Ford lobs special-edition Ranger Sport
FORD Australia has added the limited-edition Sport variant to its hot-selling Ranger ute range, with the Blue Oval claiming it adds $6000 of value over its XLS donor vehicle, priced from $52,940 plus on-roads with a six-speed manual transmission.
Opting for a six-speed automatic unit increases the asking price to $55,140, with both variants priced $3500 above the XLS 4x4 dual-cab pick-up.
The Ranger Sport is differentiated from the XLS on the outside with a number of subtle visual touches, starting with the one-inch-bigger black 17-inch alloy wheels, with the black finish also applied to the front grille, door-mirror caps, doorhandles, sports bar, side steps and rear bumper.
A ‘Sport’ decal is plastered on the tailgate, while the colour palette for the Ranger Sport consists of True Red, Meteor Grey, Arctic White, Shadow Black and Aluminium Metallic.
Inside, the Sport builds on the specification of the XLS, adding smart keyless entry with push-button start, an 8.0-inch SYNC3 touchscreen infotainment system with sat-nav, DAB+ digital radio and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility; dual-zone climate control and a 4.2-inch multi-function display.
The 8.0-inch SYNC3 system also features a reversing camera and a ‘breadcrumb’ feature in the sat-nav system, which drops digital markers when off-roading so drivers can safely find their way home.
Standard safety features include autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognition and high-beam assist.
The Sport is offered only with the Ranger’s 3.2-litre turbo-diesel five-cylinder engine producing 147kW of power and 470Nm of torque, with drive sent to all four wheels.
Ford’s 157kW/500Nm 2.0-litre twin-turbo-diesel engine is not available in the Sport.
A five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty is included as standard, as is the Ford Service Benefits program, which features 15,000km/12-month service intervals and a maximum service price of $299 per service over the first four years/60,000km.
Through the first half of 2019, Ford has recorded 19,258 sales of its 4x4 Ranger, marking a slight 0.2 per cent uptick over the 19,216 units it sold to the same point last year and just trailing Australia’s perennial best-seller, the Toyota HiLux, which has sold 19,516 units in 4x4 guise.
The Ranger sits third in the 4x2 segment with 2238 sales, down 22.6 per cent from 2890, which trails the HiLux (6616) and Isuzu D-Max (2593).
| Sport | $52,940 |
| Sport (a) | $55,140 |
*Excludes on-road costs
