Amarok Aventura pips Ford Ranger Platinum to bragging rights

Just the other day The Citizen Motoring was referring to the Ford Ranger Tremor and how fast the Blue Oval brings special edition models to market. And here we are today, talking about the new Ford Ranger Platinum.

To be fair, the Ford Ranger Platinum is not actually a special edition model. It is now the most luxurious Ranger bakkie you can buy if a Wildtrak doesn’t do it for you and you don’t want to spring for a Raptor.

The Wildtrak comes in at R1 057 200 and the Raptor at R1 226 700, with the Platinum slotting in at R1 119 000. For me at this price point, if you can afford one of these, you can easily afford any of them. Then your choice is probably more about personal taste than about anything else.

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Ford Ranger Platinum well-specced

Talking about personal taste, the Ford Ranger Platinum offers Matrix LED lights upfront along with a unique grille incorporating accented mesh and a silk chrome finish for the horizontal bars and grille surround. The same treatment is used for the side steps, side vents, window linings and rear bumper, while accented wheel arches house big 20-inch, not suited to off-road, alloy wheels wrapped with all-season tyres. The front bumper, mirror caps and door handles are also colour coded for added visual appeal.

The load box has the fixed sports hoop and side rails as standard, as is the Cargo Management System.

The Platinum gets the roof rails from the Wildtrak models, but not the powered roller shutter. A bit bizarre when you are paying over R1-million for this bakkie and have to cough up even more for that. But I guess there are owners who will want to fit a canopy and then the roller shutter won’t work out for you.

Plush cabin

Jumping inside is where the premium status really starts to be appreciated. The Ford Ranger Platinum features full leather and heated and cooled seats that are 10-way power adjustable with memory function. And if that is not enough for a bakkie, you also get a heated steering wheel and adjustable ambient lighting for the interior.

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What you will immediately notice is that the Ford Ranger Platinum gets the full 12.4-inch LCD instrument cluster from the Raptor. Pro Trailer Back-up Assist with Trailer Reverse Guidance is a carryover too.

A number of other features found in the Wildtrak, Wildtrak X and Raptor are standard fitment on the Platinum. Like the 12-inch centre touchscreen display which incorporates the latest-generation SYNC 4A infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and wireless charging and SYNC off-road screen. Plus 360-degree camera system and the premium B&O sound system with 10 speakers.

There are also chargers everywhere in the Ford Ranger Platinum. They range from a 400W inverter with 240-volt and 12-volt power outlets positioned on the rear of the centre console and in the load bay, and dual USB points for both front and rear seat occupants.

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Plenty of power

As to be expected, a full-time four-wheel drive system that can operate in 4 Auto (4A) by default for both on and off-road driving, while 4×4 high-range (4H) and low-range (4L) can be selected for gravel and more challenging terrain, and (2H) rear-wheel drive is also available as standard.

And being the top of the luxury end of the Ford Ranger product offering, the 184kW/600Nm, 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel does duty here. I must be honest; this is one of the best bakkie engines out there in terms of refinement and performance.

It pulls likes a train and hits 100km/h in under 10-seconds, and this puts the Platinum ahead of any Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-Max or Nissan Navara.

Amarok marginally ahead

In clocking at time of 9.56 seconds for reaching 100km/h from a standstill, the Ford Ranger Platinum double cab just misses out on the 9.36 recorded by the plushest offering in its production partner’s stable, the Amarok Aventura.

Even our real-world fuel consumption number that came in at 11.3L/100km was more than acceptable in my opinion.

If its luxury you want, then there is nothing quite like the Platinum on the market besides the VW Amarok Aventura that gets most of its kit from the Ford Ranger.

Ford Ranger Platinum road test data