2023 Ford Ranger earns five-star ANCAP safety rating
The new Ford Ranger ute has received high marks in independent safety testing – as the fourth ute to earn five stars under the latest test criteria.
The 2023 Ford Ranger has been awarded a five-star safety rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).
Applicable to all variants except the dual-cab V6 petrol Raptor, the new Ford Ranger's five-star rating is the fourth under the latest 2020-22 test protocols, following the GWM Ute, and Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50 twins.
Ford's new ute received scores of 84 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection, 93 per cent for Child Occupant Protection, 74 per cent for Vulnerable Road User Protection (pedestrians and cyclists), and 83 per cent for Safety Assist technology.
ANCAP recorded "good" or "adequate" occupant protection in most front- or side-impact tests – though "marginal" performance was noted for the chest of the rear passenger in the full-width frontal crash, and the chest of the driver in the side-impact pole test.
As with other tall and heavy vehicles tested under ANCAP's latest criteria, four out of four available points were deducted for 'compatibility', referring to the risk posed to occupants in the other vehicle in a frontal crash.
Nine airbags are standard across the Ford Ranger line-up, including knee airbags for the driver and front passenger – and a centre airbag between the front seats, intended to prevent front occupants' heads clashing in a side-impact collision.
While child occupant protection was recorded as "good", ANCAP notes child restraints can legally only be fitted to seats with top tether anchor points – and there is no such point in the centre rear seat of dual-cab variants.
Single-cab and Super Cab models do not feature top tether points in any seat.
"The Ford Ranger and Ford Everest both offer a broad range of active collision avoidance systems to help prevent or minimise the severity of a crash, including the ability to detect unmarked road edges, and oncoming vehicles in ‘turning-across-path’ intersection scenarios," ANCAP says.
"Performance tests of autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assistance and speed assistance all scored well."
However, the Ranger's lane-keep assist system did not perform as well as its Everest sibling. This may be due to the lack of a rear radar sensor in cab-chassis Ranger models, which is required for the vehicle to prevent drivers changing lanes into cars in their blind spot.
The test results for the Ford Ranger formed the basis of a five-star ANCAP score for its Ford Everest SUV sibling.
In a media statement, ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg said “This is good news for fleets, families and tradies, as well as recreational consumers – everyone who uses these models for work and play.
“A five-star safety rating isn’t an easy achievement, yet it is particularly important when considering the very broad range of uses for the Ranger and Everest.