The Wildtrak Aussie special edition comes with an attractive design and more off-road accessories.
The Ranger is Ford’s most successful 4×4 in Australia, having outsold the Toyota Hilux pick-up by quite a margin as of October 2020. This says a lot about the Ranger’s popularity in Australasia when buying a fun, practical, and reliable 4×4 pickup.
That being said, Ford continues to strengthen the Ranger line-up with the return of the Wildtrak X model for 2021. This year’s Wildtrak X improves on last year’s model with some cool exterior and interior touches and better tech features.
Notable changes include Ford’s unique Saber Orange accents on the sports bar and front grille. The wheel arches, front and rear bumper, mirror caps, roof rails, door, and tailgate handles are now available in Ebony Black finish, replacing the previous model’s Grey color scheme. The Wildtrak X model also now features 18-inch alloy wheels, with a 35mm offset for a wider track and wrapped in beefy off-road tires.
Other exterior features include a Lumen 20.5-inch LED light bar, blacked outside steps, a black front nudge bar, and Wildtrak X badging. However, this year’s Wildtrak X will no longer have the intake snorkel of the previous one. Why? Don’t know… I thought it looked kinda cool, though, so that’s unfortunate.
The 2021 Ranger Wildtrak X still maintains the Power Roller Shutter, adding 80mm of opening length and 20mm more ground clearance than before. Safety features include autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, hill descent control, adaptive cruise control, and active park assist, only to name a few.
Inside, the new Wildtrak X continues the Saber Orange theme with contrasting stitching and seat trimming. Technology features include an 8-inch infotainment touchscreen display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a backup camera, keyless entry, and a push-button start. There is also the support for the FordPass Connect app, allowing users to lock and unlock as well as start the engine remotely, and providing vital data such as fuel level and tire pressure directly on your phone.
The Wildtrak X is available in two powertrain options – a 3.2-liter turbocharged 5-cylinder diesel engine putting out 197 horsepower and 346 lb-ft of torque, and a 2-liter twin-turbo 4-cylinder diesel making 210 horsepower and 368 lb-ft of torque, good enough for a 7,716 lb towing capacity and a 2,078 lb payload capacity.
The 5-cylinder is offered with a 6-speed automatic, while the twin-turbocharged 4-banger is paired with a 10-speed auto gearbox, providing a fuel economy rating of 31.7 MPG. The Wildtrak X no longer offers the 6-speed manual that came with the 3.2-liter engine last year. That’s also quite unfortunate. But apparently, automatic is the way forward.
The Wildtrak X starts at $66,490 for the 5-cylinder engine and $67,990 for the twin-turbo 4-cylinder powertrain.
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