Summarize

Ford makes no bones about the fact that its new Ranger Raptor rewrites the performance off-road bakkie rulebook. But hang on a second — what are Isuzu and Toyota shouting the odds about — are the Arctic AT35 and Gazoo Sport Hilux really Raptor rivals, or are they just two more attempts at stealing another manufacturer’s clearly louder thunder? Let’s square them up and take a look see.

We'll start with aesthetics: the Ford looks as if it’s just escaped the Dakar paddock — aggressive Raptor DNA blends race bakkie looks with super cool contemporary street cred. Flared durable composite front fenders accommodate long-travel suspension and BF Goodrich all-terrain tyres — a common thread here, but the Ford’s rubber was specifically developed for the Raptor, while LED fog lamps with allegedly aerodynamically slick air-curtain ducts make it feel bang up to the minute. 

The Ranger gets Raptor badging including bold badges across the sides of the bak and if you want them, Ford will plak it full of stickers that look like vomit infested tablecloths the morning after a dodgy beer festival. Thank goodness they're optional! 

Billed as a collector's bakkie for avid off-roaders and adventurers looking to polish their marble in a unique 50-a-year special edition hand-built at its Port Elizabeth plant, Isuzu's old-school-cool Artic is a pretty impressive site to behold. Fortunately Isuzu lets Arctic’s bulging body kit, big wheels and subtle chrome badge set do the torquing, instead of relying on a horrible sticker kit to force this top D-Max apart!

The Toyota Hilux GR Sports however looks like a Lions rugby washing line with those gaudy double sheet swathes of ‘signature’ red, black and white. For goodness sake, we hope there’s a delete option for that dreadful afterthought! Perhaps more fitting is a new gloss-black honeycomb grille with more grotesque Toyota lettering just in case you never knew — and a far more subtle GR badge. 

The red, white and black theme continues far more acceptably across the Hilux, while every one of the 600 GRs will get a black bonnet, roof and wing mirrors; GR-branded tubular side steps, over-fenders and cool GR-Sport specific 17” alloy wheels shod with albeit less obtuse 265-65-R17 tyres than either of its rivals here. 

Moving inside, Ford has done a lot of work on Raptor’s already well equipped cockpit — the superRanger gets uniquely designed sports seats trimmed in maximum grip Tech Suede for optimum support in high-performance off-road driving, which double up to be comfortable when cruising in town. Other Raptor cabin plusses include blue stitching and leather accents, red needled Raptor dials behind a special leather-padded paddle shifter steering wheel with a red race-inspired on-centre marker. 

The Isuzu offers the standard D-Max interior — nothing special there. Pretty odd at the price, no? 

Toyota at least makes an effort make GR Sport’s cabin pop, utilising red accents to compliment its black leather interior trim, with red contrast stitching and embroidered GR logos, piano black treatment and a vibrant red accent line running across the fascia. Add GR-branded push to start button, while each Hilux GR Sport includes a branded production plate and serial number to confirm its pedigree.

GR Sport also gets an enlarged, flush mounted and integrated Infotainment screen with additional rotary volume and tune knobs, key-function shortcut buttons,  stylish white-faced dials with orange needles and  a 4.2” TFT Multi-information Display with steering wheel control.

So before we even start to consider their technical pedigree, the Raptor claims an advantage — all these bakkies adopt quite different and unique aesthetic approaches in their own rights, but the Raptor gains far more special inside versus the reasonably well tweaked Toyota, while the Isuzu is mos just an Isuzu inside.

So, can either of these pretenders hold a candle to the Ford as an all-round off-road driving weapon? Well, not in a million years and allow me to explain.

It starts without even looking at their respective chassis because Ford’s all-new downsized SA-built 157kW 500Nm 2-litre bi-turbodiesel makes a mockery of its archaic rivals. Utilising both a small high-pressure turbo and a large low-pressure turbocharger for best engine performance throughout the power band, the Ford also takes the gearbox tech lead. 

All top end Rangers these days turn Ford's new quick-shifting 10-speed automatic transmission, which is also employed in Raptor to ensure ideal performance, response and 8.3 l/100km 220 g/km efficiency, whatever the driving conditions and backed by real-time adaptive shift-scheduling to skip ratios if the conditions require it.

Arctic runs Isuzu’s familiar old 130kW 450Nm 3 litre intercooled 3 litre turbodiesel turning a venerable 6 speed automatic, which still do the job quite adequately. Fuel consumption is a respectable 8.6 l/100km, with CO2 emissions of 227 g/km, but gear ratios remain the same with only the odometer re-calibrated to compensate for the larger tyres, so the weakest engine here is left be compromised by the bigger job it now has to do in turning all that rubber through the same old ratios.

The Hilux GR Sport also keeps its  good old 130kW 450Nm Hilux 2.8 GD-6 turbodiesel with driver-selectable Power and Eco modes mated to the equally venerable 6-speed automatic transmission packing shift logic manual and sport modes and on-the-fly four-by-four. Hilux GR Sport too lacks any attempt to overcome the performance and economy losses brought about by its albeit not much larger diameter rubber and Toyota still claims 8.5 l/100km and 224 g/km.

So you need not to be a rocket scientist to figure the hiding the Ford gives its rivals in the engine and drive department — all very well summarised by our road test data below; even though none of these bakkies benefit any form of under the bonnet enhancement over their standard kin. 

It is however when you consider their respective chassis, that it becomes apparent that this is indeed a one horse race and that horse happens to be a Raptor.

Ford has left no stone unturned in developing this sublime superbakkie. Raptor’s real technical advantages and pedigree start to shine through courtesy of a high-strength low-alloy steel Ranger ladder frame specially re-fettled to adopt a raft of dramatic suspension improvements, deliver significantly enhanced wheel travel and meet clearly tougher driving expectations 

Raptor also gains specifically designed and developed aluminium control arms with protruding shock absorber towers at the front, while the rear leaf springs have been tossed and replaced by bespoke and completely re-engineered new coil-over rear end with an integrated Watt’s linkage to ensure unlimited vertical rear axle movement while eliminating lateral movement.

The cherry on top of its quite incredible chassis has to be Raptor’s exclusively developed ultra-high performance Fox race bakkie-like 64mm diameter Position Sensitive Damping shock absorbers that conspire with those other chassis tricks to deliver 32 percent more front and 22 percent improved rear wheel travel over a standard Ranger to deliver extreme off-road capability, while retaining comfort, a smoother ride and impressive tar road-holding.

But that’s not all — Raptor’s Terrain Management System adds a wild Baja mode with optimised Traction Control to ensure ultimate high-speed off-road performance with minimum intervention from on-board systems, while gear selection is optimised for to hold gears longer and downshift more aggressively, while the Electronic Power Steering adopts its most aggressive mode too. Raptor is however at its very best with all the nannies turned off.

And there’s more! Raptor's pedigree spreads to bespoke extreme stopping power thanks to race-style brakes with twin-piston callipers clamping significantly larger 332 x 32mm ventilated discs up front and uprated callipers on bigger 332 x 24mm ventilated discs with a separate brake master cylinder and booster at the rear to ensure best possible braking performance. And don’t forget Raptor’s specially developed high performance tough sidewall BF Goodrich 285/70 R17 all-terrain tyres.

Raptor also adds 51mm more ride height for massive 283mm ground clearance, 150mm wider front and rear tracks and a 850mm wading depth, 32.5-degree approach, 22-degree ramp-over and a 24-degree departure angle aided and abetted by a special integrated heavy-duty tow bar. There’s also a stronger, thicker and significantly tougher high-strength steel bash plate for improved underbody protection.

All of which conspires to enable this undeniable super bakkie to tackle the toughest terrain at highest possible speeds, while retaining quite incredible levels of control and comfort. 

Considering its pricing is within a grand of the Raptor’s launch offer and some of its propaganda, it seems Isuzu believes its new flagship Arctic bakkie is a direct Raptor rival. What we can confirm is that AT35 carries an intriguing technical pedigree. 

A proudly South African first, Arctic AT35 is hand built from the ground up to Isuzu standards on the same production line as regular D-Max bakkies, but the chosen few are deviated to a special hand build area, where the body conversion is carried out by a team of top technicians over two days. They craft the bigger wheel wells and arches to accommodate the larger tyres and enhanced suspension, before the vehicle returns to the regular line and paint shop.

Once the body is painted, AT35s are again pulled off the line to fit a set of Fox dampers (not sure if they come with their own performance coils up front or enhanced leaf springs at the rear?), those chunky Arctic wheel arches to accommodate 17 inch AT alloy wheels and 35 inch BF Goodrich All-Terrain Tyres and heavy duty mud flaps over a three day period, before a 245/70R16 spare wheel and an emergency ResQ Puncture Repair kit are packed in to ready every AT35 for the final quality checks and inspection before being shipped.

Those changes see to a 120mm climb in vehicle height to accommodate AT35’s impressive 48mm taller 268mm ground clearance and a 118mm enhanced 718mm wading depth, while approach and departure angles while approach and departure angles climb significantly to 36 degrees and 28 degrees respectively and the break-over angle is up from 22 to 32 degrees.

Isuzu promises its new flagship bakkie to be at home both on and off-road as AT35 takes that legendary D-Max toughness and off-road capabilities. AT35 indeed delivers firmer damping at high speed, enhanced suppleness at low speeds, along with enhanced 4x4 performance and the ability to traverse technical and soft terrain with minimal ground or vehicle impact for 'unsurpassed off-road capability'.

Borrowing from its Dakar winning Gazoo Racing pedigree, like its Raptor and Arctic pals, Hilux GR benefits bespoke Gazoo Racing uprated and tuned Fox suspension and special BF Goodrich tyres. Packing revised damping and increased spring rate monotube front shock absorbers and for a sportier ride without sacrificing comfort, as you may expect from practical Toyota, GR Sport retains the regular tried and tested standard Hilux rear leaf spring rates and stock payload and towing spec.

Toyota rather concentrated on developing Hilux GR’s front end to extract greater off-road handling and steering, enhanced off-road body control and sharper on-road steering feel.  

There are a few compromises in all three bakkies — quite intriguingly the Raptor and Arctic drop a ton in towing capacity versus, say a Wildtrak or a regular D-Max so both can now ‘only’ pull up to 2500kg trailers, while the Isuzu and Ford’s load capacities are compromised a hundred kilos or so too. Toyota dodged that practical bullet, while a less extreme wheel and tyre solution steals less performance than that aggro big rolling diameter rubber pinches from the Ford and Mazda.

Of course, all three bakkies maintain their back-up and deep levels of executive spec and at R803K, Raptor has to be among ultimate performance vehicle bargains, while the Isuzu runs the Ford surprisingly close in price and The Toyota comes in at a considerable hundred grand discount.

 

Still, the Raptor represents an incredible bargain — especially when you consider that this proudly South African-built bakkie costs over a million rand in most overseas markets, but even considering how much more Raptor costs versus the Hilux, its premium still seems small. One must however wonder what Isuzu is trying to achieve at that price point for the D-Max Arctic. 

Looked at from a D-Max point of view, AT35’s ‘capability’ may very well be ‘unsurpassed’ in-house as Isuzu claims, but from an overall angle in this new high performance bakkie world, we are not so sure how it justifies that premium. Especially with Raptor roaming? Sure, Arctic is the most exclusive bakkie of this trio considering its limited production run, but we cannot justify so significant premium. 

Besides boasting a really cool body kit, fitting a set of trick dampers and that lovely wheel and tyre, nothing much else changes on the Isuzu’s chassis and it has nothing new inside. Now compare both the D-Max and Hilux’s drivetrain to the Raptor’s far superior engine and transmission to start with and we start to wonder — especially at the Isuzu’s price? 

The Toyota may also lack much of what makes the Ford really special, but at that price, it does not pretend to be a rival in the first place, making GR Sport a worthy consideration at its price break and in its own right. 

Which leads us to conclude that whatever any of its rivals try to tell you, the Ford Ranger Raptor still comprehensively pees on their batteries. This Ford’s completely overhauled chassis, upgraded mechanical suspension components and performance brakes, never mind a significant engine and gearbox advantage to start with, set it head and shoulders above any other performance or bakkie available on the market right now. 

Which leads is to conclude that there is only one super bakkie out there. It’s called Raptor. The rest are just carrion. — Michele Lupini

SHOOTOUT:          Ford                               Isuzu                              Toyota

Bakkie:          Ranger Raptor D-Max Arctic AT35       Hilux GR Sport

Output:            157kW 500Nm 130kW 380Nm 130kW 450Nm

Capacity:    1998cc                     2996cc                           2794cc     

Engine:                   Biturbodiesel I4          Turbodiesel I4              Turbodiesel I4     

Drive:              10-speed auto 4x4 6-speed auto 4x4  6-speed auto 4x4

Payload:          750kg 750kg 750kg

Towing Capacity: 2500kg 2300kg 3500kg

TESTED:

0-60km/h:       4.07 sec 4.99 sec 4.40 sec

0-100km/h:      9.70 sec 11.32 sec                      10.21 sec

0-160km/h:      28.39 sec  32.70 sec 29.10 sec        

400m:              16.9 sec @ 132km/h 18.0 sec @ 126km/h 17.1 sec @ 129km/h          

80-120km/h:    5.80 sec 8.56 sec 7.94 sec

120-160km/h: 6.64 sec    17.08 sec      14.54 sec

CLAIMED:                                          

VMax:              190km/h    170km/h                        175km/h 

Fuel:                       8.3 l/100km          8.6 l/100km                8.5 l/100km 

CO2:                       220 g/km                        227 g/km                        224 g/km

Warranty/Service: 4y 120K/6y 90Kkm 5y 120K/5y 90Kkm 3y 100K/6-s'vice 90Kkm 

LIST PRICE:      R803K R785K R707K         

RATED:            92%                                 84%                                85%