Ford Ranger Review (2023-present)

What is the Ford Ranger?

The Ford Ranger is one of the most popular pickups in the UK and Europe, gaining a reputation since the introduction of the model line to the UK market in the late 1990s as a tough, no-nonsense workhorse.

Since the launch of the T6 platform with the third-generation version in 2011, it’s also increasingly been seen as an alternative to mainstream family SUVs, offering luxury, technology, refinement and a reasonably sophisticated driving experience.

This latest version aims to build on that with improved technology and brash, bold American-inspired styling reminiscent of the Ford F-150. In fact, despite the in-your-face front-end redesign, the Mk4 Ranger is strictly speaking a development of the same T6 platform used by its predecessor, and eagle-eyed observers will spot similarities in the shape of the vehicle, especially the door lines on the double-cab version.

And although Ford is clearly chasing more SUV buyers with high-end luxury features and trim levels, your Ford Ranger can still be specified as a simpler workhorse, with single-cab or extended cab bodystyles and lower-spec trims available.

Most buyers, though will likely go for the Ford Ranger Wildtrak and Wildtrak X trims, which feature upgrades and fancy styling add-ons, alloy wheels, comfy leather seats – with electric adjustment for the driver – funky orange stitching all over the place, and generally all the toys you’d expect of a moderately expensive large SUV.

Engines include the 203bhp twin-turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engine and 10-speed automatic gearbox, which are carried over from the old model, a 168bhp 2.0-litre turbodiesel, a brand-new 237bhp 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel, and a 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 for the Raptor model with 288bhp. Later on in mid-2025, a new plug-in hybrid variant was launched, a first for the pickup market.

All trims feature an automatic gearbox, except for low-spec models with the 168bhp diesel engine, which get a six-speed manual gearbox. XLT trims and upwards all feature the same 10-speed auto that we sampled in the Wildtrak model, and every available powertrain features four-wheel drive.

The New Ranger also lends its innards to the latest Volkswagen Amarok as part of a technology-sharing agreement between Volkswagen and Ford.

How practical is it?

Aside from its sheer bulk on the road, the Ford Ranger is a deeply practical vehicle. Its load bed is just over 1.5 metres long in the double cab model and is basically the same size as the old Ranger’s to within a few millimetres.

If you plump for the optional bed liner, it’s smarter and tougher-looking than the item in the old version, however, although it must be said that this is actually part of a pack that costs £1,600 and is one of the many, many ways to customise your Ranger. The same pack that includes the load bed liner also includes a remote-control power roller shutter. And you don’t get that in a Volkswagen Golf, do you?

The depth of the load bed is slightly different in the plug-in hybrid version to the rest of the Ranger because the battery lives underneath, raising the floor by a couple of centimetres. There's a small lip up to the floor from the tailgate, but it's gently sloped so shouldn't get in the way that much.

Rear-seat space in the double cab model is impressive, and you even get a centre armrest in some models, but you’ll find it’s not quite as comfortable back there as the rear seats of a regular SUV such as a Nissan X-Trail or Skoda Kodiaq. That said, you can flip the rear seat bases up to reveal a large hidden storage area underneath, which is particularly useful in the plug-in hybrid version for stashing away the charging cable out of sight.

There are no such compromises up front, however, as there’s loads of room for drivers and passengers of all shapes and sizes as well as plenty of steering wheel and seat adjustment. The cabin isn’t short of a cubby or two, either. There are big door bins, two gloveboxes and even some hidden extra cupholders tucked away by the doors.

Where the pickup bodystyle limits you is that really long loads are a bit tricky to carry, despite the Ranger being as long as a full-size Range Rover, simply because the nature of a pickup means you can’t fold the rear seats down to get extra carrying capacity. There is an optional extra on offer designed to remedy this - a sliding roof-level frame that's mounted on runners down the side of the load bed, allowing you to lash super-long items such as ladders to the roof - but it's only available on certain versions and it's a very expensive addition.

There are fewer limits when it comes to towing, however: the Wildtrak model is able to haul along a braked trailer of up to 3,500kg in weight.

What's it like to drive?

The first thing you notice when driving the Ranger is that it feels remarkably civilised. If you’re used to pickup trucks of old (and not-so-old in the case of the Nissan Navara or Isuzu D-Max), you will be expecting the Ranger to buck and bounce down the road, especially without a load in the bed. But that isn’t the case. Despite the tough leaf-spring rear suspension and old-fashioned body-on-frame construction, the Ranger rides impressively smoothly.

Now, it doesn't feel as plash as a large SUV, but in the main, it’s comfortable and quiet. The body doesn’t even lean too much in corners, and although you do feel the occasional shimmy, it’s mightily impressive. Interestingly, though, the old Ranger felt just as capable. Now, that’s probably more praise of the old version than criticism of the new one, and also possibly to be expected given that the new Ranger is a development of its predecessor rather than an all-new model.

Head into town and you might encounter issues with the sheer size of the Ranger, but its bluff, squared-off edges mean it’s actually easier to place than you’d think. The turning circle is tighter than you’d credit, too, although something this long really needs that to have any chance of turning around in smaller spaces.

Being a 2,300kg pickup when fitted with the 202bhp 2.0-litre diesel engine, the Ranger isn’t all that fast, and yet it feels even slower than its 0-62mph time of 10.5 seconds would suggest: there’s a laziness to the way the 10-speed automatic gearbox reacts to presses of the accelerator pedal. The auto is much happier when you’re not pressing on too hard, though, as it constantly juggles gearshifts to ensure you can ride on the surge of torque from those twin turbos. Driven like this, the Ranger makes effortless progress, and it really suits a gentle motorway cruise.

We've also tried the plug-in hybrid Ranger that was launched mid-2025 in a first for the pickup truck market. It pairs a 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine with an electric motor to deliver a combined maximum of 277bhp (101bhp of which comes from the electric motor) and 514lb ft of torque (that latter figure is the greatest of any Ranger, even the high-performance Raptor version).

You can choose to run the hybrid system in a variety of ways. Left to its own devices, the system defaults to 'Auto EV' mode, where the vehicle decides for itself what combination of petrol and electric power is best for the prevailing circumstances. However, you can make the vehicle run solely on electric power by selecting 'EV Now' mode. Alternatively, you can choose to save your battery charge for later by selecting 'EV Later' mode, where the vehicle runs using just the petrol motor (this is handy for situations where you have a long motorway journey with a stint of town driving at the end, where your electric drive will have the greatest benefit). Select 'EV Charge' mode, and the petrol engine tops up the battery as well as driving the wheels. This mode even works when you're stationary, so you can recharge the battery simply by leaving the engine running, although this will be far from the most efficient method of recharging.

Select 'EV Now' mode, and you will get up to motorway speed, but very, very slowly. We carried out a rather unscientific acceleration test during our time with the Ranger PHEV, and from a standstill, with the accelerator pinned to the floor, we counted a shade over 20 seconds before we hit 60mph. In this mode, the level of acceleration on offer is fine for gentle urban driving, but on other sorts of road, you'll need help from the petrol engine.

It's a very different story when the petrol engine does chime in. In all the other modes, the Ranger PHEV builds speed in a really brisk and effortless manner. Give it a proper bootful of throttle, and the turn of pace it delivers might surprise you. And all the while, the engine stays impressively quiet and smooth, even when working hard.

Regardless of whether you're running on EV power or petrol power, you'll notice that the throttle response is a little lazy, but you'll notice a more marked delay in response when the petrol engine is running because the gearbox has the same hesitancy as we described earlier. It's not too much of an issue in a vehicle like the Ranger, though.

There are other engine options available in the Ranger aside from the two we've sampled. There's a weaker 168bhp version of the 2.0-litre diesel, and a 237bhp 3.0-litre V6 diesel, while the high-performance Raptor version gets either a 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol with 288bhp, or a 207bhp version of the 2.0-litre diesel.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

The days of pickups featuring a steering wheel, pedals and maybe a radio if you’re lucky are long gone, yet even in the modern context of pickups as family cars with all mod-cons, the Ranger impresses with its levels of equipment. Even entry-level UK-market models, for example, get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone connectivity, a rear-view camera and rear parking sensors.

Higher-specification models feature an impressive 12-inch portrait-style touchscreen that looks similar to the item found in the Mustang Mach-E, which features built-in satnav. You also have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you can use Waze or Google Maps if you don’t fancy using Ford’s own system.

The portrait layout of the infotainment screen is useful, because it allows you to display quite a lot of different info at once, and makes it easy to switch between functions. It is a touch laggy, though, so you might have to be a bit patient with it.

The fact that there are physical controls for the air-con and the stereo volume is another bonus, and the overall placement and design of the various switches and buttons is an improvement over the previous model.

With the flashy-looking Wildtrak edition, which is the biggest seller, you get comfy leather seats – with electric adjustment for the driver – and funky orange stitching all over the place. You also get one-touch electric windows all-round, dual-zone air-conditioning, heated seats and a heated steering wheel. There’s also a 360-degree parking camera, plus all-round parking sensors.

We’ll also give Ford top marks for installing proper off-road hardware. Unlike many SUVs, the Ranger has some serious off-roading chops. All models are four-wheel drive and you’ve got a terrain response system with various drive modes to help you figure out tricky surfaces. You can also switch between rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive in both low- and high ranges.

There’s all the safety kit you expect, too, including automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist and adaptive cruise control, even in the most basic models.

Where we’ll have to mark Ford down a little, however, is that some of the cabin plastics feel a bit utilitarian. That’s fine in Rangers destined for use as workhorses, but on the plusher versions, it’s a bit less acceptable.

Ford Ranger running costs

Something as huge as the Ranger is always going to get through a bit of fuel, and even the entry-level 168bhp 2.0-litre diesel returns an official figure of just 33mpg. Expect 27mpg from the more powerful 202bhp version, and 26mpg from the 3.0-litre V6 diesel. And the Raptor models? Seriously, don't ask.

The PHEV version has a combined WLTP fuel figure of 91mpg, but don't be fooled. The official tests are always overly flattering to plug-in hybrids, and replicating that figure in the real world will be difficult. It has an electric-only range of 25 miles, so if your regular journeys are shorter than that, and they're low-speed enough that you don't have to get the petrol engine involved, then it's possible that you'll use hardly any fuel if you keep your batteries topped up. With the batteries depleted, Ford claims a fuel economy of 28mpg.

In terms of the Ranger’s cost as a company car, it can actually be surprisingly affordable. That’s because it’s classed as a commercial vehicle and, because all versions apart from the high-performance Raptor can take at least a 1,000kg payload, it’s subject to a one-size-fits-all flat rate of company car tax.

As an outright cash purchase, you’ll find a Ranger is good value compared with the older and more utilitarian-feeling Toyota Hilux, but it’ll cost you more than an Isuzu D-Max.

Ford Ranger reliability

In recent years, Ford has put in some rather disappointing performances in the What Car? Reliability Survey, but the latest instalment has shown some improvement, with the brand rising up to 14th place of the 31 carmakers considered.

That performance will be based on the brand's range of hatchbacks and SUVs, though, because pickup trucks don't feature in the study. Take heart, though, that pickup trucks are designed from the off to be simple and hardy, so that they can tolerate hard use with minimal downtime.

However, the Ranger’s game is only adequate when you look at its warranty – you get coverage for three-years or 60,000 miles only, whereas Toyota (provided you service it at an official dealer) will give you a factory warranty for up to 10 years and 100,000 miles on the Hilux.