New Ford Ranger Raptor lands in SA and here’s the price

The much-awaited new Ford Ranger Raptor has arrived in SA with V6 turbo power and a price of just under R1.1m.

The rally-bred, high-performance bakkie goes on sale in a single model retailing for R1,094,900 which includes a four-year/120,000km warranty and four-year/unlimited distance roadside assistance. A service or maintenance plan up to eight years or 165,000km can be purchased at additional cost, while the warranty can be extended up to seven years or 200,000km.

The second-generation Raptor is “built to dominate in the desert, master the mountains and rule everywhere in between”, according to Ford.

As the flagship of the recently-launched new-generation Ranger one-tonne bakkie line-up, the vehicle succeeds the outgoing Ranger Raptor that was launched in 2019 and created a new segment for performance bakkies.

Developed by Ford Performance, the new Raptor elevates performance and capability to new heights, both on and off-road, says Doreen Mashinini, marketing GM at Ford SA.

“Ford’s development team raised an already high bar to entirely new heights with the Next-Gen Ranger Raptor by focusing on delivering a vehicle that is significantly more powerful, much faster, designed to conquer even more challenging terrain, tougher than ever and has more aggressive and purposeful looks to match,” Mashinini says.

The vehicle has gained a raft of changes to the chassis, suspension, steering and drive modes, along with an enormous power leap with a new twin-turbo 3.0l V6 petrol engine. Wielding 292kW and 583Nm, it nearly doubles the 157kW power output of the previous Raptor’s 2.0 turbo diesel engine with an extra 83Nm of torque.

It has a race-bred anti-lag system, available in the Baja drive mode, which enables rapid delivery of boost on demand by keeping the turbochargers spinning for up to three seconds after the driver backs off the throttle. This enables faster resumption of acceleration out of corners or between gears when the driver gets back on the accelerator.

It is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission and has an active exhaust system that amplifies the engine note in four selectable drive modes (Quiet, Normal, Sport and Baja).

The Raptor has a unique chassis compared to the regular Ranger double cab, with a series of mounts and reinforcements to handle punishing off-road conditions. The suspension is completely redesigned with tough and lightweight aluminium upper and lower control arms, long-travel front and rear suspension and refined Watt’s link rear end.

Sophisticated new Fox Live Valve dampers have position-sensitive damping capability which adapt in real time to the driving conditions, providing on-road body control while absorbing corrugations and bigger ruts off-road. Three settings are available to the driver: Normal, Sport and Off Road. In addition to the suspension and exhaust modes, drivers can select from four steering modes.

Enhanced underbody protection includes a front bash plate that is almost double the size of the standard Rangers and made from 2.3mm-thick high-strength steel. This is combined with the engine under shield and transfer case shield.

The Ranger Raptor has an advanced permanent four-wheel drive system with a new electronically controlled on-demand two-speed transfer case. This is combined with the standard rear locking differential, as well as a new front locking differential.

Replacing the part-time four-wheel drive system in the previous model, the permanent 4WD system’s default driving mode is 4A (Automatic) which can be used on and off-road as it constantly adjusts the flow of drive between the front and rear axles.  The driver can select 2H mode via the push-button controls to engage rear-wheel drive only, or 4H to lock it into four-wheel drive for improved grip and control on loose surfaces. Selecting 4L switches to low-range for more arduous off-road terrain.

With a 272mm ground clearance and 850mm wading depth, the Raptor is capable of extreme off-road trails. 

Seven selectable drive modes comprise On-Road, Normal, Sport, Slippery, Rock Crawl, Sand, Mud/Ruts, and Baja mode for extreme high-speed off-roading. Also standard is Trail Control, a cruise control for slow-speed off-roading in difficult terrain.

A new “R” button on the steering wheel allows the driver to pre-programme their favourite vehicle settings and select them with one touch.

The new Raptor retains its predecessor’s tough-truck looks in an all-new design which includes flared wheel arches, C-clamp headlights, bold Ford lettering on the grille and a bumper that is separated from the grille. Matrix LED headlights with LED daytime running lights make their debut, featuring dynamic bending lights, glare-free high beam and auto dynamic levelling.

The bakkie rides on 17-inch wheels with 285/70 R17 BF Goodrich all-terrain KO2 tyres. At the rear, an integrated step pad and tow bar are tucked up high to increase the departure angle from 24 to 25 degrees.

A new selection of colours includes new Code Orange and distinctive Conquer Grey. Inside, the cabin features new jet fighter-inspired sports seats in the front and rear, with Code Orange accents and ambient lighting.

The digitised cabin has a high-resolution 12.4-inch digital cluster and a 12-inch centre touchscreen boasting a new-generation Synca 4A connectivity and entertainment system, which offers both Apple and Android wireless smartphone connectivity, along with wireless charging. Front and rear passengers have type A and type C USB charging ports, complemented by a built-in 400-Watt inverter that also provides 240V power to the load box in conjunction with a 12V socket. A premium 10-speaker 660W Bang & Olufsen sound system comes standard.

A 360-degree camera system with split-view display provides the driver with a live top-down view of everything around the vehicle, as well as cross-traffic views in front of and behind the vehicle.

There is also a dedicated Off-road Sync screen that allows the driver to toggle selected 4x4 features. It displays a wide range of off-road driving information such as predictive overlay guidelines for the 360-degree camera system, along with steering angle, vehicle pitch and roll angles when driving in challenging off-road terrain.

The new Raptor has advanced driver-assist technologies and safety features including electronic stability control (ESC), hill launch assist and hill descent control, the standard features include a lane keeping system, blind spot assistance, adaptive cruise control, pre-collision assist and fully automated parking.

Motor News is driving the new Ranger Raptor at its launch later this week. Look out for driving impressions soon.