Ford Australia has unleashed its new Ranger variant; the Ford Ranger Super Duty at its 100-year anniversary last week.
The Ford Ranger Super Duty has been designed to provide Aussie drivers with confidence to demonstrate a capability of doing more. From its taller stance and wider track to bigger tyres and more functional wing mirrors, it screams presence and capability.
Every Super Duty model boasts a hefty 130-litre long-range fuel tank and a GVM of 4500kg.
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“The design brief to the team for Ranger Super Duty was ‘Ultimate Tough’,” Ford Australia International Markets Group Head of Design Max Wolff said.
Ford Motor Company Head of Ford Design Todd Willing added that the inspiration for a heavier-duty Ranger began with living the life of truck customers.
“We wanted to deliver a truck that was the epitome of Built Ford Tough and that the way it looked had to match that functionality,” he said.
“Fleet managers told us about the heavy-duty medium pick-up space and how there just wasn’t anything they wanted,” said Willing. “This set our team on a path to digging deeper, meeting with more than 50 companies and public services to truly live the life of these customers to understand their specific needs.”
“The result was an idea for a truck that could bridge the gap between what was currently available and what the industry told us it needed. The team took the already bold-looking Ranger and leaned into it, making it look even tougher. “All the design elements have purpose.
“We wanted to achieve a feeling, that from just one glance, Ranger Super Duty means business.”
Ready for (Super)Duty
The Ranger Super Duty features 33-inch General Grabber all-terrain light truck tyres, wider track width, and increased ground clearance, commanding attention and presence.
The unique bonnet design with its chamfered edges suggests strength, while the leading edge of the bonnet has been stamped with ‘SUPER DUTY’, and the new open-weave mesh grille ensures optimum air flow. The truck also boasts a heavy-duty, frame-mounted steel bumper, attachment points for mounting driving lights, and a front bash plate that offers impressive approach, rampover, and departure angles.
“The pumped guards, for instance, which were necessary to accommodate the track increase and larger tyre size and the squared-off, over-fender design both unique to Ranger Super Duty,” said Wolff. Available as a Single Cab Chassis, Super and Double Cab Chassis, and the Double Cab pick-up, the Ranger Super Duty is designed to suit various customer needs. “From working on the farm or building site, to emergency services or forestry needs, and touring four-wheel drivers, there’s a range of Ranger Super Duty variants to suit customer needs,” said Wolff.
Super Duty unveiled
The Ranger Super Duty is also designed to be upfitter ready, with a 12-inch infotainment screen, auxiliary switches, and an optional Integrated Device Mounting system for mounting devices up to 4 kilograms.
“We made sure that the truck is ready for everything from service bodies to slip-ons, to ensure that whatever you need your Ranger Super Duty to do, getting it outfitted is a simple process,” said Wolff. The truck’s advanced driver assist systems include front and rear parking aids, 360-degree camera, blind-spot monitoring with trailer coverage, forward collision warning, auto emergency braking, and more.
“Driver assistance technology was critical to the Ranger Super Duty project,” said Dave Burn, chief program engineer, Ranger Super Duty, Ford Australia. “There was no point developing the most capable version of Ranger yet, if it didn’t have the same driver assist technology as regular Ranger. We want our customers to feel confident that we’ve worked long and hard to ensure Ranger Super Duty delivers the technology they need.”