Long-term update: why the Ford Ranger Wildtrak Supercab bakkie excels on roads less travelled

While reviewing the Ford Wildtrak Supercab, the question most people asked me is: “Can you sit in the back?”

The short answer is: “No, and it should not be used as such.” 

That said, if it is raining or cold or driven by need, I would sit in the back, but it is squashed and uncomfortable. And if you are just a bit taller than I am (1,74m), then it will be far too tight with limited leg room.

It was certainly not suited for the road trip we were venturing out on.

There are no seats, no backrest and no safety belts. It is a safe, dust-free and spacious space to pack and store goods in, with two secure compartments, one of them housing the vehicle’s jack equipment and safety triangle. 

We packed our luggage rather tightly, but a few securing points would be a good addition to avoid anything from potentially flying around the cabin.

The back part of the Supercab is accessed via two “suicide doors”, where the door is hinged at the rear of the vehicle rather than the front. 

Originally used on horse-drawn carriages, they were widely used in the mid-twentieth century.  Seatbelts were not a major feature then, and if the rear-hinged door opened while in motion, the laws of physics could force the door open.

The person would have to lean out and could easily fall out and into traffic, hence the name - “suicide doors”. 

The back doors are locked in place by their own latches, and with the front doors closed, they will not be flying open. The windows are a very dark tint, making it difficult for unwanted prying eyes to see into the area behind the seats.

In summary, this Ford Ranger Wildtrak is not a Double Cab, and it is not a Single Cab. It is a “Supercab” or, as some like to describe it, an extended cab. The shorter cabin means more loadspace in the load bay.

Exterior and interior

The exterior is bold, rugged and tough looking. It is a high ride with ample ground clearance accentuated by the 18-inch Good Year Wrangler All Terrain tyres. 

At night, as you unlock the vehicle the lights come on as you approach the vehicle, this includes ‘welcoming’ side lights situated under the mirrors. Cameras are situated in the front, rear and sides and you can set up customised views on the integrated LED touchscreen. 

Enter the cabin and it transforms to something more reminiscent of a luxury sedan. 

The seats are very comfortable and electrically controlled; moving backwards and forwards, up and down, tilting for more support while a third lever can be adjusted for added lumber support – great for long drives. 

The onboard warning system dashboard display seems to warn you quite frequently that you need to rest – even suggesting a coffee break.

Exterior noise is minimal. The sound system is great, and I was asked (in jest I am sure) whether we would be able to open the doors and have a party next to the dam? My answer (not in jest) was a resounding “yes”.

We played the radio, music off a USB stick. It has both A and C-type ports in the front centre console, and the vehicle is enabled for both Apple and Android connectivity. 

The centre compartment between the seats has a power port (the cigarette lighter type), and the lid has a gap for the cables to easily pass through. (Why more car manufacturers have not thought of this a long time ago has always astounded me, especially as they have plugs in these compartments and cables will pass through to the interior of the cabin.) 

More USB ports are behind the centre compartment that includes a 240V AC plug. There are also two power outlets in the load area, which are conveniently lit with two lights, one on each side. In addition to this, the Wildtrak is fitted with a charging pad, low down in the centre console. 

All five people that I took for a ride were complimenting the interior. I concur with their sentiments. It is fitted with six airbags – we do not know this from experience (thank goodness), but saw it in the brochure and verified the quantity with a Ford expert via the WhatsApp chat app.

At one point, I had not shifted the gear lever into “park”, and as I shut down the engine, it automatically moved from drive, through neutral, reverse and into park. Neat!

Ford Pass app

I have never needed to start a vehicle remotely or schedule a time for it to be started. 

My first introduction to having an app for a vehicle was recently with my daughter’s new electric car: we could see the battery level, rate of charge, if the vehicle is being worked on and a slew of other information. These features were the domain of science fiction and "Bond" movies – until now.

I had downloaded the Ford Pass app before collecting the vehicle and enabled it immediately, so that I could, inter-alia, start it remotely - once to cool the cabin before we got to it (having stood in the sun) and the second time on a very cold morning, so that the cabin was warm and snug as we got in.

I also used it to see the tyre pressure, the location of the vehicle, which I did wherever we stopped, the fuel level, at 31%, giving us 272km to empty and the oil level.

There are a number of other things that can also be done via the app, but we did not use or require any of them during this test drive.

The roads less travelled

With all of the above checked and in place, we got on with our main mission when test driving a vehicle of this ilk - to get off the paved roads as soon as possible. 

We were on the N3 and later the ‘old road’ to KZN – where we sadly encountered a lot of potholes and damaged road surface, on the latter, which required a lot of slowing down, swerving and dodging. 

The fuel consumption here showed 9.1l/100km, there and upon our return. This was done in 2H, in Eco-mode with adaptive cruise control and mostly at 120km/h.

Just after Vrede, after stocking up on biltong, we took a left and explored the roads less travelled.

On the other side of the R34, we headed for Mullerspass along the border of the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, along dirt roads again. Later in the day, we left the N11 to go high up into the hills seeking more 4x4 territory. 

On these stretches, there was a mix of paved and off-road surfaces. We did the indicated speed (100 km/h) on the paved sections and also encountered numerous stop-and-go sections. 

We did a slower, meandering speed in 4H along the unpaved roads, dirt tracks and passes. It was here that the fuel consumption of the 2,285kg vehicle went down to 8,6l/100km.

4H was used along roads that included long straight dirt road stretches, S-bends, stony and rocky surfaces, switchbacks, rather hectic ruts, corrugated and badly eroded sections from the heavy rains in summer and into autumn, dry caked mud sections showing where other vehicles had driven, sandy sections, some wet and muddy sections in very low lying marshy areas and a lot of dust.

Only on one section did we briefly switch to 4L as we headed down a very steep, rutted and uneven section. On a straight section, we sped up a bit and then hit the brakes hard; the vehicle came to a stop in a straight line.

The load bay was fitted with a sliding roller shutter door that can be locked. But dust has a cunning and sly way of making its way into just about anywhere, and this was no exception. 

We only had one food box in the back, and we had luckily put it into a box that seals, which we tied into place using some of the C-clamps placed in the load bay. Incidentally, you can now load a standard-sized “Euro” pallet (1,200mm x 800mm) in the back.

All too soon, our time with the Ford Wildtrak Supercab was over, and we were taking the vehicle back.

Most of it was done along an extremely busy highway and using adaptive cruise control. As you approach slower traffic, it slows down until you can speed up again.

Approaching a traffic light, it slowed down and came to a stop, without any intervention from me, but I nonetheless had my foot hovering above the brake to be applied hastily if needed.

We look forward to taking it out again to use some more of the features in this vehicle.