Road test review: Ford Ranger RTR

Wednesday, 22 July 2020

FORD RANGER RTR
Base price: $76,490 (Ranger XL 4WD double cab $58,990, RTR kit $17,500)
Powertrain and economy: 3.2-litre turbo-diesel inline five-cylinder, 147kW/470Nm, 6-speed automatic, 4WD, combined economy 8.7L/100km, CO2 227g/km (source: RightCar).

If a Raptor is a bit run-of-the-mill for you appearance-wise, the RTR Ranger cranks it up a notch or three.

Vital statistics: 5359mm long, 1860mm wide, 1815mm high (base Ranger XL, not including RTR kit), 3220mm wheelbase, 20-inch alloy wheels.
We like: Looks fantastic, superbly comfortable seats, almost a Raptor but maybe a bit cooler?

If you buy an RTR Ranger Vaughn Gittin Jr will scribble on your dash.

We don't like: Chunky tyres dull steering, it’s so tall!

Off-road racer and drift icon Vaughn Gittin Jr’s RTR Vehicles has become quite well-know of late for playing around with Mustangs to one degree of madness or another, but now he has turned his attention to another popular Ford product – New Zealand’s best-selling vehicle, the Ford Ranger. Has RTR created a Raptor rival?

So is it a powered-up monster like RTR Mustangs?

You need to check your expectations there, because not all RTR Mustangs are fire-breathing monsters.

**READ MORE:

No changes under here, although you can get an optional power boost if you want.

* The all-Aussie Navara to take on the Ranger Raptor

* I only like my Ford Rangers in extremes

* Ken Block gives big thumbs up to Ranger Raptor on Kiwi roads

Yep, that's a topographical map of Aoraki/Mt Cook splashed across the back of the RTR.

* How the Ford Ranger Raptor does those jumps

Spec 1 and Spec 2 RTR tweaked Mustangs are all about the looks and handling, while it isn’t until you get to Spec 3 that superchargers start getting bolted in for powered-up madness.

In that regard, you are best to think of the RTR Ranger as a Spec 1 or 2, with substantial suspension upgrades and some serious visual punch.

The RTR option also includes some seriously good leather seats.

To that visual end of things the RTR Ranger gets an RTR upper grille with the same distinctive LED DRLs featured in RTR Mustangs as well as fender flares, 20-inch Tech 6 satin charcoal wheels shod with some serious 285/55R20 AMP AT tyres, fender vents with RTR badges, running boards and a distinctively handsome graphics package that is actually a topographic map of Aoraki/Mount Cook.

Why, you may ask? Well, that is easy – the RTR Ranger actually had some input from the local RTR distributor here in New Zealand, CTB Performance, who suggested the graphics pack.

It’s a nice touch and adds a little bit of local pride to the American brashness of the RTR Ranger.

The 20-inch wheels and chunky A/T tyres add visual drama and add to the serious off-road ability too.

But it is what is done under the Ranger’s skin that makes the RTR version rather more interesting.

Is it more power? Please say it’s more power?****

No, it’s not – although CTB does offer a power upgrade to 157kW and 560Nm for the 3.2-litre engine, complete with a driveline warranty to complement the factory 5-year/150,000km warranty Ford offers that remains intact with the RTR upgrade.

The biggest upgrade is actually the suspension – the RTR-ised Ranger gets upgraded to a set of Fox Performance Series 2 shocks that are similar to (but not the same as) what the Ranger Raptor packs.

It might have Fox shocks, but the RTR Ranger is quite different to the Raptor. Cheaper too, depending on your choice of base Ranger.

Importantly, this means that while the RTR Ranger will now happily carry out the same sort of aerial antics as the Raptor (y’know; jumps) it doesn’t sacrifice any load capacity or towing ability, retaining the base Rangers 1,000kg payload and 3,500kg towing capacity while the Raptor’s drops to 758kg and 2,500kg respectively.

So how have RTR managed this and not Ford?

That’s because despite the fact that both use Fox shocks, they are quite different propositions, something that driving them both tells you right away.

Where the Raptor is a beautifully cohesive package, with a deeply impressive ride and handling combination, the RTR is very much a Ranger with a slightly better ride and more serious off-road chops.

Where the Raptor has a softer feel to its ride, the RTR feels way more truck-y and like a serious rock-crawler, as opposed to the Raptor’ more high-speed sand dune racer feel.

And it has the off-road chops to back that feel up perfectly, with its towering ride height and chunky A/T tyres that actually look more like dedicated mud tyres.

Chunky off-road tyres… does that mean it is noisy and awful on the road?

If you are asking that question, then you haven’t had much exposure to modern off-road tyres.

Sure, back a few years anything with a seriously chunky off-road tread pattern was an utter nightmare on sealed roads – M/T’s were noisy, lacking in grip and prone to wander, while A/T’s at the more serious off-road end of things weren’t a lot better.

But that isn’t the case these days and the A/T’s on the RTR Ranger are impressively quiet and provider grip that actually feels slightly superior to standard Ranger rubber, particularly in the wet.

What they do manage to do, however, is contribute a noticeable degree of vagueness to the steering just off-centre. But it’s not terrible and not a deal-breaker – it is a ute after all, not a sports car.

Any other cars I should consider?

Well, here is where it gets interesting.

You can’t get what would be the RTR Ranger’s most obvious competitor anymore – the HSV SportsCat – and rumoured competitors like a GR Hilux are just that – rumours.

There is the $74,990 Nissan Navara N-Trek Warrior, but although it has had some serious suspension tweaks, it lacks the off-road cred of the Fox shocks in the RTR.

You can get the RTR package on an XL or XLT current shape PX3 Ranger meaning your price could theoretically range from $$67,990 if you tick the RTR option on a 4WD XL single cab chassis Ranger up to $90,490 if you did it on a 2.0-litre bi-turbo Wildtrak.

Given a Raptor retails for $84,990, anything above the XLT really doesn’t make all that much sense, unless you absolutely have to have top-spec and really need the full load and towing capacity of the Ranger, so to that end CTB are recommending the XL or XLT double cab variants, which would mean a price of either $76,490 or $82,490.

That means the XL-based RTR Ranger is 90 per cent of the Raptor’s price, which is perfectly appropriate because it is essentially 90 per cent of the Raptor, plus with the advantage of the standard towing and load capacity.

Of course, you don’t have to go double cab and my personal pick would be an RTR-ed 4WD XL supercab for $75,490.

To throw an interesting wrinkle into things, however, CTB will put the RTR pack on a second-hand Ranger, so if you have a current PX3 Ranger that is a few years old and want to upgrade, a $17,500 birthday in the form of the RTR kit could be a very tempting idea as well…