Ford Ranger’s Thunder let loose on coastal trek

The phrase “you cannot make this up”, expletive deleted, went more than just hand-in-hand with the rumble our long-term Ford Ranger Thunder caused this past month.

Aside from being tasked with dealing a shock to the refreshed Toyota Hilux, which took place this month, it had the unenviable task of having to make landfall outside Gauteng. A trip to the Eastern Cape was not only a coastal visit as part of this writer’s well-publicised road trips, but also to the Struandale Engine Plant where the Ranger’s oil-burning heart is made.

The Thunder was bound to hit the parched soil of the Eastern Cape rather hard as its arrival to our fleet had taken place less than a month after Ford unveiled it as the new flagship above the Wildtrak but below the Raptor. It was therefore a reception that came as little surprise.

Hamstrung only by the Covid-19 enforced curfew that prohibits travel between midnight and 4am, the somewhat later than wanted but still early morning departure from Johannesburg, ironically accompanied by one of the first Highveld thunderstorms, saw the double cab settle into its role rather well as the kilometres ticked by with each passing town and province without complaints.

While it was a given that the 157kW/500Nm bi-turbodiesel 2.0-litre engine would be frugal on the open road, the readout from the instrument cluster had this writer questioning whether it was right. Consumption read an incredible 5.9l/100km at some stage on the way to Despatch before settling at around 7l/100km for the trip down. Achieved with liberal use of the air-conditioning, adaptive cruise control and even the heated seats while never exceeding 120 km/h, the obtained figures made for staggering progress, especially given the 2.2-ton kerb weight, the four-wheel-drive system and shift skipping ten-speed automatic gearbox, whose habits often got the better of it and resulted in a few unexpected downshifts that left the Thunder without poke on a few occasions.

As mentioned, the ruckus down at the coast emitted from the Thunder being so new that more than a few mouths were left open, including from Struandale Manager Shawn Govender and, rather unsurprisingly, yours truly’s father whose two-year old 3.2 TDCi Wildtrak 4×4 had the opportunity to meet its sibling.

In all, the round trip of 2 785 km saw the Thunder return an impressive average fuel consumption of 8.7l/100km,which is not far off Ford’s claim of 7.8l/100km. All the while, it impressed from a refinement perspective with its nomenclature being accompanied by a distinctly un-four-cylinder soundtrack.

In our next instalment next month, we take a look at how the 2.0-litre bi-turbo engine stacks up against the 3.2 TDCi powerplant.

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