appointed interior, a flatbed big enough for a Christmas tree and fearlessness in the face of part-flooded roads, and you really do begin to see what all the fuss is about away from the Raptor’s rambunctious charm.
In many ways, I prefer the diesel V6. It feels more rounded and (unsurprisingly) fitter for the purpose of being a do-it-all pickup. But it’s easy to understand why most of the Rangers you see are powered by the four-pot: practical, right-thinking people, when told about its premium (the 2.0-litre Wildtrak double cab starts at £41,758; the 3.0-litre, £47,230) and its failure to achieve a combined MPG score beyond 27.7, doubtless question the need for two additional cylinders. Ford itself, we're told, questioned it. Probably when the plug-in hybrid arrives, the manufacturer will again consider the rationale for offering it. Perhaps only a dyed-in-the-wool Ranger enthusiast would see the point. Good thing there are more of them than ever, too.
SPECIFICATION | Ford Ranger Wildtrak 3.0 V6
Engine: 2,993cc, V6, turbodiesel
Transmission: ten-speed auto, four-wheel drive
Total power (hp): 240@3,250rpm
Total torque (lb ft): 443@1,750-2,250rpm
0-62mph: 8.7sec
Top speed: 111mph
Weight: 2,295kg
MPG: 27.7 (WLTP)
CO2: 268g/km (WLTP)
Price: £47,230 (excl. VAT)
Price as tested: £50,530 (excl. VAT)
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