By: Andre Kruse

I first read about the Ford Ranger Tremor in these pages back in March 2023, and since then, I have been wanting to get behind the wheel of the New Ford Ranger Tremor and recently it came to fruition.

I told quite a few people that I will be “road testing” the Tremor - the majority asked where it fits into the range. Not 100% sure, I yielded to our local Ford dealership for the information. Starting with the entry level model, it is XL, XLT, Tremor, Wildtrak, Wildtrak X, Platinum (also new to SA) and then the Raptor - at the top end.

While standing talking about the Tremor in Conquer Grey finish, someone remarked: “it sure announces its presence”. It has the Tremor decals on the sides towards the back, tailgate and embossed onto the interior. The commanding presence is enhanced by the aluminium side steps, to assist you getting up and into the vehicle.

The rims are 17-inch black alloy and tyres are General Grabber 265/70 R17 AT3 tyres (with a full sized spare wheel). Its presence is finished off with the demanding front end grille- in black, an impressive ground clearance and it’s sheer height.

As you climb into the cabin of the ‘bakkie’, you realise - gone are the days of the long bench seat, (I am always reminded of seeing a bakkie, from behind, where the guy is driving and his girlfriend is sitting right next to him), a very basic dashboard, rudimentary fan/heater system, maybe place for a radio, basic floor covering and an under dashboard manual handbrake!

The cabin is sporty and luxurious. Picture: Supplied

This (Tremor’s) cabin has a black finish roof interior, vinyl wrapped steering wheel with numerous buttons to set the cruise control, set up the view you want for the dashboard, adjust the sound system - consisting of six speakers and buttons to answer and make telephone calls.

It has a leather gear knob, a rotary dial to select drive modes, six mug holders in the front – two of them are pop out types, the 2x12V charging ports, one in the (big) centre storage box with an indentation for the cable to easily fit in and a cordless charge pad. It also has USB ports. That is the front of the cabin.

The back seating is comfortable and spacious. The doors have cup holders, but our wider ones could not fit though. There is a 12V charging point just below the two rear console a/c vents. The side windows are tinted, the 2 at the back more so than the 2 front windows. The interior is more reminiscent of a modern day luxury sedan vehicle. The vinyl floor covering sure does make it easier to wipe and keep clean should you get into the vehicle with muddy shoes in muddy and dusty off-road conditions.

The Tremor was our transport down to the Southern Drakensberg – we were going to walk the 2024 CHOC Sani walk – 8km up and 8km down. We were five adults, with quite a bit of luggage, two large cooler boxes, a few boxes with food and provisions.

Unfortunately, this vehicle did not have a back cover. We boxed and covered most of the goods, covered it with tarpaulins and secured the cargo using the six well placed tiedown points. There is also a 12v charger in the back. Initially we had thought it might have an inverter plug too – but it was not to be.

As we had four other people in the Tremor, I thought it would be good to get their first impressions of the vehicle and whether everyone is at least comfortable - given the longish trip, interlaced with some off-road driving and some winding and twisting roads closer to our destination.

The first impression comments were: “Macho, spectacular, bullish looks” - Male, 55; “Pretty big, comfortable, but too many buttons. Needs a real hand brake,” - Male, 19, just got his driver’s licence; “Robust” - Female, 50 and lastly “Modern and looks good” - Female, 45.

They were all of the opinion that the back was definitely comfortable, with enough legroom and they all had brought pillows to aid in comfortable sleeping – given our before daybreak departure out of Johannesburg. I, too, took a turn to sit in the back seat and could echo their sentiments.

“Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel” – the classic line from The Doors song echoed in my head as the dashboard flashed a warning to put both hands on the steering wheel (with a graphic of how/where to do it) and an alarm that sounds a warning too. We had commenced looking through the menus to see if this can be switched off, but erred on the side of safety and aborted the search opting for safety[first] rather.

Speaking of keeping your eyes on the road… The big centre 12-inch display is great. A lot can be done on it, all in one place. But casting your eyes further down - than the dashboard line of vision – [definitely] takes your eyes off the road. The air-conditioning knobs, sound system on/off button and volume can easily be felt and adjusted manually right at the bottom of the screen. But the rest you do need to look at to operate on the touch screen and therefore take your eyes off the road. If I needed changes using the 12-inch screen, I requested assistance from my co-driver.

Amongst the many features the Tremor is also fitted with a lane keeping system, that is also displayed on the dashboard.

My first experience with this feature was when I was driving the WildTrak X sometime back where it kicked in and I thought I had lost power steering – a similar feeling felt by our other Tremor driver. Does this really work? I loosened my grip on the steering wheel. The car would drift slightly towards one side, detect the edge or line of the other lane and correct itself. This would be repeated for the other side too. It was also tested on a slight bend. But all too soon the reminder pops up “to keep my hands upon the wheel”. Conclusion: The lane keeping system with road edge detection - definitely - works.

The 2.0-litre Bi-Turbo diesel delivers the power when needed to the 2,384kg vehicle, with five adults and their ample luggage. The Tremor is more than adequately specced for off road or 4x4 conditions - most probably more than you will ever really need or use.

We ensured that we took some back roads through the Midlands, both tarred, some dirt roads and some real winding roads; some of really dubious quality but were easily negotiated. We used the 2H and 4-wheel drive auto drive options - it more than adequately served our needs.

The Tremor with its 10 gears is feature rich like the flashing orange warnings in the side mirrors to warn of vehicles in your blind spots, 360 degree cameras, a four-year roadside assistance plan, optional extended warranty, Thatcham alarm system- an obvious definite for SA and it comes in under the R1 million mark.

As I drove off to hand the car back the one passenger echoed: “It is difficult not to like this car!”

The Ford Ranger Tremor costs R978,600.