Key Facts
Model tested: Ford Ranger Thunder
Price: Ranger Double Cab range from £24,200 exc. VAT; Thunder from £40,849.64 inc. VAT, truck as tested £44,319.64 inc. VAT
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-turbodiesel
Transmission: ten-speed automatic, switchable all-wheel drive with low-range transfer 'box
Body style: four-door one-tonne pick-up truck
CO2 emissions: 239g/km (VED: £275 pick-up truck flat rate)
Combined economy: 31mpg
Top speed: 112mph
0-62mph: 9.0 seconds
Power: 213hp at 3,750rpm
Torque: 500Nm at 1,750-2,500rpm
Ratings: loadbed max payload 1,024kg, max gross vehicle weight 3,270kg, max towing capacity 3,500kg braked trailer, max gross train weight 6,000kg
Our view:
We can keep this one very brief for you. As this generation of the Ford Ranger pick-up truck winds down, in readiness for the impending joint project the Blue Oval will conduct alongside Volkswagen - meaning the next Ranger and the next
Amarok will be identical, only with different badges; like that time in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the same two companies made the Galaxy and Sharan MPVs respectively - then you're starting to see the special editions roll out as the carmaker attempts to shift existing stock. This is one of them: amid all the Stormtrak and Wolftrak and MS-RT variants of the Ranger flooding into Ford showrooms as we speak, the moody confection you're looking at here is a Thunder.
This is a special-edition name Ford has used on the Ranger before, way back when, and its reappearance here denotes that there are only 4,500 examples of this particular pick-up being constructed, of which 1,400 are destined for the UK (there are another 30 going to Ireland if you need a back-up plan, by the way). The starting price for the 2021 Ranger Thunder is ostensibly £32,965 but that's excluding VAT, as the Ford is a commercial vehicle underneath all the Sea Grey broodiness. Therefore, as we're assuming that 100 per cent of Thunder customers will be private buyers rather than the sort of people who will plunge this pick-up deep into a coniferous forest on work-related duties, you have to factor in VAT. And, as tested with a few options (namely, the £1,620 Thunder Loadbed Pack, the £1,380 Driver Assistance Pack incorporating adaptive cruise control and the £480 Trailer Tow Pack), that means an asking price the wrong side of £44,000. Oof.
No matter. The one-tonne pick-up truck market is a strong one in the UK but strangely denuded of lots of alternative products at the moment, due to various factors. Which means the Ranger Thunder only has to see off the three vehicles we list below, plus the SsangYong Musso (which we must confess we've not driven yet). And it is due to this lack of competition that we say with great confidence that the Thunder is the current market leader in this particular sector, once again assuming you're not a commercial client.
This is because the Thunder is basically a highly-specified
Wildtrak, once the flagship of the Ranger line-up, only fitted with the 2.0-litre biturbo diesel engine and running gear from the immense and somewhat deranged
Raptor. The Thunder makes do without the Raptor's mega-spec suspension and underpinnings, instead running on more conventional 18-inch wheels (finished in black) and tyres, and having no chassis development for how it will cope with landing after jumps.
It's essentially all about the red. Flashes of the colour mark out the big 'THUNDER' badges on the Ford's tailgate and front doors, and it's a motif repeated in what is one of the best cabins in pick-up history. The Ranger's interior stands scrutiny against the new Isuzu D-Max's splendid passenger compartment, and eclipses that of both the outgoing Mitsubishi L200 and the excellent if a bit dowdy fascia of the Toyota Hilux. The Ranger's cab is very car-like in terms of its equipment, appointments and fittings, and sitting at its lofty wheel is a highly pleasurable experience indeed. In the space of a week, we did a colossal 833 miles and 20 hours in the truck while it was on test, recording an overall economy of 32mpg from the smoother and quieter (when compared to the Wildtrak's old 3.2-litre five-pot) four-cylinder engine in the Thunder. Indeed, 35.9mpg on a long motorway run down to Slough is about the best fuel consumption we've ever seen from a one-tonner like this, so kudos for Ford for migrating all its Rangers over to the Raptor's obviously efficient powertrain.
It's not only improved economy you'll get from the Thunder but faster performance too. Shorn of the Raptor's comedy bubble tyres (which are high drag) and its loftier stance (it has 283mm of ground clearance) and its increased weight from all the chassis bracing required for its. . .
particular method of going off-road, the Thunder feels a far livelier on-road proposition with 213hp and 500Nm. That's why it punches to 62mph from rest in nine seconds flat, fully 1.5 seconds quicker than the Raptor, and boy does the Thunder feel suitably energised as a result. It's a quick machine by class standards, this one. So not only do you get a more car-like cabin ambience from the Ranger, you also get the most car-like driving experience of any pick-up truck, as the Ford has the sweetest steering going in this segment and surprisingly spry handling when it's unladen. You won't even lament that typically bumpy ride quality you get on these utes when they've got nothing in the loadbed, as the Ford manages to smooth out most road surfaces with a great amount of charm and aplomb.
About our only complaint once again revolves around that ten-speed gearbox. It's a fantastic unit in terms of the smoothness of its shifts, but a 213hp turbodiesel in a vehicle this heavy and of only middling performance in the wider scheme of things simply
does not need ten ratios in its transmission. We can't help but feel like the Thunder would be far better off with only eight cogs, or even six if the autobox is right. Ah well, never mind; the auto is not detrimental to the overall appeal of the Thunder. Therefore, as long as you're not against the colour red (if you are, maybe you're a bull, or a Man Cit-eh fan or something) and you don't mind paying more than £44,000 for it, you won't get a better pick-up right now than the Ford Ranger Thunder. Move fast, people - the 1,400 UK units are likely to sell out fast.
Alternatives:
Isuzu D-Max V-Cross: much-improved in its second-generation format but we can't for the life of us understand why Isuzu didn't take the opportunity of the update to do something about the D-Max's primitive 1.9-litre engine.
Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian X: grab one now, while you still can. Mitsubishi is departing the UK as a seller of vehicles and so the L200 won't be around for long. It's a fine truck, although it lacks power at 150hp/400Nm from its 2.3 motor.
Toyota Hilux Invincible X: another one-tonner which has recently had a big shot in the arm, which in the Toyota's case is a new 204hp/500Nm 2.8-litre engine. The Hilux is mighty impressive all round but it's not quite as nice to sit in, drive or steer as the Ranger Thunder.
