Ranger 3.0 V6 platinum. It’s Ford luxury-grade double cab in South Africa, and the only trim level if you want a V6 diesel engine.
Ford’s global product planning specialists have learned from decades of American customer needs that you can create a robust ladder frame vehicle with a luxury cabin architecture. Think of it as Lincoln meets double cab.
No ad to show here.
The Ranger V6 diesel creates a compelling choice for South African buyers, who have migrated away from German executive sedans towards double cab bakkies during the last decade.
These platinum-trim Rangers serve those needs. It’s a part-family car with true luxury trim, but it has all-terrain traction and rough road survivability to enable the most adventurous family road trips. Or get your family and friends home from that weekend away when flooding, snowfall or road infrastructure issues make conventional routes unsuitable in anything without a lot of ground clearance, wheel travel, and low-range gearing.
Rethinking double cab bakkies
For anyone considering a double cab as their luxury family car, how should you frame the traditional bakkie ownership issues like second-row seating comfort and unladen ride quality? With the platinum-grade Ranger, Ford’s product solution is true versatility, where passenger comfort meets utility requirements without annoyance.
Ranger platinum is more powerful than its bitter rival from Toyota, the 2.8-litre Hilux. It’s also the only Ranger equipped with Ford’s 3-litre V6 turbodiesel engine. For the best possible performance and economy, the ten-speed automatic transmission is always in the ideal gear, managing power curves, terrain inclines, and throttle position.
No luxury vehicle can compete with a platinum Ranger’s utility. Its robust leaf-sprung rear suspension, graded for 944kg of load, deals with utility tasks much better than any equivalent SUV. Especially if you intend to use a double cab family car as a true adventure and weekend-away vehicle.
True load-and-go ability
What is your sensitivity to in-car spillage? Or muddy and dirty gear when returning from a weekend away or vacation?
The separate load area is a big win when you compare Ranger to a crossover or SUV. With a double cab, the steel loadbox means you can package a lot of stuff that can scuff, make a mess, or leak, into a loadbox, which does not influence the cabin trim. No mud marks on the carpet to scrub out. No fluid leaks. No stains. No drama.
Platinum-spec Rangers make the double-cabs loadbox experience even more practical with their powered roller shutter. The Ranger’s weather-sealed and dustproof loadbox offers 1233-litres of capacity. That’s a lot of space without any trim scruffing or tearing risk when loading or unloading – unlike a crossover or SUV, with its fabric load area floor.
Suppose you are familiar with the anxiety of that Sunday packing regime, when returning home from an adventure weekend away mountain biking, climbing in Waterfall Boven, game lodging in Limpopo, or on a surfing mission to Transkei. In that case, you just want to pile everything into the back of double cab loadbox – without worrying about ruining fabric cabin trim.
Rugged loadability is what the platinum Ranger offers over a crossover or SUV, without sacrificing the luxury seating comfort, which is crucial to reducing long-distance driving fatigue.
Double cab power versus SUVs
There’s a performance equation, too. The Ranger is lighter than a similar-sized 4×4 capable SUV. Not by much, but it makes a difference. Power-to-weight ratios become a thing in real-world driving, with the Ranger V6 feeling a touch more urgent to throttle inputs, when pulling away from traffic lights, hunting for gaps in gaps, or initiating a highway speed overtaking move.
The platinum double cab’s slight real-world acceleration and performance advantage over a similarly powered SUV is easily understood when you compare the power-to-weight ratios: 77kW/t for the 2.3t Ranger versus 73kW/t for a 2.5t three-row ladder frame SUV. Remember, a luxury ladder-frame SUV will always be heavier than a mechanically similar double cab. Why? The SUV’s rear third body structure adds the weight of those additional doors, their glass, a tailgate and third-row seating.
When you are travelling four-up, with a fully loaded vehicle, weight starts decaying overtaking performance. That’s where the Ford V6 turbodiesel’s performance becomes relevant.
Responsive highway speed overtaking performance is a real safety feature on South African roads, where overtaking risk is high. Then ten-speed automatic transmission finds the most potent roll-on overtaking ratio. When you demand peak acceleration, the V6 turbodiesel surges you quickly and safely past slower truck or taxi traffic.
Comfort and capability
If you are on the very active adventure spectrum, any weekend away includes a lot of gear, which will probably get wet, muddy and messy. All issues when packing up on Sunday, before your journey home.
With the platinum trim Ranger, Ford has a luxury family vehicle which can be many things to most adventurous owners. Its quilted seats are tremendously comfortable. The quality of padding creates sustained comfort levels and spine support for hours, without a trace of any seated fatigue.
The double cab bakkie has developed remarkably. Once these were only fit for construction crews, security teams, or conservation personnel. Now, they have become legitimate luxury vehicles that do not sacrifice the ability to carry all the weekend away adventure gear you need.
Ranger 3.0 V6 platinum verdict
Ford’s apex diesel double cab offers all the overtaking performance to get you to that vacation destination safely, when journeying on South Africa’s hectic highways, making its V6 engine option, a fitting apex powertrain for Ford’s non-Raptor double cab offering.
Luxury vehicles are never cheap. At R1 199 000, Ford’s V6 diesel double cab is evidence of that. But it offers most of the luxury seating comfort and cabin features you’d expect from a legacy luxury sedan, crossover or SUV. With the real-world all-terrain value that only a double cab can bring. And that power-shutter loadbox for all your familyy’s weekend-away mountain and watersport gear.
