The refreshed 2019 Ford Ranger sees a new 10-speed transmission, AEB, and three engines, including a bi-turbo 2.0L with 157kW and 500Nm.

THE REFRESHED FORD RANGER has been detailed with Ford Australia saying it’s ensured there’s a Ranger to suit just about everyone. But then with the demand growing for dual-cab utes beyond farms and building sites and new players arriving, like the Mercedes-Benz X-Class, Ford had to add some variety into the line-up.

Refreshed Ranger is expected to lob around August or September and while pricing hasn’t yet been announced, we expect it shortly. As a rule with these things, though, because of the styling changes, and equipment upgrades on some models you can expect to see incremental price rises.

Ford Australia President and CEO, Graeme Whickman, said “The Australian market has shifted in a relatively short timeframe, pushing pick-ups like Ranger towards the top of the sales charts. It’s also seen new buyers come in to the segment, especially at the premium end, which is why we’ve made Ranger more refined and more capable at an even wider variety of uses.”

Buyers have three engines to choose from now, a 2.2-litre (118kW/385Nm), 3.2-litre (147kW/470Nm), and 2.0-litre bi-turbo (157kW/500Nm), the latter is mated exclusively to Ford’s 10-speed automatic transmission; this is the same engine and transmission fitted to the Ranger Raptor. Both the 2.0L (XLT and Wildtrak) and the 3.2L engines (all variants) feature a 3500kg towing capacity but, as we’ve explained before there are caveats around this maximum towing capacity.

Safety also features heavily on top-spec Rangers, with AEB (operational from 3.6km/h) now cost-optional on XLT variants and standard on Wildtrak, the same goes for traffic sign recognition which is standard on Wildtrak but part of the cost-optional Tech Pack for XLT. The same goes for Active Park Assist which allows semi-automatic parallel parking.

The new Ranger, across the range, now features an easy-lift tail-gate which, according to Ford, reduces the force required to raise or lower the tailgate by around 70%. Refreshed Ranger also gets keyless entry and start, well, it’s standard on XLT and Wildtrak and cost-optional on XLS. The interior has also been tweaked via new materials and contrast stitching on certain models. XLT and Wildtrak get an 8.0-inch touchscreen, this is cost-optional on XLS, it offers Sync3 and also both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Along with the engines and safety updates, albeit only on top-spec dual-cab variants, Ford’s refreshed Ranger gets a new-look snout via a tweaked grille and lower bumper, while XLT and Wildtrak gets LED daytime running lights and HID headlights.

Ford Australia said its local engineering team had tweaked the Ranger’s suspension to improve its unladen ride and steering precision. That said, Ford didn’t say exactly what it has done.

“We’ve further improved how Ranger behaves when carrying a load, towing a boat or taking a caravan around the country,” said John Willems, Chief Program Engineer, Ranger. “Ranger is now better to drive when it’s working its hardest. It makes it easier to handle, so you can really make the most of its payload and towing capabilities, and helps to reduce fatigue on long trips, too.”