The world’s second best-selling truck behind the Toyota Hilux, Ford’s new Ranger aims to further solidify its standing as a recreational off road vehicle and workhorse truck

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SINGAPORE

Want a car that can do everything? The all-new, next-generation Ford Ranger has arrived in Singapore and is now wearing a sticker price of S$129,888 without COE. It’s a bit of a jump in price over the last generation version, but with market forces here the way it is right now, that’s not much of a surprise. 

The basics, if you aren’t yet acquainted, is that the Ford Ranger is a four-wheel drive, off road-capable, load carrying, five-seater dual-cab truck. In Ford’s international sales segments, it’s classed as a mid-sized lifestyle vehicle between the larger F-150 truck and smaller Bronco SUV. 

In 2022, it was officially the world’s second-best selling truck after the legendary Toyota Hilux, and it’s being promoted here in Singapore as a premium lifestyle vehicle that also does double-duty as a load carrier.

Local versions get a single engine variant in the form of a 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine with a maximum power output of 168 horsepower and peak torque of 450Nm. The automatic transmission is combined with an electronically switched transfer case that allows the driver to select 2-wheel drive, 4-wheel drive high gear and 4-wheel drive low gear ranges, so the Ranger has more in common with the chunky Jeep Gladiator than the utilitarian and basic, two-wheel drive Singaporean version of the Toyota Hilux. 

The exterior design is an evolution of the previous-gen car, and even though the new truck right now comes only in a single trim variant with no news of the Raptor kit, it features that aggro but elegant front end that’s framed by the Ford Ranger signature C-Clamp headlight treatment. A subtle shoulder line running along the sides incorporates more prominent wheel arches than before. 

Inside, the plush but tough cabin steps up the game. The Ranger typically features more premium soft-touch materials tha other utilitarian trucks, and the new interior is more car-like than ever. A vertical touchscreen with Ford’s SYNC 4 connectivity and entertainment system, which comes with wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Mirror Screen, forms the centrepiece of the large passenger space. The customisable, multi-functional instrument panel also displays off road driving information like the truck’s tilt angle and steering angles.

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Ford states that this is a recreational truck for the connected age, with places to store your smartphones and a large centre console bin sized to stash portable gadgets. The dashboard conceals an upper glovebox, and there are storage bins under and behind the rear seats as well.

What we won’t get are the other Ford Ranger engine variants. Internationally, these include a 2.3-litre petrol turbo four-cylinder, a 2.7-litre petrol V6 twin-turbo and the massive 3.0-litre V6 with 405 horsepower. The truck is one of Ford’s most important worldwide products right now, with production taking place across the world in five different countries including Thailand, from where Singapore gets its allocation from. 

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Local Ford dealer Regent Motors has been lean on models for sale for some years, but its secret weapon has been the Ford Mustang, a highly desirable, and very limited piece of Americana right here in Singapore.

Yet as a truck, the Ford Ranger can only be registered as a G-plate goods-carrying vehicle here, which also makes it illegal to drive at more than 70km/h on the roads. With its 10-speed automatic gearbox, this essentially means that the top three gears get very little use. It’s a truck with a lot of ability that is best seen on the open highway and off the tarmac, which means driving into Malaysia. The trick with this is that G-plate vehicles can only legally be driven into Malaysia if the owner has a registered company in West Malaysia, pays an additional Malaysian road tax of RM120 annually.

Still, don’t let that put you off the new Ford Ranger. It’s got a road presence that few other vehicles rolling about have, and if the previous-gen version was any indication this will be one of the most comfortable but tough trucks that you can buy here.

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