Weekend adventures: testing the Ford Ranger Wildtrak's off-road capabilities

Our long-term Ford Ranger Wildtrak Supercab isn’t a hardcore off-road beast, but then neither are most bakkies that have a low range and a rear differential lock.

And like many owners, not every weekend is spent off the beaten track, but if you’re an off-road enthusiast like me, I’ll take every opportunity I get to lift a wheel.

I’ve been doing it for a long time, and it’s a wonderful way to be outdoors, enjoying the sun and dust testing yourself and the car with a group of friends and occasionally a newcomer.

There’s normally a regular group of us who go out to “paw by paw”, and over the years we’ve dented body panels, broken side shafts, dinged a chassis or two and exploded diffs.

We’ve also witnessed some really stupid and irresponsible behaviour by people who don’t appreciate that a heavy 4x4 can be a lethal weapon over a tough technical track, recovery procedures require careful planning and that a tow bar is not an anchor point.

Often, it’s the “hold my drink, watch this move” brigade that gives 4x4 owners a bad reputation.

I always tell people who I haven’t driven with before that the first drink they open while driving, either I leave or they leave.

Be safe

So what’s my point?

Well, like track racing, it’s a skill that needs to be learnt so that you are aware of the car’s limitations, which lines to choose, what it does in tricky situations and how you respond.

This is where Ford and the Ford Adventure Club have stepped in with their training days.

It’s aimed at new Ford 4x4 owners and offers complimentary Level 1 Training. This course is included as part of the vehicle purchase and is valid for 12 months from the date of purchase. The training is specifically designed for owners of Ford Ranger, Ford Everest, and Raptor 4x4 vehicles.

Our Wildtrak Supercab hasn’t tackled any serious rock crawling or chassis-bending trails, although I do not doubt that, given its ability, it would do so with some measure of success.

Tackling the trail

We recently had a Sunday outing on a trail just outside Pretoria, nothing too serious but enough to have some fun without my partner getting too nervous.

The camping fridge with cold drinks and meat (no day out is complete without a braai) was plugged into the load bay’s inverter and tied down along with the recovery equipment box, camping chairs and wood.  

There’s also a 400W inverter at the back of the centre console but the load area behind the seats doesn’t have tie-down points and it’s hard plastic so things tend to slide around.

With the 18-inch Good Year Wranglers AT/S tyres deflated to 1.5 bar to provide a wider footprint and more traction, we headed into the veld.

To engage low range in the Ranger you simply put the 10-speed automatic transmission into neutral, press 4L on the rotary dial, wait for the light on the digital instrument cluster to activate and select your drive mode.

There’s Normal, Eco, Slippery, Tow/Haul and Sand to choose from but for this outing we selected Mud/Ruts.

Heading into a deep donga we entered slowly making full use of the 30 degree approach angle and had an easy exit with its 23 degree departure angle.

Don’t be gung-ho 

Having taken a walk up the second obstacle we decided that discretion was the better part of valour.

There were two steep rocky steps that were covered in scrape marks and I wasn’t keen to add to those nor did I want to crinkle cut the side steps.

We gave it a miss and drove some of the easier obstacles without any trouble with the cameras adding to the ease of seeing where you’re going.

The final obstacle was a real test with a steep, twisty and rocky ascent and descent.

We’d done it a few weeks before in a Suzuki Jimny which is a lot easier to maneuver than the Ranger.

It required some deft turning and rollbacks as well as engaging the diff lock, which is engaged by an icon on the offroad screen, on certain sections but ultimately we exited triumphantly.  

It also helps that with 154kW and 500Nm from the 2.0-litre Bi-turbo diesel engine there’s enough low down grunt to keep the momentum without placing undue strain on the drivetrain.

Like I said, our Ford Ranger Wildtrak Supercab isn’t a trail buster but there’s ample ability when the going gets rough and it’s a great way to explore and enjoy the outdoors.