Platinum touched Ford Ranger debuts as range’s new flagship

With the South African market reveal of the all-new Ford Ranger set to place next week, the Blue Oval has unveiled a new flagship derivative positioned above the Wildtrak that could, potentially, become available at some stage.

A nomenclature long part of the F-150 as well as on a number of North American SUVs for some time, the Platinum designation debuts for the first time on the Ranger after premiering on its sibling, new Everest, earlier this year.

What is on offer?

Very much an aesthetic and interior overhaul focused squarely on luxury, the former adaptions comprise standard roof rails and daytime running LEDs integrated into the Matrix LED headlights, a soft-touch closing tailgate, machined 20-inch alloy wheels, chrome window surrounds, side-steps and Platinum lettering on the bonnet, the tailgate itself and on the base of the front doors.

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Inside, the interior retains the portrait-style twelve-inch SYNC4 touchscreen infotainment system plus the 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster, but benefits from open pore dark grained maple wood inserts, quilted and perforated leather seats that are heated, cooled and electric for the driver and passenger, expanded leather touch points and Platinum badges on the seats, dashboard and floor mats.

Standard specification is carried over from the Wildtrak and therefore includes a wireless smartphone charger, an eight-speaker B&O Play sound system, the FordPass Connect smartphone app, Park Assist, a 360-degree camera system, Blind Spot Monitoring, Lane Change Assist and Rear Cross Traffic Alert to name but a few.

V6 diesel as standard

Up front, the Ranger Platinum derives motivation exclusively from the 3.0-litre Lion turbodiesel V6 once sold in the F-150 under the Powerstroke designation, but in two states of tune.

As with the Ranger Raptor, whose twin-turbo 3.0 EcoBoost V6 had to be turned down for Europe, models sold on the Old Continent produce 177 kW whereas the full 184 kW is available elsewhere.

Regardless of the output though, torque stands at 600 Nm with the recalibrated General Motors co-developed ten-speed automatic gearbox delivering the amount of grunt to all four wheels through a permanent all-wheel-drive system.

When?

Going on-sale in both Europe and Australia from May next year, pricing, in the United Kingdom, kicks-off at £44 400 (R955 787), £5 050 (R108 710) more than the Wildtrak, while the Australian version carries a sticker of $76 990 (R921 826), a hike of $3 992 (R47 797) over the Wildtrak.

As mentioned, the Ranger Platinum remains unconfirmed for South Africa, but chances are it could become available based not only on models bound for Europe originating from the Silverton Plant outside Pretoria, but also on the prior introductions of the Thunder and Stormtrak that had both been classified as Old Continent only versions based on the now previous generation T6 Ranger.

Expect pricing of the new Ranger to become available once the covers come off next week.