Car like experience with Ranger | Canterbury Cars | 4WD, Green Cars and Motorcycling in Canterbury

ANYONE WHO knows me will tell you that rock music and music of the 60s and 70s is one of my passions.

Where time and money allow, I'll travel to concerts to relive the music of that time.

Just recently, Cold Chisel were playing in Wellington and I couldn't get any cheap flights. I'm not a comfortable flyer anyway, so the next best option was to drive to Picton and cross to Wellington on the ferry, a far more relaxing trip as far as I was concerned.

I had a choice of vehicles to drive to Picton and I had intended to make the journey in a 1.4-litre petrol powered car.

At the last minute, and solely because that car was parked at the wrong end of my driveway, due to both my daughter's and son's car blocking its exit, and I didn't have 10min spare to extract it, I opted to drive Ford's new Ranger ute to Picton and return.

As it turned out, it was a sensible choice, the new Ranger is so civilised it promotes a car-like driving experience. Yes, there is the occasional jiggle over ruts and bumps to let you know it has a working chassis underneath, but I was so impressed with the refinement that I had to keep reminding myself it was a ute I was driving.

Even through the tight corners either side of Kaikoura, the Ranger was far from a handful, as a ute it has shifted the goalposts in terms of sophistication, yet at the same time it is the quintessential light commercial.

Under the bonnet is an engine from Ford's Transit programme. It is a five-cylinder unit which displaces 3.2-litre. I'm a bit of fan of five-pot engines and it lived up to my expectation. According to Ford it is rated at 147kW and 470Nm, which are healthy outputs and combine with a 9.6-litre per 100km (29mpg) fuel usage claim by Ford.

On my journey north and return the trip computer readout constantly listed close to that, and showed an instantaneous readout of around 6.8-litre per 100km (42mpg) at a steady legal limit cruise, the rev counter pointing to just 1900rpm.

There's enough grunt from the engine to haul in the heavyweights on the highway. I maintained a healthy average speed so that I wasn't late for the ferry check-in. Overtaking was a breeze, the power comes in strong and forceful.

The new Ranger is available with the choice of automatic or manual transmission, both six-speeders. The test car was a manual, which suited me, I like shuffling my own gears, yet I have to say the shift mechanism in the Ranger is close across the gate, it doesn't wrong slot but there is a certain impairment, that was my only reservation.

The entire driving experience in the Ranger is a sophisticated sensation, the steering is informative while sound levels are low.

Ford have not only created a civilised vehicle for the light commercial role but they have priced it well from $34,690 to $66,290. The test car was a double cab 4WD XLT at $60,690. There's a host of specification items almost too numerous to mention. Major items include dual zone climate control, cruise control, high grade Bluetooth and MP3/iPod compatible audio, trip computer, and automatic lights and wipers. A lot of the commands for the audio and climate control can be operated by voice, these are features not always seen in cars for the price but are standard in the Ranger.

For safety there's a traction and stability control system, it is linked with the ABS sensors and is an important feature for today's working ute. Other safety gear includes six air bags and five overshoulder seat belts.

On that subject, the Ranger could well be considered a genuine five-seater; the rear seat uprights aren't too vertical, I only sat there just to get a feel of that area and it seemed comfortable to me, I usually sit in a bit of a slouching position so I felt somewhat at home. And that hasn't always been the case with double cab models.

After my 700km journey, there was little time to take the Ranger off-road although I did make a short trip up to a gentle unsealed track near my home in Hoon Hay.

The Ranger has an electronic switchable transfer case system, easily manipulated by a central console dial. There's also a hill descent system, between it and the seriously low ratio mechanism off-road travel can be achieved at crawl speed.

Incidentally, Ford claim ground clearance of 237mm for the newcomer, and during my short excursion on a deeply rutted track, grounding was never an issue.

And the way the suspension soaked up the worst of the ruts and bumps is a tribute to the engineers who have developed the chassis so that it can cope with the rough stuff but deliver a constantly comfortable ride no matter the surface, bearing in mind, too, that the Ranger has a live rear axle and leaf springs. Up front it's a little more civilised with a new independent strut system carrying the driveshafts and locating the steering gear.

The combination of what the Ranger can do off-road, its load carrying ability, and almost luxurious interior, and driving feel makes it an amazing all round vehicle. Yes, its length of 5.3m tested the long-term parking facility at the Interislander terminal, but that's a small price to pay for something so refined.

Ford must be buoyed by its arrival, it is a vehicle that doesn't truly represent its function given the car-like ride and cabin detailing.

I enjoyed the concert in Wellington and the drive to and from Picton as well. I have to say the audio in the Ranger got a good workout, but it all added up to a pleasurable experience.