REPORTING FOR DUTY

A whopping 4500kg GVM, 4500kg towing capacity and 8000kg GCM - here's our first drive of Ford's new Super Duty Ranger

- MATT RAUDONIKIS

When the team at Ford Australia first told us about its upcoming Ranger Super Duty, my initial reaction was that it sounded like an answer to a question nobody had asked. As it turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong because Ford had been asking the question all along.

Around seven years ago - before the current-generation Ranger had even been revealed - a group of senior Ford Australia managers and engineers hit the road to speak directly with private and business owners of four-wheel-drive utes. They wanted to understand how people were actually using their vehicles and, more importantly, what they wanted from them. What would be on the wish list for the ideal working 4x4 ute?

This survey wasn't limited to owners of midsize utes like the Ranger. It also included managers of heavy-duty ute fleets such as LandCruiser 79 Series operators as well as those running full-size US-made pickup trucks.

What they discovered aligns closely with what we hear at 4X4 Australia: the number-one issue is weight. Whether it's a ute loaded to the hilt on a mine site or cattle station, or hauling a big caravan along the highway, most vehicles simply aren't up to the task in standard form.

The only real alternatives have been the heavy-duty US pickups - but many buyers don't want something that large. And while those trucks can tow massive trailers, a lot of them have relatively low payloads and aren't built for the punishing conditions of Australia's outback tracks.

Sure, you can get an aftermarket GVM upgrade, but many buyers don't want the added cost, complexity or uncertainty that comes with going down that path - especially the big fleet managers overseeing dozens, sometimes hundreds, of vehicles.