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Private Fleet Car Review: 2015 Ford Ranger Wildtrak
Ford‘s big and (in 4wd configuration) off road capable ute, the Ranger, comes in many forms. There’s two doors, four doors, cab chassis, trayback style, petrol diesel, maual and auto. It’s been a big success and has spawned the Everest SUV. A Wheel Thing takes on an old favourite, (2012 Ford Ranger Wildtrak) the Wildtrak 3.2L diesel with six speed auto.
There’s plenty of grunt from the five cylinder engine, with a whopping 470 Nm of torque between 1750 and 2500 rpm. There’s 280 torques already on tap at just over 1000 rpm. Peak power, 147 kW, arrives at 3000, meaning that it’s a low stress engine at the best of times. The easy natured auto slurs its way through the ratios without fuss and without noticeable changes, even when pushed hard.
As the dash features two electronic screens either side of the analogue speedo, you have a choice of information available, including a digital tacho, which is generally the only time you’ll see something indicate a gear change. There’s an audible change, but under light acceleration barely noticeable. Economy? Ford quotes 9.0L/100 kilometres for the combined cycle.
Staying with the utalitarian idealism of the Ranger, there’s no paddle shifts to complement the sports shift mode. There’s also no push button Start/Stop, no window blinds and no rear aircon vents from the centre console. A sunroof is conspicuous by its absence…USB and Auxiliary ports are located in a low set compartment ahead of the gear selector but none in the console storage locker.
There are two 12V sockets in the front, one in the rear and a 230V socket as well, handy for a car fridge or other eletrical items whilst on the go. Glovebox wise, it’s big, deep, with enough room to hold a laptop. The ergonomics of the dash, where the aircon controls are (set low down well out of a safe eyeline), initially seemed out of whack, until you realise that there’s the touchscreen holding more controls.
Fan speed, temperature, seat heating, dual or single zone, they’re all controled from here, as are audio, phone and navigation, including real time traffic alerts. There’s even the ability to partner a smartphone to create a local wifi hotspot. There’s Ford’s Sync system, which allows Bluetooth music streaming and voice activation for controls. Downside? The screen is a fingerprint magnet.
The aforementioned screens give you a list of Navigation, Entertainment on the left and a range of stylish looks such as a rotary dial for the tacho, engine temperature, distance to empty, trip metre, consumption etc on the right. The screens are in full colour but the plastic reflects light at certain angles, making them hard to read.
The interior is a decent place, with the Wildtrak logo on display in the seat’s cloth, with the trim a somewhat lairy orange hue compared to the sea grey and charcoal plastics, with orange stitching on the dash. 
Supportive, confortable, easily adjustable in the front (Wildtrak is the only Ranger variant to get electric seating) and a reasonable amount of legroom and shoulder room in the rear (902 mm, 1430 mm), they suit the Ranger’s driving characteristics nicely.
On tarmac it’s a touch uncomfortable in its sponginess. High sidewall Bridgestone Dueller tyres at the recommended 32 PSI contributed to this, with an increase to 36 dialling out some of the bounce. 
Although ostensibly a “tradie’s ute” it’s also a superb off roader. Yup, there’s a proper transfer case in this big lummox, with the ability to take that 470 torques and twist the the near 2.3 tonne behemoth along a gravel or dirt or muddy or stone road (or a combination thereof) without blinking. Yes, it is that good for a “tradie’s ute”.
The lightweight yet talkative steering is ideal for off roading; a gentle grip on the wheel, enough to stop or slide as required and the Wildtrak tells you where the front is and what the chunky rubber is doing. In 4WD high range, available “on the fly” via a rotary dial, along with a lockable rear diff (there’s hill descent control to play with as well), the Wildtrak will crawl through and or over most obstacles the average four wheel driver will see. The tiller moves of its own accord as the front seeks out the ideal path, allowing the driver to get a real sense of the terrain as it works back and forth.
She’s a big ‘un, the Ranger, with a total length of 5355 mm. It towers over most, at 1848 mm, and takes up some acreage on the road at 2163 mm wide (including mirrors) with the stability on road helped alomg with a massive 3120 mm wheelbase. There’s 18 x 8 alloys, with 265 width tyres to roll on.
Back to the tarmac; the steering response, as mentioned, is fantastic, as is the grip level from the tyres. Sure, there’s squealing at times but at no time is there an indication of lack of adhesion. The suspension is, by neccessity, a long travel setup, bolted to a ladder chassis, to give the driver room to move off road (800 mm wading, 29 degree approach and 21 degree departure angle tickle your fancy?) with a 237 mm ride height. Run the Wildtrak hard into a series of dips and rises on a freeway and it will settle nicely, quickly, effectively. There’s no ongoing wallowing or pogoing, but the nose will dip under braking. And those brakes…
Press the pedal and….nothing. There’s something close to an inch of travel before any bite is felt and before there’s any sense of retardation. The pucker factor is high with this one; city traffic became an exercise in forward planning, needing to consider the lack of stoppage of forward motion when dealing with those that found a sudden sideways movement into the two centimetres of space ahead an urgency or coming to traffic lights whilst the demonic gleam from the eyes of the driver behind shone bright in the rear vision mirror. Better brake feel is needed in the Ranger Wildtrak, given its ability to carry up to 1450 kilos in the plastic lined tray.
Those in front, though, would have their mirrors full of the redesigned front end. The slim line headlights replace the squarish, broader design, the American influence stands out with the hexagonal grille but to see the Ranger from any other angle would neccessitate a head scratch and a good think about what’s new. In profile and from the rear, only an “anorak” would be able to pint out the differences between the 2015 and 2013 Ranger Wildtrack. Colour wise, the test car came clad in a bright, don’t lose it in the carpark, Pride Orange.
There’s the same bluff rear end, same tail lights, same pull the strap aluminuim hard cover for the tray, with the rear lights still globe lit, not LED. But if Sir wishes to tow, there’s now 3.5 tonnes Sir can have tag along with trailer sway mitigation built in. The rear tray does, however, now gets downlights in the rollbar to assist with night work.
For peace of mind, there’s Ford’s 3 year/100,000 kilometre warranty with service intervals of 15,000 k’s or 12 months. Get a scratch or two and there’s a five year perforation warranty. Something awry happen? You’ll also get a 12 month roadside assist package via your local auto club.
Safety levels are amped to eleven; you’ve got adaptive cruise contyrol, forward collision alert, parking sensors front and rear plus reverse camera, lane keeping alert, blind spot alerts, auto headlights and rain sensing wipers, roll over mitigation, emergency brake assist, hill launch assist, plus the usual suite of airbags and electronic driver aids.
The Wrap.
There’s a more purposeful look at the front end but the rear needs a tickle up. Even the front guard inserts are the same as the previous model. Interior ergonomics are ok but if you’re old school and like using buttons and not a touchscreen, then the location of the aircon controls aren’t ideal.
Ride quality is fine but the brakes arent. Thinking twoing and payload and needing to push the brakes hard to get a reaction. There’s heaps of room though, interior comfort, enough tech to play with but for A Wheel Thing it’s the off road ability, that probably will be barely though about by most, that sells the Ranger Wildtrak.
That’s an ask though, as at the time of writing there’s a near as dammit $63K price being asked for the Wildtrak. 2015 Ford Ranger range will help you decide.
For A Wheel Thing TV: A Wheel Thing TV 2015 Ford Ranger Wildtrak
Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Subaru WRX Premium CVT
To get an idea of the WRX, click here: https://awheelthing.wordpress.com/2016/01/28/car-review-2015-subaru-wrx-manual/ for a more indepth view of Subaru’s 2016 WRX, in manual, entry level, form.
This will be a brief review of the CVT equipped as there’s really just a few notable differences between the basic manual and Premium CVT tested. As both transmissions are available in both models, we’ll start with the CVT (engines are the same).
The CVT is programmed with eight distinct shift points, operated by the gear selector or paddleshifts on the steering column. If left alone, it works fine and hand in hand with the turbo four’s performance, with that shove in the back coming in at 2500 revs launching the car forward at a stratospheric rate. Subaru’s official 0-100 kmh time is 6.3 seconds, just 0.3 seconds slower than the manual. Consumption of 95 RON gogo juice was rated at 8.6L/100 km combined, 11.9L/100km city and 6.7L/100 km highway.
Using the manual change, there’s a sense of real urgency you don’t get with the self driven option, with response to the gear change and forward motion being much, much more rapid. In that peak torque rev range, it’s a tractable, flexible, almost think and it’s done, car to drive.
From Reverse to Drive, there’s the usual wait for the gearbox’s internals to decide what it’s going to do, a downside of the way a CVT works.
Externally the two are the same, down to the same sized wheel/tyre combo, lip spoiler at the rear and flared, meaty, guards. Inside, there’s leather look, perforated but non heated/ventilated seats (power operated for the driver), a sunroof, the bigger touchscreen for the navitainment systen and the cruise control safety system, EyeSight. It’s a comfortable office to be in and leaves a driver relatively fresh after an extended run.
The dash dials in the Premium auto are the same, there’s two USB ports in the front end of the centre console, instead of one, no rear aircon vents, no memory seating but there is Blind Spot monitoring, Pandora audio streaming, the surprisingly lacklustre Harman Kardon audio, auto dimming rear vision mirror, Lane Change Assist, Smart Key start and the vastly handy left hand side rear vision camera for reversing.
Ride wise, the car provided seemed to have a softer rear end than the manual, to the point it hit the bumpstops on the larger speed control bumps found locally. This, at the speed appropriate for these things, which raised the question of why this car bottomed out but the manual didn’t. Apart from that oddity, handling, braking etc were identical.
The Wrap.
The auto makes sense around town for those that dislike being involved in driving a car, but it’s also a very good highway bruiser. A Wheel Thing saw a best consumption figure of 8.8L/100km in mainly urban highway, not country highway driving. Naturally, there’s the same warranty, service and safety ratings the manual gets, so depending on your preference to drive with two or three feet, and if the extra touches the Premium does get tickles you, then spend the extra coin (pricing can be found at the Subaru website). Either way, that two litre engine is a ripper and that’s the heart of the WRX legend.
Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Subaru WRX Manual
Take a two litre capacity petrol engine, use your entry level seda, whack on a hairdryer, do a spot of suspension work and find the largest hole in the bonnet that’s legal, go rallying and boom! you have one immediately immensely popular car. That’s what Subaru did in the 1990s and thus was born the WRX.
Fast forward to 2016 and A Wheel Thing resamples the legend, with the entry level model WRX, complete with six speed manual, edgy styling, and fire engine “Pure Red” paint, with a family trip to NSW’s south coast via the nation’s capital.
It’s the now familiar two litre boxer engine, sans the firecracker red paint on the intake system the STi receives but with a plastic shroud that the STi doesn’t get. The selling point is the torque, of which more will be discussed soon….but it’s the almost mandatory 350 torques, from 2400 to 5200 rpm. That mesa of oomph was so very handy in the drive…peak power comes in just after the torque gently rolls off, with 197 kilowatts being spun out at 5600 revs. Transmission in the car, the “entry”model, was a six speed manual.
The old saying “Bad news travels fast” was apt with this particular car. Although built in mid 2015, it had the gear shift feel of a ten year old vehicle. It lacked the precise, machined, movement of the STi, with no real weight and a somewhat notchy feel into the gate. A fair explanation would be to say the springs that normally tension a manual gear shift’s lever had none. Tension, that is.
The gate is also wider than that found in the STi, it felt, so any “sporting changes” were initially up to more luck than design. Yet, once some time had been spent with the WRX, familiarity with the movement’s foibles made such things closer to instinctive than expected. The clutch is suitably weighty, without excessive heaviness, and the pickup point does allow for smooth changes, with no jerkiness.
Road noise on coarse chip surfaces was intrusive, with a constant, overbearing, roar into the cabin, making normal level conversation almost impossible and requiring the single CD audio system to be wound up. Around town that may not be too much of an issue but on a long country drive, with a couple of hundred kilometres worth of it, it’s wearisome.
What isn’t wearisome is the WRX’s ability to reel in traffic on the long straight roads between Canberra and the coast. That 350 Newton metres of torque, right where the rev range is at highway speeds and covering 3000 revs, imbues the WRX with an effortless ability to pass, quickly and safely, slower traffic. A simple flex of the right foot has the revs rise, the speedo swinging round and the cars blurred into insignificance. Safely.
The brakes are standard, but there’s no issue with their ability. They haul the WRX (complete with four passengers and luggage) up gently, smoothly, firmly, appropriately, depending on pedal pressure. On long downhill curves, a gentle squeeze had the red rocket generating a slow retardation, gently tugging the nose into line. Under heavy braking the WRX was polite in its straightness, with no discernible deviation left or right.
Dive and squat was there, but only just, thanks to the sports suspension that is still taut but not quite as much so as the STi. There’s still a considerable measure of crash and bumpthump, as you’d expect, however the upside is the lack of float on some very undulating roads. It’s a well tied down car, with a rise and fall and that’s it, no continued motion. On some flat (and noisy) highway sections, the suspension (MacPherson struts and wishbones) almost had the WRX feeling as if it was skidding across the top of ruts, yet without losing grip from the 245/40/18 Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres, on ten spoke alloys.
It’s a fantastic highway driver, with precise steering and the ability to follow the line the driver sees ahead on the road. Going down Brown Mountain, a ten kilometre descending stretch of exceptionally tight turns, chicanes and a helluva view across the Bega Valley, rarely is fourth gear used as the tiller is tipped rapidly left and right and the car responds almost as if the front is hard wired to your hands. A dab on the brakes, the road’s centreline to the right, and the front right wheel is almost glued to it.
There’s cruise control as standard, to boot, which was engaged on the longer and straighter sections. Highway speeds have the engine ticking over at around 2500 rpm, hence that slingshot accelaration on overtaining. Fuel economy ended up with a best of 7.6L/100 km using the specified 98 RON unleaded, a little ways off Subaru’s claimed 7.1L/100 km for the highway…bearing in mind the car WAS loaded with four people and a sizeable cargo.
As the provided car was the entry level model of a two model range, there were a few things missing, such as Auto headlights and heated seating. Although the seats, as comfortable as they were and allowing for the manual, not electric adjustment, were cloth covered, there was no breathing, leaving the passengers sweaty. Given the workload a driver can be under, ventilation for the seats should be mandatory.
There’s also only one USB slot,next to the 3.5 mm auxiliary point, in the front, an odd equipment choice given even the STi gets two and the Impreza S gets four. Given the ideal family attitude the WRX has, it’s an oversight.
Interior trim is subdued, for the most part, with splashes of alloy look plastic and alloy sports pedals, red lighting for the dash’s sports look dials, a fold out cupholder where the STi has rear passenger air vents, fingerprint attracting piano black plastic around the touchscreen (which is sans satnav) and the same dullish looking plastic trim on the upper dash and doors. There’s also the split info screens top centre which offers the usual Subaru info such as fuel consumption, settings (when the car is stationary) and more. 
The exterior is a little less extroverted than the STi, lacking the painted Brembo brake callipers and the massive rear deck lid wing, instead being garnished with a lip spoiler. The body does get the pumped out body panels, bonnet scoop and LED tail lights the STi has plus the more assertive looking eagle eye headlight design over the front bumper. Access to the 440L boot is, oddly, only available via the keyfob, a button inside or by dropping the 60/40 split fold seats…yep, no button on the boot lid itself. Again, an oversight that makes no sense.
Safety wise, there’s the usual swag of driver aids, including one that is somewhat unheralded, Hill Start Assist, which came in mightily handy in the hillier parts of the drive. Essentially it’s a braking system that holds the brakes for a moment or so after engaging first gear, allowing the driver to move forward without (hopefully) rolling backwards. However, Subaru’s forward collision alert system, EyeSight, is not here, being available in the Premium model only, as are the satnav and Harman Kardon audio.
A Wheel Thing ventured from the lower Blue Mountains to Bega, via Canberra. Including some running around, total distance covered over four days was 1187 kilometres, using just a tank and a half. The mix of long roads, sweeping curves and that on tap torque is what contributed to that 7.6L/100, which came late on the fourth day after effectively refusing to move from 7.8. 
There’s room for four, comfortably, thanks to the 4595 x 1795 x 1475 mm dimensions and 2650 mm wheelbase; a carpeted boot (460 litres) which didn’t struggle to hold a family’s wares and the level of tech on the non Premium model is enough for most. Thankfully, both can be chosen with either manual or the CVT, a gearbox that works far better with the WRX’s engine than the standard and somewhat lacking in character 2.0L engine in the Impreza.
Warranty wise, a buyer gets the three years/unlimited kilometre package plus Subaru’s crash assistance service, which you hope will not be needed. What the buyer does get is one helluva car. There’s grunt, performance, handling, style and verve, from the WRX and it’s a more than able addition to the legend.
As always, a big thanks to Subaru Australia for their support. For info, click here: Subaru WRX information
Private Fleet Car Review: 2015 Subaru Impreza WRX STi Premium
It’s an icon, a brawny and chest beating icon. A Wheel Thing revisits the Subaru WRX STi, with a “proper” (read as manual) gearbox and that velcro/superglue/limpet grip.
Subaru says its all wheel drive system is “all for the driver” and that’s evident in the way the WRX STi is set up. There’s absolutely no doubt its all paw grip is part of why it’s in the Legends corner of cars you must drive, but there’s more to it than simply getting each wheel driven. There’s 221 kW at over 6000 revs from the 2.5L boxer four, but, more importantly, 407 Nm at 4000, with a noticeable rocket launch to the back, thanks to 330Nm suddenly on tap at 2500 rpm. That’s enough to see one hundred kilometres per hour in 4.9 seconds.
There’s a cost at the bowser if you choose to explore the outmost limits of this beast. Urban consumption of the specified 98 RON go juice is quoted as being 14.2L per 100 kilometres, with the tank holding just 60 litres. That’s nudging just 400 kilometres in a city environment. Otherwise, you’ve 10.4 and 8.4 litres per hundred on the combined and highway cycles to play with. A Wheel Thing, in predominantly urban traffic, struggled to see anything below 11.0L/100…
But sometimes you have to take the not so good with the utterly superb; there’s a wonderfully close gated and short throw gear lever, a family friendly clutch that doesn’t ask the driver to have a left calf muscle the size of a tree, the adjustable centre differential which proportions drive fore and aft and the Active Torque Vectoring System (ATVS) which applies braking automatically to each corner to centre the car’s attitude on road.
The good kind of insanity is helped along by a super responsive steering rack; twitch and you turn. There’s no dead spot, no numbness, instead there’s real communication and a sense of weight, spoken to the driver via a leather clad tiller, with a nice diameter and heft,plus a lock to lock of just over two and a half turns.
Coming into a corner, you feel the weight in the steering increase and the Driver Controlled Centre Differential (DCCD) working to apportion drive…feather the throttle and downshift….then plant the foot. There’s the thrum, the throb of the flat four from the front and resonating out through the quad tip exhausts…bang, another gear, bang, and another as you ratchet through the ratios, the lever falling easily to hand as you snicker to yourself, grinning inanely. A slight slip of the clutch also makes getting away a smoother proposition.
It’s an exercise in synchronicity, man and machine working as one, the body subconciously snicking each gear as the left leg rises and falls in time with the engine revs. There’s grip aplenty as you haul into a corner, the sports seats snug against your torso as the G forces increase, the Dunlop 245/40 rubber getting intimate with the tarmac as the 18 inch gunmetal alloys glint in the summer sun.
Braking force is full of confidence; there’s four pot Brembo (painted in STi black) calipers up front working in tandem with the two pot Brembos at the rear, with no fade to speak off and a solid, progressive reeling in of the STi’s forward motion. 
On a tight road near Blackheath, on the western fringe of the Blue Mountains range, a suddenly looming series of ninety degree turns were easily despatched with a firm yet unhurried prod of the brake. Lateral grip, asks Sir? Sir will find plenty, thank you kindly.
The ride is firm, hard, sometimes jiggly yet rarely teeth rattling. With a local road A Wheel Thing’s suspension tester, thanks to the non-needed speedhumps big enough to slow a rhino in situ, there’s a very firm bump/thump at lower speeds and at road legal speeds, the same yet less intrusive. The handling is helped by the compact size; the STi weighs just 1525 kilograms (kerb weight) and sits on a 2650 mm wheelbase, inside a total length of just 4595 mm.
The get up and go is matched by the assertive look (the test car was coated in shimmering Pearl White); flared guards, the tuning fork alloys, the sharp shark like snout with slimline air intake in the bonnet, the tidy looking headlight cluster and that wing….
…..inside, the bare bones look of the Impreza gets somewhat of a tickle up, with a carbon fibre look inlay surrounding the gear lever, red piping in the leather inserts for the doors, ventilated seat squab material (although the seats aren’t cooled, an oversight for the Aussie market) with the seats getting red highlighting and there is, of course, a sunroof. Oh, add in two front mounted USB ports… Naturally, there’s also boot access via the 60/40 folding rear seats.
Centrepieces of the console are the centre diff selector and drive selector buttons. A Wheel Thing found that for a better feeling balance for tight cornering, a somewhat more rear driven choice made powering out (and slow entry) easier to live with. The drive slector offers a choice of three, Intelligent, Sports and Sports Sharp, which made lower rev driving around town just that much more tolerable, by seeming to increase torque, reducing the stuttering otherwise felt.
Up the rev range and Sports Sharp was indeed, with a snappier response and a more noticeable pull from the 3000 rpm point. Both the diff and drive choices were made visible on the driver’s centre dash display, itself an operation in style, with sharp looking lettering and design highlights.
Audio wise, the Starlink navitainment touchscreen system was linked to a Harmon Kardon setup which was surprising in its lacklustre sound and performance, lacking depth, separation and range.
Safety wise, it’s fully loaded with nearly all of the expected passive and active electronics and a full suite of airbags, as there’s a reverse camera, left hand side under mirror camera but no parking sensors.
There’s Blind Spot Monitoring on board, Lane Change Assist and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. Hidden in a small box, directly ahead of the rear vision mirror’s stalk, is Subaru’s much vaunted forward looking radar system, looking for all the world like an old style View Masta…
The Wrap.
“Economy” aside, A Wheel Thing has declared the STi to be a car that would be welcomed with open arms to the garage on a permanent basis. There’s room enough for four, a boot big enough for shopping every week (460L), enough “boy’s toys” to play with daily, that scintilating performance and the stove hot presence. Lob in the three year/unlimited kilometre warranty and the service structure Subaru has, it makes the $55K pricing easier to swallow. There’s also the fact that when the car was launched in 2014, it was set at $49990, a full ten thousand under the car it was taking over from.
For details, go here: http://www.subaru.com.au/wrx-and-wrx-sti
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