I’ll make no apologies for the image-heavy post. THIS is why I wanted the blue one…
I’ve been taking part in a really special @fordeu event this week, sharing all the excitement with you on Social Media. Be Social with me using the icons below #RangerRaptor More…
Of course I needn’t have worried. Once my trusty co-driver has given me a quick briefing on the 10-speed auto gearbox, we headed off. Naturally we were last by this point, and actually I liked being behind the pack – having no other people around meant I felt like everything was being explored anew for us alone.
The Ranger Raptor is of course an immensely capable vehicle. I was only a few minutes in before it was like I’d been driving it all my life.
Back in the Real World I’m still driving an S-Max, and because of the incredible power seats with 8-way adjustment I was able to quickly set a high, familiar driving position (even at 5ft 0 tall!), easily reach round the cabin for everything I needed, and generally just relax and enjoy the experience, effortlessly.
I may have been a bit slow and steady, but on our travels we found someone even slower…
I wonder what he thought?
I’m thinking with the body styling and the unique 2.3mm high strength bash plates to deflect off-road obstacles he felt he’d met a kindred tough spirit…
I’ve been taking part in a really special @fordeu event this week, sharing all the excitement with you on Social Media. Be Social with me using the icons below #RangerRaptor More…
Day two dawned, and with it the threat/promise (depending on your vantage point) of Me Driving.
Regular readers may recall that my very first LHD drive, in fact my very first drive outside the UK, was back in Valladolid with my patient co-driver Pete.
Well since then I’ve driven abroad and/or LHD…
Zero times.
So here I am, in a bloody big truck, left hand drive, AUTOMATIC (I have never driven an automatic before either), in Morocco.
No biggie.
Here are some of my favourite details while I procrastinate.
I’ve been taking part in a really special @fordeu event this week, sharing all the excitement with you on Social Media. Be Social with me using the icons below #RangerRaptor More…
Sunset.
A quick change, and time for the technical presentation hosted by our Chairman, Steven Armstrong.
Then dinner, and catching up with Elisabeth and Florian, from the other employee pair.
We were all exhausted, sand-blasted (I swear sand poured out of my ear like a cartoon), and smiling from cheek to cheek – reflecting on our good fortune to be here at all but also on the experience of being in such an effortlessly capable vehicle in such exciting surroundings.
You know, we are still only on day one… stay tuned!
I’ve been taking part in a really special @fordeu event this week, sharing all the excitement with you on Social Media. Be Social with me using the icons below #RangerRaptor More…
Go on, do as we did after our first bout of dune driving (no pics of during, it was all too exciting and fast for stills, but the Ranger handles it with no more effort than a trip to the shops) – take five minutes and catch up with the other posts on this blog, or maybe check out my colleagues’ YouTube channels…
Drink it in…
I’ve been taking part in a really special @fordeu event this week, sharing all the excitement with you on Social Media. Be Social with me using the icons below #RangerRaptor More…
So tell me more about that Mud/Sand mode…
I might not need it so much in Southend on Sea, but out here in Essaouira it came into its own…
Those windmills? It was windy. My skin has never looked so good before the sandblasting I got that day.
I told you it also came in grey (although blue holds my heart)…
As the light softened, the sun set, and camels and Raptors made their way home…
I’ve been taking part in a really special @fordeu event this week, sharing all the excitement with you on Social Media. Be Social with me using the icons below #RangerRaptor More…
It may have some threads of Ford Performance Blue in that blanket, but I know which I’d rather take for a spin…
I’ve been taking part in a really special @fordeu event this week, sharing all the excitement with you on Social Media. Be Social with me using the icons below #RangerRaptor More…
Back on topic, and off-road…
Driving to our first checkpoint at the start of our off-road stage, we were struck by how quiet the Raptor is – whether it’s a factor of the smooth running 213 PS 2.0l Bi Turbo EcoBlue Diesel or the Active Noise Control technology, we found the noisiest things about sitting in the spacious double cab interior were the bits and pieces rattling around in our bags (and me talking!).
When we got to the off-road stage then, we were able to concentrate on testing out the terrain management system with 6 modes including
Baja: for high-speed off-road performance like drivers need in the Baja Desert Rally
Mud/Sand: optimum traction and momentum on these looser surfaces
Rock: for low-speed rocky terrain
Opting at first for Rock (smooth controllability key on our first drive getting used to the vehicle), we began the climb.
Check out those views…
Down to the rocky beach and on to our next stage. Read on!
I’ve been taking part in a really special @fordeu event this week, sharing all the excitement with you on Social Media. Be Social with me using the icons below #RangerRaptor More…
My buddy for this trip was the inimitable Filip, a Business Manager from Ford of Poland.
You get paired up at random on these trips I find, so you’re never quite sure how your personalities and priorities for the trip will combine.
I was so lucky in Spain to have a wonderful co-driver who took in all my excited demands to park the car in ‘just THIS field please’ to get the shots I wanted – would I still get to play with locations this time?
The die was cast pretty early on – the Ranger Raptors on our drive were available in two stunning colour ways, Ford Performance Blue and Conquer Grey (with optional Raptor decals), and we were both agreed we had the blue in mind for the first of our adventures.
The deep blue is simply stunning – of course it looks amazing in the Moroccan sun, but equally it would look at home back in the UK.
You also find blue in the stitching of the premium leather power seats, the interior leather details, and on the FOX Racing long-travel shocks.
So far so good – we set off in convoy, and that was that…
Or was it?
I couldn’t find my mobile phone.
What to do?
Would Filip let me go back to the airport for it, and drop out of the convoy? Would he forgive me for being an utter pain?
Of course he did…
By the time we picked my phone up from the airport car park floor (in my defence I had probably dropped it while pulling myself up into this hefty beast of a vehicle!) and returned, there was no convoy ahead, just donkeys.
Not a problem of course – with the route mapped into our Sat Nav (with ‘breadcrumb’ feature to leave a trail when exploring uncharted areas) it was time to play catch-up…
I’ve been taking part in a really special @fordeu event this week, sharing all the excitement with you on Social Media. Be Social with me using the icons below #RangerRaptor More…
A lot of people might think these trips are holidays. Please let me disabuse you of that notion – this is WORK. I’ll concede that the office looks a little more exciting sometimes but still…
I’ve shared before how the employee ambassador team feels so committed to these opportunities and it shows in the research and prep we do before we set out (and the work we do when we are home, like writing this blog and editing stills/video).
So it really helps when, having taken off from a rainy Frankfurt airport we get a chance to sit back and look through the media pack as a kind of revision…
Not all of the info is what you might expect…
So what can I tell you?
The vehicle we were going to test out, the Ranger Raptor, is coming to Europe this month.
It’s billed as the toughest, highest performing version of Europe’s best-selling pick-up which sold over 50,000 units in 2018.
We were travelling with a select group of German vehicle media professionals; usually these media launch events happen over a number of weeks, with groups from the markets each taking their turn.
That said, despite our group being one of the last to take the tour of the new vehicle, everything felt fresh and welcoming. Knowing now how we tested those Rangers each day I can only say I can’t believe how hard the teams work to keep the launch fleet perfect between drives!
Back to the beginning – on arriving at the tiny Essaouira airport (couldn’t be a greater contrast to our departure!) we were welcomed with bottles of water and a thorough safety briefing.
After that, we got the keys and were ready to go…
Big truck, isn’t it?!
I’ve been taking part in a really special @fordeu event this week, sharing all the excitement with you on Social Media. Be Social with me using the icons below #RangerRaptor More…
Drive 