Ford Ranger 2014 Off-Road Review

Think tradie utes are merely 'poor cousins' to 'proper' 4WDs? Think again – because after a day spent slip, slop, sliding my way around the Melbourne 4x4 Training and Proving Grounds in Ford's 4x4 Ranger, there was no doubting the model's capabilities in difficult terrain.

Sure, Ranger has a broad array of roles to fill, and so its off-road cred may be a little less compelling than that of Toyota's LandCruiser or Nissan's Patrol, but after seeing just what it can do, I can say –hand on heart – that a Ranger 4x4 will handle the vast majority of off-road challenges any typical owner would throw at it.

The motivation for Ford Australia's recent 'Proceed with Purpose' drive day was two-fold. Firstly, it coincided with the recent launch of the brand's Proceed with Purpose marketing campaign – one that is currently seeking to highlight the practical, often helpful nature of Ford Ranger owners in this country.

"It's really showing the capability of people who do work, but with the greater purpose of helping other people," says Ford Australia Communications and Public Affairs Director, Wes Sherwood.

"It taps into what a lot of our customers are, which is the backbone of the country – they've built the country, they help people. If you need to move something on the weekend, they're the person you go to. It's about much more than getting the job done – they help."

The day was also an opportunity to showcase Ranger's off-road ability to the nation's press. Ford Australia's brand manager, Neil McDonald, told trucksales.com.au the day might also prevent the odd sticky situation when journos review a Ranger – although whether the training, carried out on the day by expert instructors from Driving Solutions, does just this or tempts journos to take additional risks is yet to be seen. Sometimes a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing!

The day was held at a dedicated off-road facility in Werribee on Melbourne's western outskirts, where proceedings kicked off with a safety briefing by Driving Solutions owner, James Stewart. Stewart outlined the program and offered some sage advice.

"Off-road driving is so much about the unknowns," he said.

"We're going to get you into scenarios that hopefully you will never go near in the real world. The key thing is speed – the slower you go, the easier it is. The biggest way you can get yourself into trouble is to accelerate, so stay off the accelerator and let the vehicle do the work for you. The biggest limiting factor for these vehicles is the person behind the wheel."

Now I don't know if that final comment was meant to allay my fears or amplify them, but in any case I headed out to the awaiting fleet of sparkling Rangers – from the range-topping Wildtrak to the XLT and down to the mid-range XLS – with an open mind.

We were in safe hands with the Driving Solutions team, whose experienced and knowledgeable instructors took us through all aspects of Ranger's ability in the rough stuff.

Our first port of call was essentially a giant, heavy-duty see-saw with hydraulic struts, which gave us the opportunity to get a good look at the Ranger's undercarriage and 29-degree approach/departure angles.

The belly is flat with everything tucked out of harm's way, the limiting factors being the sidestep rails – a necessary inclusion in what, for many, is a family wagon – and the diff. The centrally positioned diff offers ground clearance of 237mm, and taking a good look at it here meant we could better plan our route over the rocky ground we'd cover later in the day. The towbar detracts from the departure angle, but hey – you want sturdy hardware in a vehicle with a 3500kg (braked) towing capacity.

After jumping into a 2.2-litre XLS with instructor Anthony Robson, we headed off to tackle the first practical exercise – braking on the dirt. Most people drive vehicles with anti-lock brakes these days but we rarely have cause to use it, and so its operation can come as a bit of a surprise when it actually does spring into action.

On dirt many drivers fall into the same trap – excess speed – and so anti-lock brakes bring with it some welcome reassurance.

"Often people travel too fast on dirt roads," says Stewart.

"You can travel fast on dirt roads provided nothing happens in front of you, but sometimes there can be another vehicle heading straight for you, or an animal jumps out, and that's when you need to use the brakes."

While a vehicle simply can't stop as effectively on dirt as it can on bitumen, Ranger still pulls up in a hell of a hurry on the dirt when I slam on the brakes at 70km/h – first in a straight line, and then a second time while rounding a bend. Importantly, and as the second instance illustrated, there was no loss of control – and that's the benefit of anti-lock brakes in a nutshell.

Next we put Ranger's Hill Launch Assist (HLA) and Hill Descent Control (HDC) features to the test – on a slope that I certainly wouldn't have been confident to tackle had it not been for my instructor's encouragement.

From high-range 4WD I stop the vehicle, select neutral and rotate the switch near the gear shift to low-range 4WD, also pressing the button on the centre console to engage both HLA and HDC. Let's see what Ranger can do!

On the steep, off-road ascent, Ranger simply plods up the incline without a worry. Stopping halfway and getting going again was proof enough of the HLA's benefit – take your foot off the brake and Ranger holds itself in place for 3.2 seconds, giving you ample time to get your right foot off the brake and on to the accelerator.

Coming down the concreted slope next door was just as easy with HDC. While you don't have to use it, if things are looking a bit too hairy you can edge Ranger down without placing a foot on any pedal – simply use the steering-wheel-mounted cruise control speed adjustment buttons to increase or decrease your rate of descent, starting from a default of around 5km/h for low range and around 10km/h for high range.

Even with mud-caked wheels from splashing about in an adjacent bog hole, the HDC allows Ranger to garner every available bit of traction.

While the relatively grippy descent posed no problem when I tackled it again without HDC, the benefit of this clever system – which monitors and adjusts the speed of each wheel independently to maintain a safe descent – really comes to the fore in the bush, where surfaces are unpredictable and the variation of terrain endless.

That was borne out after lunch, when I used the system to great effect on a longer, bumpy and rocky descent. It can even be used when travelling in reverse (but maybe save that one for a weekend away with the boys, rather than the next family outing…).

The remainder of the day continued to showcase Ranger's dirty attributes. Using the nearby Werribee River as a 'road' was a novel experience – although fairly tame given the river's 500mm depth was well below its safe wading depth of 800mm – as was climbing up an incline lined with logs, rock-hopping down the other side, and taking Ranger to a lateral incline of 'crazy degrees' as I negotiated a deeply rutted and muddy track.

On its compliant coil-over-strut wishbone front and leaf rear suspension, Ranger simply breezed through, although the instructor did stress the importance of checking any water crossing's depth before plunging in with the commitment of a U-boat captain…

Steep, sandy crests were also duly devoured, even when the decent was steep enough to see Ranger momentarily lift its rear wheels…

Throughout the day I swapped Rangers occasionally, sampling both the 3.2-litre (147kW/470Nm) and 2.2-litre (110kW/375Nm) turbo-diesels and both auto and manual transmissions. The extra torque of the 3.2-litre was clearly evident when climbing the aforementioned logs, manifesting itself with heightened sensitivity at the throttle. You would acclimatise soon enough, however, and the extra grunt (read towing and load-hauling ability) will win out for many buyers.

More surprising for me was the willingness of the smaller 2.2-litre engine. Granted, our vehicles were unladen, but the 2.2-litre-equipped XLS I sampled displayed no hesitancy in grunting its way up the steepest of slopes. The grip afforded by the conservative and standard-fitment Bridgestone Dueler H/T tyres also impressed.

By day's end I was thoroughly confident that Ranger's ability off-road extended appreciably beyond my own – at least from a perspective of gaining maximum adventure without damaging the vehicle. With a rear diff lock, anti-lock brakes, switchable traction control, high- and low-range 4WD, Hill Launch Assist and Hill Decent Control, among many other advanced safety and driver assistance aids, Ranger 4x4s really can 'walk the walk', with the function to back-up the tough look. And it's got a five-star ANCAP safety rating.

It's little wonder it's clawing its way up the sales chart and is at the time of writing Ford Australia's best-selling model. I can't wait to see how it stacks up in trucksales.com.au's mega 4WD ute comparison shootout, which we'll be conducting with sister website carsales.com.au in July.

James Stewart was right: the biggest limiting factor here was me, but at least with the help of Ranger's off-road assistance features, I could still look like an old hand over some decidedly precarious terrain.

2014 Ford Ranger XLS Double Cab 4X4 pricing and specifications:
Price: from $45,590 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.2-litre five-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 110kW/375Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 8.1L/100km (ADR combined)
CO2: 216g/km (ADR combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

What we liked:
>> Smart, effective electronics
>> True off-road capability
>> The high traction of the standard H/T tyres