Ford Ranger Wildtrak 2015

On the road, the Ranger Wildtrak is very comfortable for a utility vehicle. 

The ride is smooth and the power delivery more than ample for around-town driving and highway cruising. Handling is surprisingly good too. The electric steering has some built-in ‘feel’ and the ute grips the road well and doesn’t have that customary wallow into corners you generally get from 4WD utes.

So you’re probably wondering, how did it go when we hooked up a Haines Hunter SF600LE boat?

At first, it was actually hard to notice we had a boat attached at all. The drive was smooth and the cabin noise was quiet considering. On our test hill we found the engine had no troubles accelerating from 50km/h to 80km/h at around 2800rpm - quite impressive compared to the Mazda BT-50.

Next we decided to test the Ranger on some uneven surfaces and boy, did it impress. There was no typical ‘ute bounce’ giving us complete comfort out of our comfort zone. As we examined the vehicle, we were quite surprised to see the standard leaf spring rear-end.

The Ford's electric steering felt stiff when turning into a corner. This occurred uphill and on an uneven surface at 70-80 km/h. It felt like it had a delayed response that we didn’t like. 

Back on the motorway, we found the 3.2L 5-cylinder engine could cruise at 90km/h while running smoothly at a measly 1600rpm in sixth gear.

In terms of vision, a large 8.0 inch screen which acts as a reversing camera did a good job as the rear tray was quite high, however the roll bar can create a bit of a blind spot while using the mirrors.

Overall we give the Wildtrak the thumbs up. It’s great looking, comfortable and full of the latest technology and safety features such as lane keep assist and adaptive cruise control.

Perfect for the family, and even better for a camping or fishing weekend away.

Thanks to SeaCraft Miller Moyes for the test boat & trailer.