2023 Ford Ranger towing test: V6 v 4-cylinder

The 2023 Ford Ranger V6 4x4 will be hot property for those that tow heavy trailers; so as soon as the chance arose, we hooked a Ranger Sport V6 up to a caravan for a quick lap around Melbourne.

For comparison’s sake, we repeated the exercise with a 2023 Ranger XLT 4x4 with the carried over bi-turbo I4 diesel engine.

Mid-size 4x4 utes are very popular choices with those that tow because most of them offer a 3500kg tow rating, their relatively long wheelbases are good for stability when towing, and they are more affordable than the big 4x4 wagons that also offer that 3500kg capacity like LandCruiser, Patrol and Land Rovers.

The Ford Ranger is the newest mid-size 4x4 ute to hit the Australian market and it is the first such vehicle to really take towing seriously. Not only does it offer the choice of the V6 diesel engine and a 4-wheel drive system that gives users the versatility and safety of full-time 4WD, but it’s loaded with clever tech features to make towing easier and safer for all users, be they beginners or seasoned towing experts.

By the numbers

All-new Ford Rangers (except the Raptor) have a 3500kg tow rating when towing a trailer with brakes.

The Gross Combined Mass (GCM) that is the maximum allowed weight of the Ranger, fuel, any cargo and accessories and the weight of the trailer behind the car, varies depending on model specification but for the Ranger Sport V6 as tested here, it is 6400kg and for the Ranger XLT I4 it is 6350kg.

These important figures are at or near the top of the mid-size ute category and are sure to entice buyers who want to haul a boat, horse float, caravan or race car.

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The engine outputs also create an impressive set of numbers. The 3.0L V6 diesel engine produces 184kW of power and 600Nm of torque giving the V6 Ranger the most grunt in the class.

Even the bi-turbo I4 engine isn’t lacking in this regard with 154kW and 500Nm, making it one of the gruntiest of the four-cylinder 4x4 utes.

Both engines are backed by a 10-speed automatic transmission and only the V6 gets the 4x4 system that offers full-time 4x4 as well as 2WD, locked 4x4 high range and locked 4x4 low range.

Towing technology

The new Ford Ranger brings a level of technology specifically designed for towing that you won’t find on any other ute in this segment.

From the start point of hooking up the trailer, the Ranger has towing in mind. When reversing up to the trailer the rear-view camera not only has directional lines showing you the steering angle but also a centre line that you can follow back, to line the tow ball up directly under the tow hitch. This makes hooking up easier if you are solo and have no one to guide you back.

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Both our Rangers were fitted with the optional Touring Pack which includes the 360° camera and an integrated electronic brake controller. You need a brake controller to operate the electric brakes on heavy trailers and in the past you had to buy an aftermarket unit.

Ford has its own controller and it integrates neatly on the lower dash. The tow bar and associated wiring come standard on Rangers.

Once you have the trailer electrics hooked up, the SYNC 4 centre screen will show you that it has detected a trailer and ask if you would like to configure it.

You can configure your Ranger for multiple different trailers if you own a caravan, a box trailer, a boat or any other trailer, all of different sizes.

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By inputting the length of your trailer when configuring it, the software then calibrates systems such as the blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert to ensure they still work as they should with the added length of the rig. There’s also a default trailer setting which is what we used for this test.

Once you are all hooked up and configured, the screen can then take you through a step-by-step towing checklist to make sure you’ve hooked up all the relative hardware and electrics needed.

There’s even a trailer-light check mode that once activated, cycles the rear lights so that you can check that all your trailer lights are working as they should without the assistance of a spotter.

This is all really clever but simple stuff that will make it safer and easier for any driver to tow any type of trailer.

One last piece of tech available on most of the new Ranger models is the various drive modes which include a ‘Tow-Haul’ that sets the respective chassis and throttle calibrations to the optimum settings for towing.

Comparisons

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On the road

So how do those numbers and tech features add up in the real world? Before we get in to that, lets look at what we were towing and its relevant numbers.

The good folks at Page Brothers Jayco RVs and Caravans in Moorabbin kindly lent us a Jayco Journey Outback caravan for the test.

This is a dual-axle off-road ’van that is 6.1 metres long and weighs in at 2100kg, with approximately 140kg down on the tow ball.

It’s a fairly typical example of the size and type of caravan you see being hauled behind utes all over Australia so it suited our test perfectly.

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Ford Ranger Sport V6

With the Jayco hitched up behind the Ranger Sport, we set off. The previous Ranger already had one of the longest wheelbases in the class providing a stable platform for towing but Ford has taken this further with the new model, adding 50mm to the wheelbase and also 50mm to the wheel track to further improve stability.

This provides the Ranger with a large ‘footprint’ on the road and this in turn works with a very well-calibrated suspension to deliver smooth travel over rough roads. There’s very little if any of the pitching and porpoising that you might get in many vehicles when towing on the factory-fitted standard suspension. The chassis remains smooth and balanced over the rougher terrain to give the driver control and a feeling of confidence in the Ranger’s abilities.

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The roads were wet on this day and pulling away from a standstill on a hill produced wheelspin with the system in the 2-wheel drive setting. Selecting 4A full-time 4-wheel drive allows you to run in 4x4 on sealed roads and removed that problem of rear wheelspin in the wet. Very few 4x4utes offer this full-time 4x4 setting; only the Mitsubishi Triton and outgoing Volkswagen Amarok among the popular models, so it’s great to now have it on the new Ford.

The V6 diesel engine pulls the 2100kg Jayco van with ease and has plenty in reserve for overtaking and climbing hills. It’s relatively quiet and refined in the way it gets on with its job, again making the task of the driver easier.

The 10-speed automatic transmission performs well when left to its own devices, and manual shifting is done using buttons on the right-hand side of the transmission shifter. This is especially useful when you want to downshift to give a bit of trailer braking when slowing down.

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We did find that the transmission was shifting through to higher ratios sooner than what was ideal. This was with the drive mode in the Normal setting but after switching it to the Tow-Haul mode, the transmission holds the gears longer and made driving even easier.

Ranger’s chassis electronics include trailer-sway control which works with the vehicle’s Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system to detect if and when a trailer might start to sway or fishtail on the road. This wasn’t the case on this drive with the Jayco but it could happen with an incorrectly balanced or set-up trailer.

Interestingly, the Jayco Journey is equipped with its own ESC system but when plugged in to the Ford, it was automatically disabled. This didn’t present any issues on this drive.

Ford Ranger XLT I4

The new Ford Ranger Wildtrak, Sport and XLT models are each available with the choice of the V6 or I4 diesel engines and the V6 is a $3000 extra, over the purchase price of the four-cylinder.

Choosing the bi-turbo I4 engine means you don’t just miss out on the performance and refinement of the V6 engine but a few significant features as well. The biggest omission is the full-time 4x4 capable transfer case which is exclusive to the V6 powered models and the benefits this brings especially on wet and varied roads when towing. You also miss some of the driving models but the Tow-Haul setting is still there.

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The electronic towing aids and on-screen guides are also there when you have the optional Touring pack fitted as our blue Ranger did.

Heading out of town in the four-cylinder powered Ranger XLT with the Jayco on the back and you still get all the chassis benefits of the V6 Ranger. It’s stable and controlled and again really gives the driver confidence in the car’s abilities.

You need to put your foot down a bit harder to get the most out of the smaller engine but with 500Nm available, the XLT wasn’t left lacking on our drive. It was only on the longer hill climb that it was holding a lower gear and you could hear and feel the engine working harder but not as if it was being flogged.

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An indicator of how much harder the four-cylinder XLT Ranger worked than the V6 Ranger Sport was in the fuel consumption. The smaller engine used 17.3L/100km of diesel over the same road loop, whereas the V6 used 16.7L/100km. We’ve found similar results in the past when asking a smaller engine to do the same work in the same cars over the same route.

Verdict

The new Rangers proved not only to be competent and relaxed towing vehicles but with the new technologies and features included in the cars, they made towing easier and safer.

Ranger should become the standard setters for towing among the highly competitive mid-size ute segment and its competitors will have their work cut out to catch up.

Thanks to

Page Brothers RV, Moorabbin