The one reason why a $78,000 Ford Ranger ute is good value even though it’s being replaced next year

Cashed-up Australians – from plumbers to company executives – are choosing to spend $78,000 on a luxury ute as their car of choice.  

Instead of buying a luxury European prestige car, many of them are opting for a top-of-the range, 4×4 dual cab ute that not only looks tough, but can take them on an off-road adventure almost anywhere on the continent.

For while they are expensive, Ford Ranger Raptors are beasts capable of handling handle corrugated dirt roads and rocky inclines that would be daunting to most SUVs.

The ban on Australians travelling overseas has seen a surge in demand for rugged four-wheel drives like the Ford Ranger Raptor.

 Australians from all bushwalks of life are spending $78,000 on a luxury ute that can take them on an off-road adventure almost anywhere on the continent

The Ford Ranger Raptor costs $20,000 more than the volume-selling dual cab XLT ute, that are absolutely everywhere from the city to the suburbs and the country towns. The tough-looking grille, with the word ‘Ford’ in big letters right across the front, makes the Raptor the bulked-up, automotive equivalent of wrestling champion Hulk Hogan – something the other Rangers with the conventional blue oval badge on the nose just don’t pull off

Month after month, the Ranger is Australia’s second most popular vehicle after the Toyota HiLux, outselling even the most ubiquitous SUVs with tradies and families alike buying them in droves

Ford Ranger Raptor pricing

RAPTOR: $77,690 

RAPTOR X: $79,390

Prestige Paint is an optional extra at $650, while a Raptor decal pack costs another $750

Month after month, the Ranger is Australia’s second most popular vehicle after the Toyota HiLux, outselling even the most ubiquitous SUVs, with cashed-up plumbers and builders, and families alike buying them in droves.

During the past year, sales of 4×4 Ford Ranger utes have surged by 57 per cent, with 3,911 of them leaving the showroom in May 2021. 

The Ford Ranger Raptor costs $20,000 more than the volume-selling dual cab XLT ute, which is absolutely everywhere from the city to the suburbs and the country towns.

So someone paying $77,690 for a ute, that has been around for a decade, would really want to stand out and not look ‘common’, to use that Dame Edna phrase.

For that kind of money, Australians can buy a Raptor with special styling instead of a prestigious German luxury sedan or SUV from BMW, Mercedes-Benz or Audi. 

The Raptor and the new, even pricier Raptor X certainly command attention.

The tough-looking grille, with the word ‘Ford’ in big letters right across the front, makes the Raptor the bulked-up, automotive equivalent of wrestling champion Hulk Hogan – something the other Rangers with the conventional blue oval badge on the nose just don’t quite pull off.

The intimidating front-end styling is shared with the much bigger American Ford F-150 Raptor pick-up truck, which isn’t sold in Australia unless it’s privately imported and converted to right-hand drive.

So someone paying $77,690 for a ute, that has been around for a decade, would really want to stand out and not look ‘common’, to use that Dame Edna phrase

For that premium, the Raptor and the new, even pricier Raptor X certainly get attention, with motorists from plumbers to company executives snapping them up as Australians are banned from travelling overseas for a holiday

With its more prominent jawline, the Raptor also looks a lot more masculine than other top-of-the range utes, including the Toyota HiLuxes in Rogue or Rugged X guise, priced from $70,000. 

The thicker BF Goodrich tyres and a higher ground clearance, made me feel  invincible at the suburban roundabout with SUVs and hatchbacks showing due deference by letting me through first.

There’s certainly a psychological advantage being higher up in something with more bling-bling, from the flared wheel arches to the armoured-carrier style front end. 

A four-hour, long weekend trip up the M1 motorway from Sydney to Port Macquarie also demonstrated how a big, hulking ute can be powered by a two-litre, four-cylinder engine – and be a rocket.

The thicker BF Goodrich tyres and a higher ground clearance, made me feel invincible at the suburban roundabout with SUVs and hatchbacks showing due deference by letting me through first

At first reading, the engine size specifications sound like something found under the bonnet of a Mazda3.

But unlike a small hatchback, the four-cylinder engine standard in both Raptors is a bi-turbo diesel putting up 157 kilowatts of power, which is excellent for acceleration and overtaking semi-trailers.

The output is identical to the straight six cylinder, four-litre engines that powered the bestselling Ford Falcon during the 1990s. 

The four-cylinder bi-turbo engine standard in the Raptor is a bi-turbo diesel putting up 157 kilowatts of power, which is excellent for acceleration and overtaking semi-trailers.

The four-cylinder bi-turbo is optional on the other Ranger models.

The volume-selling 4×4 XLT model, priced from $56,240, comes standard with a 3.2 litre, five cylinder single-turbo diesel putting out 147 kilowatts of power. 

The Raptor also has 500 Newton metres of torque, the same as a turbo diesel HiLux, which means it doesn’t have the same towing strength as a V8 Toyota LandCruiser with 650 Newton metres of torque. 

The real benefits of a Raptor are really off the sealed road.

There’s certainly a psychological advantage being higher up in something with more bling-bling, from the flared wheel arches to the armoured-carrier style front end

The real benefits of a Raptor are really off the sealed road

A corrugated dirt track to the Diamond Head campground, on the New South Wales Mid-North Coast, that would normally rattle a Subaru Forester – or any small SUV for that matter – did nothing to scare the Raptor.

The ride over the rough track through a national park was very smooth with the FOX Racing Shocks soaking up the bumps, even in two-wheel drive mode, making it a much better all-terrain vehicle than the other Rangers with a leaf spring suspension. 

It was also great on the beach in four-wheel drive high mode on the sand. 

A corrugated dirt track to the Diamond Head campground, on the New South Wales Mid-North Coast, that would normally rattle a Subaru Forester – or any small SUV for that matter – did nothing to scare the Raptor

While the other Rangers are designed to be load carriers, the Raptor is in its element as a four-wheel drive with its 283millimetre ground clearance providing plenty of space between the chassis and the rocks below

While the other Rangers are designed to be load carriers, the Raptor is in its element as a four-wheel drive with its 283millimetre ground clearance providing plenty of space between the chassis and the rocks below.

The suspension was also designed and developed in Australia and with a 32.5 degree approach angle, it can tackle those inclines.

While the Ford Ranger shape has been around since 2011 with a facelift in 2015, the Raptor was released in 2018.

The Raptor X, however, was only released in April 2021, demonstrating how Ford has managed to keep the ute fresh by introducing a series of new models. 

While the Ford Ranger shape has been around since 2011 with a facelift in 2015, the Raptor was released in 2018

An all-new Ranger is due for release in Australia in 2022 and will form the basis of the next Volkswagen Amarok.

The old Mazda BT-50, phased out last year, was based on the existing Ford Ranger.

With the new BT-50 now based on the Isuzu D-MAX, the unveiling of the next Ranger next year will end a platform sharing arrangement between Mazda and Ford going back to the 1970s.

For those wanting a real weekend adventure and some road presence, the Raptor is your ute showing something that has been around for a while can age gracefully – unlike Hulk Hogan in his retirement years.

For those wanting a real weekend adventure and some road presence, the Raptor is your ute showing something that has been around for a while can age gracefully – unlike Hulk Hogan in his retirement years

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