Locally produced Ford Raptor is a go!

Ford has finally lifted the covers from their highly-anticipated Ranger Raptor bakkie. The Raptor will be produced in Thailand and Pretoria and is expected to go on sale in 2019. The Raptor boasts some interesting dimensions – 1873mm in height, 2180mm in width and 5398mm in length. Ground clearance has also been increased to 283mm.

Power is developed by an all-new 2,0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel engine, making 157kW and 500Nm, a whole 10kW and 30Nm boost over the current 3.2-litre engine. Power is sent to all-four wheels through Ford’s new 10-speed automatic transmission.

The “Ultimate Ranger”, available in six unique exterior finishes, features powerful styling cues, like the F-150 inspired grille which gives the bakkie a very intimidating look. New LED foglamps and air-ducts complete the aggressive look at the front, while a modified bumper hides an integrated tow-bar, capable of towing 2500kg, and PDC sensors at the rear.

According to Ford, the chassis frame of the Ranger was designed to handle high speeds off-road. The ‘terrain management system’ includes six different driving modes for the driver to choose from – normal and sport for on-road use and grass/gravel/snow, mud/sand, rock, and Baja modes for off-road use

The interior continues with the go-anywhere-fast theme. There are new driver and passenger seats that were exclusively designed to offer “off-road high-speed performance support.” The leather seats gain a sporty touch with blue-stitching and a few leather accents.

There is also a new instrument cluster, along with an all-new steering wheel complete with lightweight magnesium paddle-shifters. The infotainment system is powered by Ford’s familiar Sync3 system.

Safety on the Ranger Raptor includes Ford Stability Control, which is essentially a roll mitigation function, as well as electronic stability control, trailer sway control, hill start assist, hill descent control and load adaptive control.