Ford Ranger Raptor SE gets the racing stripes it deserves

The master of special editions, Ford South Africa, have done it again. This time it is the bespoke and ever-capable limited numbers Ranger Raptor Special Edition.

And to properly do what Ranger Raptor people should be doing with such bakkie, we took a trip out into a post-apocalyptic universe called the Tankwa Karoo. In this remote and arid area somewhere between Ceres in the Western Cape and Calvinia in the Northern Cape, lies a little place called the Tankwa Tented Camp.

Mad Max movie set

This camp, situated inside the Stonehenge Nature Reserve, looks like something out of Mad Max movie set. Yet it offers somewhat closer to nature rustic type tented accommodation, and a bar, a legendary and very dangerous bar called “Onverklaarbaar”.

“Onverklaarbaar” loosely translates into English as “unaccountable”, and after just one night there, we truly got it. We were not accountable for what went down in that bar or the hangover the next day caused by copious amounts of Tequila, Jägermeister and brandy & Worcestershire sauce shooters.

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Not to mention some local Witblitz condensed milk type mixed snake poison. This was poured from well-used two-litre Coke bottle that was dredged up from the bottom of the freezer in the early hours of the morning.

Somewhat the opposite of the freezer, we experienced sunset at 38 degrees. This equates to sunrise in a canvas tent at about 250 degrees when waking up barely a few hours later. And with an annual rainfall of less than 100 mm, vegetation that is mostly Gannabush, dust, sand and stones, and a sun that keeps things well and truly hot at all times.

Getting there was never going to be city tar all the way, but many, many kilometres of fast, rocky dirt road. Something the Ranger Raptor SE was born to do!

Built Ford tough

The Ranger Raptor made its local debut in 2019, and it was no sticker update bakkie. It was a hardcore off-road machine developed by Ford Performance.

It featured the likes of an ultra-strong chassis, bespoke suspension, off-road tyres, and a Terrain Management System (TMS) to separate it from its siblings and the competition. A rally-ready off-roader is not something featuring in the line-up of its main rival, the Toyota Hilux.

For the 2021 Ranger Raptor, you still get the wider flared front fenders, long travel suspension running Fox Position Sensitive Damping (PSD) shocks, and 285/70 R17 General Grabber AT3 tyres. Trick off-road bits that are just made to gobble up dirt at speed and allowed us to cover hundreds of kilometres through the Karoo at pace without a worry or a puncture.

For this pace, there is the specially developed TMS which includes something called Baja mode, inspired by Mexico’s famous Baja Desert Rally, which offers the very responsive, high-speed off-road performance we were looking for.

Rocky roads

But before we got out into the Karoo, we did do some much slower and rather hectic rock climbing and axle twisting stuff.

The setting was the Waboomstrust 4×4 Trail on the Waboomstrust Farm located some 80 km outside of Cape Town on the Du Toitskloof Pass. Going up the trail and back down takes a good two hours if you know what you are doing. Don’t get stuck, they warn.

Getting stuck was never really going to be an issue with the Ranger Raptor equipped with TMS. The system is derived from the system used in the Everest and also features a full range of drive modes including Normal, Sport, Grass/Gravel/Snow, Mud/Sand and Rock. This did all the hard work for us.

Walk in the park

With this technology onboard and a 51 mm taller ride height compared to the standard Ranger, along with 283mm ground clearance, 150 mm wider front and rear track, 850 mm wading depth, a 32.5 degree approach angle, and ramp-over and departure angles of 24 degrees, did anybody think for a moment that the Ranger Raptor SE was not up to the task? You must be kidding, it was a stroll in the park, a very slow and bumpy one, but still just a stroll for the Ford.

I almost felt that no sane person who has just spent close on R1-million on a bakkie would have anything to prove by scratching and grinding up and down a very spectacular piece of mountain. But I get that Ford South Africa had to show off all the capabilities of their Ranger Raptor SE.

How much power?

Driving back on tar the next day to our picnic spot just across the road at the Du Kloof Lodge, on the banks of the Molenaars River, finally gave us time to look at what Ranger Raptor SE offers over Ranger Raptor. And reacquaint ourselves with the 2.0-litre bi-turbodiesel powerplant.

Cosmetically you get several functional and styling enhancements, from eye-catching black decals and red accents to the fitment of the integrated sports hoop and practical Mountain Top lockable black roller shutter.

Under the bonnet you have 157 kW of power and 500 Nm of torque just like you will find in the Wildtrak. As you also will find the same 10-speed automatic transmission, but the Ranger Raptor SE offers steering wheel mounted paddle shifters.

But if ever there is a grumble about this special Ranger, it is this powerplant, there is just not enough happening in the power and torque department.

Conclusion

This is the Hulk of bakkies, and it’s time it got the engine to back up its reputation in my opinion. A point I believe that just might be addressed when the next generation Ranger Raptor arrives. This said, the Ranger Raptor SE is still the go-to bakkie for adrenalin driven off-road speedsters.

The Ranger Raptor Special Edition is priced at R965 300, while the standard Raptor Ranger is R920 300.

All new Ford Rangers come standard with Ford Protect, comprising a four year/120 000 km comprehensive warranty, three year/unlimited distance roadside assistance and five year/unlimited km corrosion warranty. A six year/90 000km service plan is included which covers six services.

For more information on the Ford Ranger Raptor SE, click here.