Review: Ford Ranger Wildtrak 3.0 V6 Diesel - The lifestyle truck that actually feels worth the fuel

There was a time when buying a diesel pick up truck as a lifestyle toy made a lot of sense. Cheap fuel, big tank, go anywhere image, park outside a café and pretend you are on your way to a construction site or a campsite, even if you are really just heading to the mall.

That time is gone. With diesel prices now where they are in Malaysia, a truck that lives in the city and hauls nothing but Instagram expectations suddenly feels very expensive to run. These days, diesel pick ups make the most sense in the hands of people who actually need them for work, or who are committed to the truck life, not just flirting with it.

So if you are going to bite the bullet and buy a diesel pick up as a lifestyle vehicle, it better be special. It cannot just be another tall, bouncy thing with leaf springs and a noisy four cylinder. It needs a hook, a personality, something that makes you smile every time you twist the key or push the start button and watch the fuel needle drop a little faster than you would like.

That is where the Ford Ranger Wildtrak 3.0 litre V6 Turbo Diesel steps in, and honestly, this thing feels like it was built exactly for that kind of buyer.

The engine is the whole mood

I have always had a soft spot for 3.0 litre V6 diesel engines. Not in a spreadsheet way, in a feel and sound way. They have this big heart character that you just do not get from a four cylinder, no matter how much boost you throw at it. The Ranger Wildtrak 3.0 keeps that tradition alive.

Under the bonnet sits a 3.0 litre single turbo diesel V6 with 250 PS at 3,250 rpm and a very healthy 600 Nm of torque from 1,750 to 2,250 rpm. On paper, that is a strong number. On the road, it feels like someone fitted a small tidal wave under your right foot.

The way it delivers its shove is what sells it. It is smooth, almost lazy in the best possible way, with a deep, cultured growl when you lean into the throttle. Not a coarse clatter like an overworked four cylinder, more like a big capacity engine quietly clearing its throat. Even at idle it sounds good, just enough rumble to remind you there is something serious happening in front of you.

Paired to Ford’s 10 speed automatic, the combo is properly sorted. You get that effortless surge where the gearbox just shuffles through ratios in the background, keeping the V6 right in its torque band without making a fuss. You rarely catch it in the wrong gear, and when you do floor it, there are enough ratios to keep the engine on boil without screaming.

And this is where the fuel argument becomes a bit softer. Yes, you are paying more for diesel now, but at least here you are getting something truly special in return. You are not suffering at the pump for a basic engine, you are feeding a V6 that actually feels worth the indulgence.

Drives like an SUV, not a bouncy ladder frame relic

It has been a while since I last drove a Ranger, and the first few kilometres in this Wildtrak 3.0 instantly reminded me why it is one of the go to choices among pick up buyers. Ford has been very good at making their trucks feel less like trucks and more like SUVs, and that still holds true here.

Ride quality is genuinely impressive for something that still sits on a ladder frame with leaf springs at the back. Up front you get double wishbones, at the rear leaf springs, and somehow the tuning makes it feel well tied down without being punishing. It does not bounce you around over patchy tarmac, it does not wallow awkwardly over dips, and those typical ladder frame jitters are very well controlled.

It just does that neat trick where your brain starts to forget you are in a pick up at all. You sit high, you see the bonnet, but the way it flows down the road feels closer to a big SUV than a commercial vehicle.

The one real downside is linked to this sense of presence. The Ranger simply feels big. It is a wide, tall truck and you are constantly aware of that in town. Threading it through tight back lanes or older taman roads needs a bit of concentration, and you find yourself planning your moves earlier in traffic.

Getting into underground car parks also needs some attention, because it is tall. You will slow right down at the entrance, scan the height limit board and eye every low hanging pipe and sprinkler head before committing. It is not unmanageable, but you need to respect the size.

Grip and traction are well supported by the 4WD hardware. You get an electronically locking rear differential and four driveline modes, 2H, 4H, 4L and the new 4A setting for the Wildtrak with this 3.0 powertrain. I did not take it into hardcore off road stuff, but on some gravel roads with a proper steep incline, I just left it in 4A and let the system sort itself out.

The truck found traction cleanly and climbed without drama, and I never had to stop and think about whether I should be in 2H, 4H or 4L. For the kind of light trails and kampung roads most lifestyle owners will actually see, that 4A mode really does its thing.

On top of that, there are six drive modes, Normal, Eco, Tow/Haul, Slippery, Mud/Ruts and Sand. It sounds like a gimmick until you remember this thing has a 1 tonne payload rating and a 3.5 tonne towing capacity. If you do end up using it for more than café hopping, those modes and the hardware behind them will earn their keep.

Interior, lifestyle first, workhorse second

Outside, the Ranger still looks properly tough, especially in Wildtrak trim with the 20 inch two tone alloys wrapped in 255/55R20 tyres. But it is the cabin that really sells the lifestyle idea.

Yes, it is still a working vehicle at heart, you can throw muddy boots in here and it will cope, but you would almost feel guilty doing it. There is nothing bare or cheap about the way the interior is put together.

You get black leather upholstery with bright orange contrast stitching that gives it a sporty, slightly outdoorsy vibe. The front seats are not just decent, they are genuinely comfortable, both driver and front passenger get 8 way power adjustable seats, so you can dial in a proper driving position rather than making do with “truck ergonomics”.

Soft touch materials are used generously on the dash and in the main touch points around the cockpit. It feels more like a modern SUV cabin that happens to be attached to a cargo bed, not a commercial vehicle that someone tried to dress up at the last minute.

The rear seats are often where pick up trucks betray their roots, with backrests that feel like church benches and barely any legroom. In the Ranger, and especially in this Wildtrak, the rear bench is actually usable for adults over longer journeys.

The backrest angle is not overly upright, and there is enough legroom that you can genuinely pass this off as an SUV substitute for family duty. Kids will be fine, adults will not complain, which is quite a compliment for a ladder frame double cab.

Tech and toys, not just torque

Then there is the tech, because lifestyle buyers today want their gadgets as much as they want grunt.

Front and centre is a 12 inch portrait style touchscreen for the infotainment system. It looks modern, it responds well enough, and most importantly, it supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so your phone experience just drops into place without cables.

You also get five USB ports in total, two USB C, two USB A and a dedicated USB port just for the dashcam, which is such a small yet thoughtful touch for Malaysian buyers who almost treat dashcams as compulsory equipment. There is also wireless device charging, so you can just toss your phone onto the pad and forget about it.

For power hungry accessories or campsite life, the Wildtrak 3.0 gives you 230V, 400W AC sockets in the second row and in the cargo bed. That opens up a whole new world of use cases, from charging laptops and cameras to running small appliances.

The instrument cluster is an 8 inch TFT multi information display, which pairs nicely with the big central screen and keeps the whole cabin feeling properly up to date. The E Shifter, shared with the Ranger Platinum, Stormtrak and both Raptor variants, adds a little premium flavour to the centre console and makes the truck feel more car like to operate.

Safety and ADAS, big truck with big brain

Performance and comfort are one thing, but modern lifestyle buyers also expect a safety net of driver assistance systems, especially when the vehicle is this big and this powerful.

The Wildtrak 3.0 comes armed with a strong ADAS suite. You get a blind spot information system, lane departure warning with lane keeping assist, rear cross traffic alert and post collision braking. On longer highway drives, adaptive cruise control with stop and go and lane centring does a lot of the tiring work for you, which makes this thing a very capable long distance cruiser despite its truck silhouette.

Combine that with the natural stability from the chassis tuning and the strong brakes, ventilated discs at the front and solid discs at the rear, and you get a truck that feels clever looking after you, not just tough and old school.

The price of feeling special

Of course, all of this comes at a price. The Ford Ranger Wildtrak 3.0 V6 Turbo Diesel is priced at RM192,888 on the road without insurance in Peninsular Malaysia, and RM198,688 in Sabah and Sarawak. That is serious money in any segment, let alone for a vehicle with a cargo bed and leaf springs at the back.

Which brings us back to the original point. In a world where diesel is no longer the cheap, cheerful option, you cannot justify a truck like this purely on running costs. If you buy this to be your lifestyle companion, you are admitting that you want the experience as much as, or more than, the spreadsheet.

And as a lifestyle truck, the Wildtrak 3.0 makes a very strong case for itself. The engine has real character, the drivetrain feels expertly matched, the ride and handling lean more towards SUV than pick up, the cabin is genuinely comfortable and well finished, and the tech and safety kit are bang up to date. You just have to live with the fact that it is a big, tall thing in tight Malaysian urban spaces.

This is not just another pick up truck, it is a diesel V6 Ranger that makes you look forward to every start up, every highway overtake, every slightly silly detour onto a muddy track just because you can.

If you are going to pay premium prices at the diesel pump, at least let it be for something that feels this special. The Ford Ranger Wildtrak 3.0 V6 diesel absolutely does.

Ford Ranger WildTrak 3.0 V6 Turbo Diesel Specifications

Drivetrain: 3.0L single-turbo V6 diesel, 4x4 with electronically locking rear differential
Max Power Output: 250 PS @ 3,250 rpm
Max Torque: 600 Nm @ 1,750–2,250 rpm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic (E-Shifter)
Seats: 5

0–100 km/h: 8.7 seconds
Safety Features: Blind spot information system (BLIS), lane departure warning with lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go and lane centring, rear cross-traffic alert, post-collision braking

Price: From RM192,888 (Peninsular Malaysia, RM198,688 in Sabah & Sarawak, OTR without insurance)