Ford Ranger 2.3-litre to take on 222kW Amarok in sibling rivalry
2026-03-25 - 10:20
The Blue Oval has confirmed that it will officially introduce a Ford Ranger powered by a 2.3-litre EcoBoost petrol for the first time locally in May. The Ford Ranger’s Silverton production sibling, the VW Amarok, already features a model sporting the same powertrain. Called the 2.3-litre TSI in Volkswagen speak, this Amarok in sold only in PanAmericana 4Motion guise. The EcoBoost version of the engine will also produce 222kW of power and 452Nm of torque. It also sports 10-speed automatic transmission. Ford Ranger guns for Amarok While Ford has not confirmed the exact specifications of its Ranger derivatives to feature the petrol powertrain, what is known is that it won’t be offered in four-wheel drive. This configuration will throw an interesting spanner in the works when the Ford Ranger takes on the VW Amarok in a straight line. During The Citizen Motoring‘s recent high-performance test, the 222kW Amarok ran a 0 to 100km/h time of 9.08 seconds. While the Ford Ranger should clock a very similar time, it will have weight advantage over its sibling. The Amarok weighs 2 207kg and the Ranger should be lighter without the four-wheel drive hardware. By exactly how much is not clear, but it can easily by around 100kg if not more. If the 2.3-litre Ford Ranger manages to pip the 222kW Amarok on the drag strip, it will become the second fastest petrol bakkie in Mzansi. Shark topples Raptor The BYD Shark, a plug-in hybrid, last year became the new king of the time sheets by toppling the petrol-powered Ford Ranger Raptor. The 321kW/640Nm Shark ran a time of 5.66 seconds to knock the 292kW/583Nm Raptor (6.9 seconds) off its perch. Albeit the 3.0-litre V6 Raptor is still the fastest petrol production bakkie in the land. The next two bakkies on our time sheets, the Changan Hunter REEV (range-extending electric vehicle) and GWM P500 HEV, are also new energy vehicles. The Hunter ran a time of 7.37 seconds and the P500 recorded a 7.76-second sprint.