Fully accessorised new Everest still has a lot to hide. Image: whichcar.com.au
With the wraps due to come off just over a week from today, 24 November to be exact, Ford, undeterred by spy images and official teasers, has continued pre-production testing of the new Ranger as evident by a fresh batch of pictures taken in Australia.
According to whichcar.com.au, the images, posted by the Vic High Country Trips, Info, Vehicle Setups Facebook page, shows not only the Ranger, but also the all-new Everest and a left-hand-drive Ranger Raptor outfitted with a series of ARB accessories undergoing testing at the Blue Rag Range Track in the state of Victoria.
Decked-out in extensive black-and-white wrapping, the images, reportedly taken last week, comes on the back of an announcement in May that the Blue Oval had teamed-up with the renowned maker of off-road hardware to offer a range of aftermarket fixtures for the next generation Ranger and Everest under its factory warranty.
Despite the layers of disguise, certain design elements are prevalent, namely the block letter F-O-R-D badging on the Raptor, steel front bumpers, side steps and off-road tyres Whichcar claims appeared similar to the BF Goodrich rubber the Everest featured.
Sporting the same silhouette as the current model, the Everest, spied back in May, will incorporate the same Maverick-inspired front-end styling as the Ranger, and ride on the revised T6 platform anticipated to be called T6.2.
Both models, along with the all-new Volkswagen Amarok that will ride on the same platform, will be made at Ford’s Silverton Plant outside Pretoria after Dearborn announced a record R15.8-billion investment into the facility for production of the trio back in February.
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Set to once again offer seating for seven, the Everest will also feature the redesigned interior, which reports have alleged, will include a new 15.5-inch portrait-style infotainment system with SYNC4 software the F-150 offers in the United States.
Up front, and like the Ranger and Amarok, three engines are set to be offered; the carryover 2.0-litre Panther turbodiesel in single and bi-turbo forms, as well as the 3.0 Powerstroke V6 that made 186kW/597Nm in the F-150.
The Panther mills will officially replace the 2.2-litre four-cylinder and 3.2-litre five-cylinder Puma units, although it remains unknown as to whether outputs will increase from the current 132kW/420Nm and 157kW/500Nm.
In North America, a market the Everest won’t be offered in, a similar choice of powerunits are reportedly on the cards; a plug-in hybrid version of the current 2.3 EcoBoost petrol that will see power increase from 200kW/420Nm to 270kW/680Nm, and for the Raptor, the 298kW/563Nm twin-turbo 3.0 EcoBoost V6 from the Explorer ST.
Also rumoured is the 231kW/540Nm 2.7 EcoBoost V6 from the Bronco, though its inclusion will likely to be limited to flagship models and not the Raptor previous reports have alleged.
Despite claims of the petrol Raptor being offered with right-hand-drive, it appears more likely that it will remain left-hand-drive, meaning the sole availability of the mentioned Powerstroke oil-burner for right-hand-drive countries.
In addition to the Ranger and Everest, the Panther and Powerstroke units are lined-up for the Amarok with all three anticipated to offer a single transmission option, the current ten-speed automatic Ford had co-developed with General Motors.
While still to be confirmed, a manual gearbox appears unlikely with a further still-to-be-confirmed rumour being the Amarok R that will slot-in above or replace the current flagship Extreme as Wolfsburg’s version of the Raptor. What is certain though is that an off-road version of the Everest won’t be happening anytime soon.
With the unveiling of the Ranger already locked-in, the Everest is set to follow early next year with the Amarok likely to be last of the trio.
