I happened to meet several colleagues halfway through a 900-mile round trip in the Ranger, and it's fair to say that the principal - in some cases the only - topic of conversation was the fact that I had committed myself to driving so far in such an unlikely vehicle.I was able to reply that if there was one thing I had learned from my late father, it was never to do anything in a quick and easy manner when there was a complicated and time-consuming alternative. Those of them who had known the old fellow understood immediately.But my defence was more robust than that. To the journalists who would not drive a Ranger to the end of the street if they could possibly help it, I was able to explain that this recently revised model is far better on a long motorway journey than they might imagine. Than I imagined too, quite frankly.As our launch report explains, there are more different kinds of Ranger than you can shake at a stick, and one of the defining characteristics of the Wildtrak tested here is that it's the one nobody will want to buy. Or not many people, at least. But manufacturers like to give journalists their most expensive and highly-equipped models to sample, so that's the one we're dealing with. Most of the following comments will apply to most other versions, except where stated.In fact, let's start with some of the exceptions. The Wildtrak is unusual among Rangers in that it uses a 154bhp three-litre turbo diesel engine rather than the more common 141bhp 2.5. Fuel economy and CO2 emissions are not dreadfully compromised by this, but I still don't really see the point of the 3.0 because it doesn't provide a great deal more straightline performance, and even if it did you probably wouldn't want that.That thought comes to mind because I recently spoke to a friend who has a Nissan pickup from the mid-1990s. She reports that it's all too easy to get the tail swinging out with the mildest application of the accelerator unless she's towing a horsebox or carrying a great deal of this and that in the load compartment. An unladen Ranger (and indeed most modern pickups, including Nissans of course) doesn't do that except under considerable provocation, but I do get the feeling that one with significantly more power than this probably would.The Wildtrak is also distinctive in that it has privacy glass, an auxiliary music connection, illuminated scuff plates, body cladding, sports pedals and larger than standard 18" wheels included in the price. The only point of issue here is that the larger wheels are fitted with lower-profile tyres, and as I wrote in the launch report this has a very significant negative effect on the ride quality. It would be ridiculous to assume that a pickup ought to ride especially well, but the cheaper models do so better than this one.On the other hand, I would have to add that the effect isn't especially obvious unless you drive two or more Rangers on the same day. As I was undertaking my vast odyssey over the UK motorway network I was aware that a lesser model would be slightly more comfortable to drive, but I couldn't really muster up much criticism of the Wildtrak in that respect.Despite all this, motorway driving is clearly not what the Ranger was designed for, and nor really was family transport, though in the last ten years pickups have increasingly been used for that. My main concern about this - and it applies not only to the Ford but to its rivals as well - is that these things are nothing like as safe in a crash as a conventional modern car would be.The Ranger performed horribly, by current standards, in the pre-2009 Euro NCAP tests (or at least its predecessor did, and there have been no changes which would make a difference to the result) and was notably inferior to both the Mitsubishi L200 and the Nissan Navara, though not as appalling as the Isuzu Rodeo.Less depressingly, the Ranger has a very useful towing capacity of 3000kg with a braked trailer, which is as good as the Rodeo and better than the L200 and Navara, and its off-road ability is most praiseworthy. Further details on that can be found in the launch report, but I'll say here that if you need to traverse some seriously uncivilised tracks, the Ranger will do so for you in an admirably calm and confident manner.
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