Next-Generation Ford Ranger Being Pushed To Its Limits In Testing
The next Ford Ranger is being put through its paces to earn its ‘Built Ford Tough’ badge.
The new Ford Ranger was teased earlier this month in full camouflage by Ford Thailand. Now, the company has shared a new video of the new Ranger being tested off-road, possibly in the United States.
It’s clear that Ford is keen to make sure the new Ranger earns its stripes.
In this video, we see the upcoming Ford Ranger take on mud, sand, dirt, snow, and gravel. It does hill climbs, conquers elephant steps, and more. It’s likely the next generation VW Amarok will be based on this vehicle.
Here’s the press release with more.
PRESS RELEASE
When it comes to testing the next-generation Ranger’s toughness and durability, Ford’s global team of development engineers doesn’t pull any punches. After all, they need to deliver a truly global pick-up that is up for the challenge across 180 markets.
Built from the ground up to be the toughest, smartest, most versatile and most capable Ranger ever, the truck is being subjected to more physical and virtual testing than ever before.
“Every part of the next-generation Ranger was tested to the same standards that we demand of every Ford vehicle.”
The next-gen Ford Ranger is being put through its paces across some of the toughest terrain around the world to, not only ensure it’s capable and customer ready, but that it also meets Ford’s stringent world-class quality, reliability and durability standards.
“It’s important that our customers are able to rely on Ranger to deliver years of dependable service,” said Willems. “So, we’ve gone to great lengths to subject next-gen Ranger to extreme tests – stressing it much more than a typical consumer would – to help ensure it is ready to face everything life throws at it.
So far, next-generation Ranger testing has covered around 10,000km of desert driving, the equivalent of 1,250,000km of customer driving, and the equivalent of 625,000km of rugged off-road durability testing at maximum load capacity, and testing is continuing around the world. But even before the first prototypes hit the road for testing, Ford’s engineers subjected next-gen Ranger to thousands of hours of computer simulations and thousands more of real-world simulations in labs, covering everything from aerodynamics to component and structure durability.
Ranger customers expect their vehicles to go above and beyond, so this rigorous testing mimics a variety of real-world scenarios customers might put their pick up through. And it takes place at Ford facilities across the world to ensure next-gen Ford Ranger meets the needs of customers in more than 180 markets.
Some of these tests are deemed too rigorous for humans to endure, so computer simulations and robotics are used to replace humans in cases like the extreme ‘squeak and rattle’ rig where the pickup’s suspension and whole body is exposed to punishing test cycles that are repeated 24/7.
“Our job as engineers is to translate the customer experience insights into a clear product definition brief for the engineering group, which becomes the absolute reference for engineers. This is particularly important for the Ranger, given we are developing it to be sold across the globe,” Willems concluded.
About the Author
Subhash Nair Written work on dsf.my. @subhashtag on instagram. Autophiles Malaysia on Youtube.
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