FULL REVIEW: 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak - Where tech and tough combine

The 2023 Ford Ranger is one of the brand’s best-selling vehicles in the Philippines, as it ranks high with the likes of the Toyota Hilux, Mitsubishi Strada, Isuzu D-MAX, and Nissan Navara.

It comes with multiple available variants that suit different use cases and niches that the pickup truck market offers.

The Wildtrak model is the top-of-line variant with all the bells and whistles and the off-roading capability. It's the model to get if you want to experience all the technology Ford offers and its most powerful turbo diesel engine available in the local lineup.

Disclaimer: Ford Philippines lent us a 2023 Ford Ranger WIldtrack for five days, complete with RFID cards and a fuel card, to fully experience its top-of-the-line pickup truck. Our reviews are ours alone, with no inputs from Ford Philippines.

Muscular exterior

As the next-generation iteration of the Ford T6 platform which has been around since 2011, the 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak has been designed to look much like its bigger brother, the Ford F-150. It has a broad front end with distinctive C-shaped LED headlights, which give the vehicle an imposing look from the front. 

It has wide fender arches on the side and smooth body lines to give it an athletic yet clean look.

It rides on 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped in 255/65 series all-terrain tires. These tires help absorb bumps and road imperfections, aiding in a smooth yet pliant ride.

The Ranger has clean lines at the back with side steps on the bed for easier access. It also has LED taillights and a Ranger logo embossed on the tailgate.

Thanks to that tailgate logo, you won’t mistake this for anything else. It also comes with a 4x4 badge on the left side of the tailgate to let others know you drive a 4x4 and to distinguish it from the 4x2 model. 

Its bed measures 1,564 mm in length, 1,584 mm in width, and 540 mm in height. While it's not the biggest in its class, it does offer quite a good amount of space for cargo. You also don’t need to worry about the bed, as this pickup truck already comes with a bed liner as standard.

Rounding up the rear of the vehicle is its tailgate; it has unique attachment points to which you can hook up clamps for work-related purposes such as holding wood. It also has two sockets available in the bed; one is 220 volts, while the other is 12 volts.

Utilitarian yet plush cabin

On the inside, the Ford Ranger has a utilitarian cabin with plenty of space to store loose items. These storage spaces are found on the dashboard, the upper glove box, the door sidings, and behind the second row of seating. 

Don’t let its functional interior fool you, as the pickup truck’s cabin comes with a great spread of soft-touch materials, yellow accent stitching, and a unique logo to bring home the point that you are driving a Wildtrak.

It also has a digital instrument cluster that works flawlessly and can even be customized to show you the information you want.

While its dashboard layout is excellent, with everything easily within reach and easy to operate, it's designed to be pretty high, closing the distance between it and the roof. 

This was a design choice for safety in the event of a rollover, but it can make the cabin a bit claustrophobic, primarily if you are used to much bigger windshields. 

Aside from this, the Ranger Wildtrak also gets dual-zone automatic climate control which lets the front passengers have their desired temperatures, and a massive infotainment system to round everything up. 

Decent handling and linear brakes

The Ranger Wildtrak drives and handles well for a pickup truck. There is a bit of understeer when you enter a corner in RWD, but once you enter 4H, the vehicle's dynamics changes, and the understeer disappears.

As for its brakes, the Ranger comes with a linear feel, which means that there isn’t much of an initial bite, but if you push down harder on the brake pedal, the pickup truck will stop. 

It is something to get used to when you first drive the vehicle, but it quickly becomes second nature. 

Off-road, the Ranger is a joy to drive thanks to its generous ground clearance and many cameras that give you a 360-degree and trail cam view.

The trail cam view lets you see what's in front of your pickup truck, thus eliminating its front blind spot. It's an excellent tool for off-road use as it can show you where your wheels are and where they are headed.

During our light off-road testing on a farm road in Nueva Ecija, a small pebble was able to get stuck between the rear left brake pad and the rotor.

It resulted in several kilometers of driving with a high-pitched squealing noise in the background. Thankfully the Ranger has excellent sound deadening, which muffled the noise while on the road. 

We had to raise the volume a bit to drown it out while returning to the house where we were staying. 

The small rock eventually found its way out of the brakes, and silence was restored to the pickup truck's ride.

Still a comfortable ride

One of the things that this next-generation Ford Ranger does is maintain a comfortable ride quality. While this is subjective what we can tell you is that its dampers are still as great as ever managing to keep the road imperfections at bay and isolating these vibrations away from the cabin.

While you will still feel larger bump and ruts there is a reassuring feeling that comes from the communicative suspension. You can easily feel what which wheel is doing and how much grip they have available at all times thanks to the technology that Ford offers you.

One thing to note, is that the suspension feels heavier compared to the previous generation, you can feel the heft of the components working when off-road. This generation of the Ford pickup truck doesn't feel quite as nimble as its previous iteration, but instead is more planted.

Powerful yet fuel-efficient

Under the hood, the 2023 Ford Ranger Wildtrak is powered by a 2.0-liter bi-turbo diesel engine that pushes out 210 PS and 500 Nm of torque. This immense power is sent through all four wheels via a 10-speed automatic transmission.

The power-to-weight for this pickup truck is considered “well-balanced.” Power comes linearly with just enough G-forces to plant you into comfortable leather seats gently.

With great power comes great responsibility as you will need a light foot to eke out as much fuel economy from the Ranger. 

Our testing revealed that the Wildtrak 4x4 could do between 8.5 to 11 km/l in the city and between 14 to 23 km/l on the highway at speeds of 60 to 100 km/h. Of course, your results may vary depending on your use case and route.

Top-of-the-line safety technology

The Wildtrak 4x4 is the top-of-line model for the Ranger. It comes with all the bells and whistles when it comes to safety:

• Adaptive cruise control
• Auto high beam
• Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
• Pre-collision assist
• Dynamic brake support
• Distance alert/ distance indication
• Forward collision warning system
• Evasive steer assist
• Post-impact braking
• Lane departure warning
• Lane-keeping system
• Blind spot information system
• Cross-traffic alert and braking,
• 360-degree camera
• Driver alert system.

These features benefited our road trip with the Ranger, especially on long stretches of highway. The Adaptive cruise control took much of the load off the driver while maintaining a safe following distance. The automatic high beams were also great as they avoided blinding oncoming traffic while giving us a great view of the road ahead.

One feature we have to highlight is its autonomous emergency braking; this saved us once from an accident where the vehicle in front of us suddenly stopped without its brake lights functioning. 

The AEB acted quickly and brought the Ranger to a smooth stop with plenty of room for the vehicle at the back to halt. 

These are great features that benefit Wildtrak greatly, and we agree that these should come standard with more models in the future.

Is the Ford Ranger Wildtrak 4x4 worth it?

The Ford Ranger Wildtrak 4x4 is a great pickup truck for what it offers at its price point of  ₱1,880,000. 

While it does sit within the same segment as other capable pickup trucks, it has the edge over its competition regarding the safety and technology it offers. 

You get the latest safety technology from Ford that makes the pickup truck easy to drive on long trips and maneuver in tight spaces thanks to the 360-degree camera. 

Thanks to the 2.0-liter bi-turbo diesel engine and the 10-speed automatic transmission, you also get great linear power on demand.

Its competitive pricing, however, puts it into contention with other pickup trucks that offer you similar features and similar power.

And to top it all, the Ford Ranger is still the most powerful in its class, so you get what you pay for, along with a five-year warranty and a three-year service plan if you choose to get it.

The Ford Ranger Wildtrak is a great pickup truck for work and play. It blends both aspects well into an easy-to-use package you can use daily.