Ford Ranger 2.0 Bi-Turbo 2022 Tow Test

For this 2.0-litre Bi-Turbo towing test, we’re hitching up with the 2022 Ford Ranger Sport 2.0L BiT 4x4 that’s priced at $63,690 plus on-road costs.

In Sport trim (and others), you can also pay an extra $3000 and swap out the 154kW/500Nm biturbo-diesel for the new 184kW/600Nm 3.0-litre V6 that starts from $66,690 plus ORCs.

It costs an extra $675 for prestige paint and $900 for the Touring Pack, consisting of a 360-degree parking camera, puddle lamp mirrors, zone lighting and an integrated trailer brake controller.

So as tested here, without on-road costs, the 2022 Ford Ranger Sport 2.0L BiT 4x4 is $65,265.

The 2022 Ford Ranger Sport has 18-inch wheels, dark exterior accents, LED headlights and fog lights, keyless entry/start, dual-zone climate control and leather-accented seats with eight-way power adjustment for the driver.

An alloy sports hoop bar, a 12V socket and illumination in the tray, and a tow bar and wiring (but not tow ball) are also part of the package.

Ford should supply a 50mm ball but reckons it wants to let customers choose their own tow ball. Really, there’s only two types: a 50mm ball or an off-road type (of which there are a few designs).

Buy a trailer with a 50mm coupling and it’s expected you already have the tow ball; buy an off-road trailer with an off-road hitch and the pin is usually supplied with the trailer.

In other words, everybody expects to have a tow ball with their tow bar these days.

All Rangers get a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and the first four services are $329 each, with intervals of 12 months or 15,000km.

With a freshly awarded five-star ANCAP rating, the new 2022 Ford Ranger is looking as a promising starter on the safety front.

It is certainly chock-full of safety gear. Nine airbags, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind spot monitoring (including for a trailer, once you’ve entered the trailer size data into the system), rear cross traffic alert, a reversing camera and rear parking sensors are all standard.

Then there’s also front parking sensors and the optional 360-degree camera as part of the Touring Pack.

The 2022 Ford Ranger Sport gets a lot of standard tech gear for a ute. In fact, the Ranger is at the top of the ute ladder for such features.

For starters, it has a large portrait-style touch-screen with wireless smartphone mirroring, digital radio, native sat-nav and the FordPass Connect app. Wireless phone charging is standard too.

What’s appealing for those who tow a trailer regularly is the Ranger’s towing tech features .

You can activate a trailer light test (and once you have the FordPass app registered you can even do this via your phone) and set up the blind spot monitoring to include the length of the trailer.

There’s also a guide to hitching up sequence, showing what you should be doing when hitching a trailer, such as crossing over safety chains and so on.

The rear-view and (optional) 360-degree cameras work well in guiding you during the hitching-up process too.

The 2022 Ford Ranger Sport 2.0L BiT is motivated by the now-familiar 2.0-litre biturbo-diesel engine that first arrived in the previous PXIII Ford Ranger.

It produces 154kW and 500Nm in the new Ranger, and as before is linked to a 10-speed automatic transmission.

This powertrain is one of the more refined and capable in the ute world, and in the new Ranger it seems just a little more quiet and smooth than in the previous Ranger.

It has plenty of get-up-and-go, and that initial lag common with turbo-diesels is not a problem as it often is.

During tow testing of the new 2022 Ford Ranger Sport 2.0L BiT, we achieved a fuel figure of 16.3L/100km towing a caravan weighing 2700kg all up.

Around town, mostly, with some highway commuting thrown in, saw a figure of 8.0L/100km when unhitched.

There’s no hiding the girth of the 2022 Ford Ranger Sport 2.0L BiT when weaving your way through tight inner-urban streets, with nearly two metres of width and over five metres of length not only occupying road space but the best part of any parking space, too.

The Ranger’s body seems rigid – a good thing – with no body flexing, bump compliance is so good it is hard to tell it’s a ute, and from there it still holds its own, nicely absorbing and then settling quickly over larger bumps and potholes.

The steering is on the firm side but at least it is consistent. If you turn into a corner quickly, the Ranger responds with confidence.

The Ranger really is very comfortable to drive for a ute.

When towing the 2700kg Jayco full-size tandem-axle caravan we borrowed from Jayco Sydney, the 2022 Ford Ranger Sport 2.0L BiT did it easily, barely moving with the 290kg measured tow ball download mass.

When towing up our test hill, the Ranger clocked 85km/h flat-out with a 90km/h start speed.

Engine braking was reasonable, with a creep up from a 70km/h start speed to 74km/h. This suggests the Ranger 2.0 is a good towing performer, with only the more powerful vehicles able to keep anything like their approach speed all the way up the test hill.

The only dislike here is the fiddly manual mode switch on the side of the transmission lever. It is a silly design that is not as simple to use as it should be.

As for towing comfort and stability, there is very little to complain about.

There is a little too much firmness over rippled surfaces at town speeds, but otherwise the ride quality is very good when towing and the Ranger displays very little indication it wants to yaw when touring at 100km/h.

The 2022 Ford Ranger Sport was not off-road tested here, but we know from other reviews that it has good rear-axle articulation and ground clearance while traction control with the rear diff lock engaged is also very assuring.

The air intake at the grille is the only real negative if you’re planning of lot of bush trekking that includes a regular dip into water crossings.

With its large portrait screen and splashes of chrome here and there, the 2022 Ford Ranger Sport looks every bit the modern ute inside, although the swathes of dark material don’t make for a cheery ambience.

Yet it’s a comfortable and mostly spacious interior that offers plenty of versatility.

The new 2022 Ford Ranger with the 2.0-litre biturbo-diesel engine is a very good tow vehicle.

It is a little more economical but less powerful than the more costly V6 alternative, giving those on more of a budget or looking for better value an excellent towing choice over the V6 while still beating all-comers in the mid-size ute market for towing performance.

2022 Ford Ranger Sport Double Cab Pick-Up 2.0L BiT 4x4 at a glance:
Price: $63,690 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder biturbo-diesel
Output: 154kW/500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.6L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 201g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2022)