Ford Ranger Wildtrak X 2023 Review

You’ll need $75,990 plus on-road costs to drive away in a 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak X, which looks like a fairly slim hike over the standard Wildtrak V6 (which as of MY24 will cost $72,390 plus ORCs), but when you consider the X is only available with the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel, then the premium becomes a much more substantial $7500.

This is important as, on paper at least, it’s outgunned by its rivals. The identically-priced Volkswagen Amarok PanAmericana comes with the 184kW/600Nm V6 diesel as standard and Toyota’s forthcoming Hilux GR Sport packs a 165kW/550Nm punch from its uprated 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel and undercuts the Ford on price ($73,990 plus ORCs).

Ford’s usual five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty applies, as does its usual capped-price servicing program at $1711 over the first five years with intervals of 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

To help justify this inflated ask, the 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak X does come with plenty of extra goodies and we’ll start on the outside first. There are 17-inch wheels – an inch smaller than those on Wildtrak and Sport – with more aggressive General Grabber AT3 tyres, plus a 26mm lift and 30mm wider tracks front and rear.

Behind the new rolling stock are trick Bilstein remote-reservoir monotube dampers with End Stop Control Valve technology. In layman’s terms, when the shock absorbers are working really hard – for example, in tough off-road terrain – these will remain cooler and more controlled.

There’s also a number of cosmetic enhancements, like the exclusive Cyber Orange paint, new grille, asphalt black exterior trim, black badging, Wildtrak X badging and Wildtrak lettering across the bonnet.

On a more practical level Ford’s clever Flexi-Rack system is standard fit, with the rear rack adjustable through five different positions and the integrated roof racks able to stow away in the rails when not needed.

Otherwise the Wildtrak X comes with almost every Ranger goodie. Almost. Standard gear includes matrix LED headlights, heated eight-way power-adjust front seats, all-weather floor mats, ambient lighting, auxiliary switch bank, dual gloveboxes, dual-zone climate control, pop-out cup-holders and an electric roller tonneau.

Like all Rangers, the 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak X benefits from a five-star ANCAP rating. thanks to nine airbags and a plethora of active safety aids including autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control with stop&go, auto headlights, auto wipers, auto high-beam, intelligent speed assist and traffic sign recognition.

Tyre pressure monitoring is also very handy in this sort of vehicle when travelling in the great outdoors, while a 360-degree camera and park assist take care of the urban jungle.

When the regular Wildtrak appeared, there were a couple of unusual specification gaps, in particular the lack of full-width digital instrument cluster. Of course, it’s now obvious Ford was keeping its powder dry to differentiate the Platinum and Wildtrak X.

The larger instrument display is much more appropriate at this price point and clearly occupied a lot of time and effort by Ford product developers, as evidenced by the higher definition and detail in the animations when you change drive modes. Likewise, if you take the centre touch-screen off the off-road display, it moves to the instrument display.

Speaking of that centre screen, it’s the larger 12.0-inch display with plenty of trinkets like an embedded modem, wireless smartphone mirroring, voice activation, sketch pad and colouring-in section (yes, really) and it’s how you operate the many vehicle functions.

It seems Ford has revised the graphics for MY24 and not necessarily for the better, though perhaps it’s a case of familiarity. Previously you just tapped the little Ranger icon at the top to bring up the vehicle menu, but that’s no longer there and finding things takes a little more digging.

Though again, maybe it’s just because those menus aren’t where we last went looking for them.

As mentioned earlier, the 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak X is only available with the 2.0-litre four-cylinder biturbo-diesel engine. Ford’s explanation is that this is a global variant and therefore needs a global powertrain solution, which is why power has dropped by 4kW with totals of 150kW/500Nm.

This is because this spec of engine is EU Stage 6 compliant, but not only is power down slightly – the engine requires the use of AdBlue. On the other hand, this is the first four-cylinder Ranger to be equipped with the full-time 4WD system hitherto limited to V6 variants.

In terms of fuel consumption, the 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak X is claimed to be quite a lot thirstier than the standard Wildtrak 2.0 Bi-Turbo – 8.7L/100km versus 7.6L/100km – which Ford says is down to the aggressive rubber and 100kg extra weight.

In the real world, both variants seem to hover around the 10L/100km mark depending on your driving circumstances.

It’ll not come as a shock to learn that in many ways the 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak X drives like every other Ranger. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Where the X differs is that the on-road ride from those Bilstein shocks feels firmer. Not necessarily in a negative way as it seems to bring with it greater control, but there is a different feel from behind the wheel.

That aside, the steering remains a highlight for the dual-cab sector and the 2.0-litre engine feels responsive, but it does have to work hard. There is a fraction less overall power, but at 2432kg the Wildtrak X is a heavy beast – almost 200kg more than an XLT, for instance – and that makes itself known.

This is where the 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak X must assert itself and those more aggressive tyres make a huge difference when it comes to venturing beyond the tarmac, yet they aren’t particularly compromised when it comes to road use.

Even on gravel they provide excellent grip and stability, especially in concert with the permanent four-wheel drive system.

All Rangers work well in the rough stuff thanks to a finely-tuned traction control system and standard rear diff lock, but the Wildtrak X has quite a few more tricks up its Cyber Orange sleeves.

That lift increases its ground clearance from the standard Wildtrak’s 234mm to 261mm – matching the Navara Warrior and Hilux Rogue – and improves its approach angle from 30 to 32 degrees, departure angle from 23 to 24.1 degrees and the ramp-over angle from 21 to 24 degrees.

The X also nicks a couple of features from the Ranger Raptor. Trail Control is essentially off-road cruise control, holding the vehicle’s speed steady regardless of the terrain. Available below 32km/h, it’s controlled via the same steering wheel-mounted cruise control buttons.

Secondly, Rock Crawl is added to the existing Normal, Eco, Tow/Haul, Slippery, Sand and Mud/Ruts drive modes. Each of these tweak the various vehicle parameters to suit the terrain with a twist of the dial. For instance, Rock Crawl locks the rear diff, engages 4L and gives a unique throttle and transmission calibration.

The final piece of the puzzle is trail turn. An increasingly common feature in off-roaders, this heavily brakes the inside rear wheel when turning to drag the front-end around and, while it might sound like a gimmick, it works extremely effectively at reducing the turning circle and will certainly cut down on the number of three-point turns required.

During our testing the Wildtrak X’s only real shortcoming was ground clearance. Its number is certainly competitive and there’s little risk of damage thanks to the steel underbody protection and aluminium side steps, but a little more would be nice.

As mentioned earlier the extra equipment adds a decent whack of weight to the 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak X, so while Ford has bumped the gross vehicle mass (GVM) up to 3350kg from the standard car’s 3280kg maximum, payload shrinks slightly to 918kg (-33kg).

Max towing is still rated at 3500kg with a gross combined maximum of 6350kg, so even when lugging the majority of loads you’ll still have some payload flexibility. When it comes to the clever Flexi-Rack system, it’s rated to 80kg dynamic (ie: on the move) or 250kg static.

Not to sound like a broken record, but the 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak X is unsurprisingly very similar to the Wildtrak inside. There are some X-specific touches, such as the suede-leather seats, a bit of neoprene-like Terra suede trim dotted around the cabin and Cyber Orange stitching to match the paint.

It’s a well-specced cabin – especially now with that big instrument display – with plenty of storage cubby holes like the dual gloveboxes, and we wish the side-mount cup-holders were in every Ranger.

Hop into the rear and there will be sufficient space for most, plus USB-C and USB-A ports for charging (though this replaces the 12v outlet), ISOFIX points on the outboard seats and a fold-down centre armrest with a pair of cupholders.

In isolation, there’s a lot to like about the 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak X. It looks cool, plugs some of the equipment gaps in the regular Wildtrak variant and is one of the more capable off-road utes in standard guise.

It misses the V6 at this price point, though. If I’m spending $80K-plus on a dual-cab 4x4 ute I’m heading towards either the Ranger Platinum – with a set of 18s if I want to go off-road – or the Amarok PanAmericana, which also has even more creature comforts and, crucially, the more refined and powerful V6 engine.

The Wildtrak X is a very nice package, but it’s not quite all it could’ve been.

2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak X at a glance:
Price: $75,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel
Output: 150kW/500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.7L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 230g/km (ADR Combined) Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2022)

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