Aaron Brzozowski
To prove to the world just how durable the Ford Ranger mid-size pickup is, the automaker brought the truck out to Thailand, to an area right near the country’s border with Myanmar, and put it through 24 uninterrupted hours of gruelling jungle testing.
The example of Ford Ranger used for testing looks to be one of the 3.2-liter Duratorq diesel variety, with a 6-speed automatic transmission. Through the course of these 24 hours of extreme torture, the Ford Ranger was made to carry an ever-increasing payload, starting with 500 kg of mass in the bed with the first driver-change, and growing every 4 hours until the truck finished with 1,000 kg of onboard cargo, and 5,000 kg of trailer mass hanging off the back.
Ambient temperatures during the Ford Ranger’s torture test peaked at over 40 degrees Celsius – or 104 degrees Farenheit.
By the end, the 3.2-liter diesel Ford Ranger T6 had covered nearly 940 km (584 miles) over unpaved, uncouth jungle paths, and still ran like a champ. The inline-five cylinder diesel engine produces some 197 horsepower and 347 lb-ft of torque – enough to grant the Ford Ranger T6 a best-in-class gross combined mass rating of 6,000 kg, and still shove its way through the Thai jungle without self-destructing.
Impressive stuff.
