Blog Posts
Carbon Fiber Ford Ranger Rally Truck Is Better Than A Raptor
Mar 7, 2022
by Michael Butler Motorsport / 1 Comment
This 'old' Ranger even gets new Raptor power outputs.
Whenever Ford builds a new truck, the world sits up and takes notice. The Ford Ranger is one of the manufacturing giant's most popular products, and it sells tens of thousands of these midsize trucks each month in the US, Australia, South America, and South Africa. With the all-new Ranger and Ranger Raptor coming to the US in 2023, we're getting pretty excited about the prospect of getting behind the wheel of this VW Amarok fighter, and now Ford has just dropped this bomb: the new T1+ Ranger rally car which is set to take part in the grueling South African Rally Championship.
The new Ranger rally truck will participate in a brand new class called T1+ and besides being packed with all the coolest Ford performance goodies, it also looks like something out of an upcoming Batman movie.
Last year saw the newly-introduced EcoBoost V6-powered FIA-class Ford Ranger claim two wins and a second place overall, and the new T1+ Ranger has seen significant revisions and upgrades for the new season. The new racing truck has been developed and built by Neil Woolridge Motorsport and conforms to the new T1+ regulations introduced for the 2022 Dakar Rally. It's not based on the all-new Ranger, however, but the previous-gen one.
New regulation changes mean that the minimum weight of cars racing in the T1+ class is now set at 4,409 lbs and power levels from the V6 EcoBoost engine remain unchanged at 402 horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque - figures that closely match those of the Bronco Raptor and new-gen Ranger Raptor. The top speed has unfortunately been reduced from 112 mph to 106 mph.
The car will be driven by Lance Woolridge, Elvéne Vonk, Gareth Woolridge, and Boyd Dreyer for the 2022 SA Rally-Raid season. The new truck is nearly 12 inches wider than a standard Ranger, which has necessitated a complete suspension redesign with greater wheel travel (13.8 inches). 37-inch tires on 17-inch wheels house larger brakes too. The body and cabin are both constructed from woven carbon fiber, adding rigidity, reducing weight, and making it look completely badass.
"The new T1+ Ranger is a significant change from last year's car, but it builds on what was a very successful and competitive platform that took us to two race wins, three podiums and a championship fight that went right down to the wire," says Neil Woolridge team principal of the NWM Ford Castrol Team. "We're starting an intensive test schedule on the T1+ cars next week with BOS Suspension so we can fine-tune the setup to give us maximum performance. The team can't wait to start racing this year."
