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With its 2216kg kerb weight and 3230kg GVM, the XLS has a one-tonne-plus payload rating of 1014kg. It’s also rated to tow up to 3500kg of braked trailer but with its 6350kg GCM rating (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) that would require limiting the Ranger’s payload to 634kg, or a sizeable 380kg reduction. These figures are theoretical of course because few owners would need to tow 3.5 tonnes, but it does highlight the importance of doing your sums when towing heavy loads. There’s
small and large bottle-holders and a storage bin in the base of each front door. (image: Mark Oastler) The load tub, which has internal lighting in the side walls, is 529mm deep and its floor is 1547mm long and 1584mm wide with a 1413mm rear opening. Thanks to the wider track, there’s a more generous 1224mm between the wheel housings. That means it tops its predecessor in being able to carry either an 1165mm-square standard Aussie pallet or 1200 x 800mm Euro pallet,
secured with six load anchorage points. The tailgate can also serve as a handy workbench, with an integrated 1.3-metre ruler and two spring-loaded ‘trapdoors’ that allow the use of G-clamps to hold materials in place when cutting or drilling. Cabin storage offers an overhead glasses holder and there’s small and large bottle-holders and a storage bin in the base of each front door. There are no cup or bottle-holders in the dash but there’s an open storage shelf on the passenger side
above the glovebox. The centre console has open storage at the front, two cup/small-bottle holders in the centre and a storage box at the rear capped by a contoured and extended lid that doubles as a driver’s elbow rest. The rear seat’s base-cushion can swing up through 90 degrees to provide access to a pair of underfloor compartments. (image: Mark Oastler) Rear doors have single bottle-holders and smaller bins, but only the front passenger seat’s backrest offers a storage pouch for rear passenger use.
There’s also no fold-down centre armrest with cup-holders so there's no place to carry them, which combined with the absent driver’s seat pouch are notable omissions in rear passenger comfort. The rear seat’s base-cushion can swing up through 90 degrees to provide access to a pair of underfloor compartments, which are ideal for storing valuables away from prying eyes. The seat base can also be stored vertically if more internal cargo space is required.
- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.0DTT, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
154kW, 500Nm
- Fuel
Diesel 7.2L/100KM
- Manufacturer
4XD
- Transmission
10 Spd Auto
- Warranty
5 Yr, Unltd KMs
- Ancap
Safety
5/5 star (2022)
For tradies and users with a work focus, the 2023 Ford Ranger XLS mixes fleet spec with a sprinkling of extra features, begging the question, do you need to go higher up the range?
What we love
- Impressively un-ute-like ride comfort
- Packed full of tech
- Easy to forget this is almost a base model
What we don’t
- Rear seat space leaves room for improvement
- Fully optioned XLS gets uncomfortably close to XLT spec
- Engine refinement no leap forward
2023 Ford Ranger XLS 4x4
It feels like the 2023 Ford Ranger just keeps kicking goals. Every time we get behind the wheel here at the Drive offices, we come away impressed.
Of course, up to this point Ford has been beating the drum hard for high-spec Rangers. The Wildtraks and Sports that appeal to private buyers and lifestyle-oriented owners.
For tradies and users with a work focus, there’s also good news. Although it's at the upper end of the work ute spectrum, the Ford Ranger XLS keeps most of the new Ranger’s headline tech and features intact, but drops some of the bells and whistles.
At no point does it feel like a ute that’s missing anything, though – and for some buyers, some of the lower-tech elements might even be preferable.
How much does the Ford Ranger cost in Australia?
The 2023 Ford Ranger spans from $35,390 in its cheapest XL single-cab form, up to $85,490 for the mind-bending Raptor high-performance hero. In between there’s a range of models, engines and body layouts to suit just about everyone.
The dual-cab-only XLS grade sits one up from base model, and is priced from $54,330 plus on-road costs when equipped with four-wheel drive. It’s supplied as a ute body, with no option for a factory-delivered cab chassis model.
Ford’s 2.0-litre BiTurbo engine is standard, and as with all Rangers the XLS is auto-only, in this case a 10-speed automatic.
XLS models pick up features like 16-inch alloy wheels, side steps, front fog lights, carpet flooring, and a central-locking tailgate over the XL.
Some of the shared elements with the base model include halogen headlights, fabric seat trim, single-zone climate control, a huge 10.1-inch infotainment screen and 8.0-inch digital instrument cluster, and a comprehensive list of safety equipment (full details further down).
While it’s a long way from the flashiest Ranger in the line-up, the XLS doesn’t feel like a fleet special and neatly treads the line between earnest hard worker with a few creature comforts and nicer shiny bits built in.
| Key details | 2023 Ford Ranger XLS |
| Price | $54,330 plus on-road costs |
| Colour of test car | Aluminium Silver |
| Options | Towing Pack – $1700 - Integrated trailer brake controller - Tow bar and tongue - Extended blind-spot monitoring with trailer coverage XLS Tech Pack – $750 - Upgraded Sync 4 infotainment w/satellite navigation and digital radio - Dual-zone climate control - Rear seat air vents - Keyless entry with push-button start - Body-coloured door handles Spray-in bedliner – $900 17-inch wheels and all-terrain tyres – $750 Metallic paint – $675 |
| Price as tested | $59,105 plus on-road costs |
| Drive-away price | $63,853 (Melbourne) |
| Rivals | Toyota HiLux | Isuzu D-Max | Mazda BT-50 |
How much space does the Ford Ranger have inside?
With the Ranger XLS leaning more toward the workhorse end of the scale, and not the show pony end of the Ranger spectrum, you get a fairly down to earth interior, but in saying that it’s still a pleasant place to be.
Hard plastics cover the dash and tops of the doors, for instance, and the driver grips a urethane steering wheel and gear lever – but even those elements are finished well enough that they don’t feel like poverty-pack items.
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The front seats are big and broad. At 169cm I’m not quite statistically average-sized, but getting set behind the wheel is simple enough. The steering wheel adjusts for tilt and reach, and the driver’s seat includes height adjustment.
If anything, the seat base might be right at the limit for length for my proportions. Any longer and it would feel awkward, but as it is, it works well.
The seats are trimmed in a sturdy fabric that looks tidy and should help keep grubby marks at bay. It’s hard to know how the cloth trim will stand up to the test of time.
The rear seat provides decent leg and foot room, and plenty of head room. Three kids can stack into the rear no sweat, but three adults will need to jostle for elbow room. The rear seatback is a touch more upright than is ideal for long-haul comfort and lacks under-thigh support, with a noticeably short seat base, but should be fine for trips around town or between worksites.
The seat base flips up for storage, and the rear backrest can be tilted forward to make accessing the top-mount child seat tethers easier. Although, in reality, trying to juggle a half-installed support seat and wrangle the folded seatback doesn’t always make things easier.
Being at the lower end of the model walk means the XLS does without things like a wireless phone charger, but still gets a decently sized phone/wallet-sized receptacle at the base of the centre stack.
There’s a fair-sized glovebox and console, but items like a second glovebox and dash-mount cupholders found on rivals (or the Ranger Wildtrak) don’t make it down to this grade.
On the outside, load bed lighting is standard. The tailgate is torsion-sprung to make opening and closing much easier, and the tailgate itself locks with the central locking – less helpful here with an open tub, but handy once a hard lid or canopy is added.
There’s an integrated ruler in the top edge of the tailgate plastic capping, plus cupholder detents and clamping points – arguably most properly equipped tradies will have the right gear, though these additions could be handy in a pinch.
| 2023 Ford Ranger XLS | |
| Seats | Five |
| Tub dimensions | 1540mm long 1590mm wide 540mm high |
| Payload | 958kg |
| Length | 5370mm |
| Width | 1918mm |
| Height | 1884mm |
| Wheelbase | 3270mm |
Does the Ford Ranger have Apple CarPlay?
Prepare to be amazed. If you’ve sat in rival utes, nothing can quite prepare you for the sheer screen real estate in the Ranger XLS. The large portrait display measures 10.1 inches and offers crisp resolution and responsive load times.
Within the screen you’ll find quick access to menus to control car settings and safety systems, which are simple enough to adjust on the fly.
The Ranger XLS also comes standard with six-speaker audio, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth and AM/FM radio. A $750 XLS Tech Pack adds built-in sat-nav, digital radio, dual-zone climate control, proximity key entry, push-button start, second-row air vents, and body-coloured door handles – and was fitted to the car we tested.
It’s a small price to pay for a decent swag of upgrades, and one we’d probably recommend – if only for rear air vents, if you plan on using the rear seats often.
Ford's CarPlay integration also allows you to pick a small or large display size, and have a row of inbuilt system shortcuts.
All Rangers come with an embedded modem and access to FordPass Connect via a connected smartphone allowing remote vehicle lock/unlock, remote engine start, and fuel and vehicle status checks.
The XLS does miss out on wireless phone charging, even with the Tech Pack, so if you want to top your phone up between jobsites, you’ll still need to pack a cable for either the USB-A or USB-C connector up front. There’s also a dedicated dashcam USB port in the interior mirror housing, and a pair of 12-volt barrel sockets.
Ford might have missed a golden opportunity here, as just about any portable device that doesn't charge off a 240-volt house plug usually slots into a USB point. It would be nice to see the Ranger a little bit better equipped in this regard.
Ford’s 8.0-inch digital instrument cluster is relatively simple to garner info from at a glance. There’s not a plethora of display options, but there are a few different trip computer displays and some basic configuration options.
Is the Ford Ranger a safe car?
The 2023 Ford Ranger line-up carries a five-star ANCAP rating on all models, except the high-performance Ranger Raptor.
In testing, the Ranger received an 84 per cent adult occupant protection score, 93 per cent for child occupant protection, 74 per cent vulnerable road user protection, and 83 per cent for safety assist systems.
All Ranger variants come with nine airbags (including front knee airbags, and a central airbag between front seats), autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian, cyclist and junction intervention, lane-keeping assist with road edge detection, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, traffic sign recognition, front and rear park sensors, and a reverse camera.
On test, most of the safety systems (where able to be checked) were accurate and gentle in their initial intervention. A little oddly, the lane-keep assist would often indicate it was unable to detect lane markings when they were clearly visible, and seemed to have an easier time picking up broken or faded lanes.
Accessing the safety menus to adjust sensitivity of systems is quick and easy through the touchscreen, and it seems as if Ford has put a lot of effort into getting the set-up right in an effort to keep owners from simply switching the system off.
How much does the Ford Ranger cost to maintain?
The Ford Ranger is covered by Ford’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
Capped-price servicing is available; however, the new Ranger is slightly more expensive. The first four services are capped at $329 per visit (at 12-month or 15,000km intervals) up from $299 for the outgoing model. The $329 price applies regardless of engine, with all pricing capped at the same rate regardless of engine.
Quoted insurance for the Ranger XLS 4x4 starts from $1549 based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.
| At a glance | 2023 Ford Ranger XLS |
| Warranty | Five years, unlimited km |
| Service intervals | 12 months or 15,000km |
| Servicing costs | $1316 (4 years) |
Is the Ford Ranger fuel-efficient?
Claimed factory fuel consumption for the dual-cab Ford Ranger XLS 4x4 sits at a lean-looking 7.3 litres per 100km. Obviously, fuel consumption on a load-carrying vehicle is a ‘how long is a piece of string?’ question, as payload and accessories fitted can make a big difference.
After a week of mixed use we returned 8.8L/100km, but unladen on the open road it was possible to get the trip computer into the high sixes. That’s bloody impressive for a ute.
Admittedly, our use was only lightly laden (up to around 200kg) and we didn't tow on this occasion, but we’ll explore these situations more in future reviews.
| Fuel Useage | Fuel Stats |
| Fuel cons. (claimed) | 7.3L/100km |
| Fuel cons. (on test) | 8.8L/100km |
| Fuel type | Diesel |
| Fuel tank size | 80L |
What is the Ford Ranger like to drive?
Outside of stepping into a much larger and much more expensive US pick-up truck, the Ford Ranger might just be the best driving ute you can get right now. In fact, there are times you have to remind yourself it’s a ute and not a more road-focussed SUV.
The ride is nicely settled and choppy road surfaces are soaked up convincingly. It’s still possible to get some shuddering from the rear wheels on high-frequency bumps, but given the leaf springs and rigid rear axle underneath, it’s an expected side effect.
Adding in a complement of passengers or a bit of ballast in the tub didn’t seem to alter things much. Still composed and still settled. As has been the case for a while now, modern utes don’t have that skittish rear-end feel that characterised the segment for so long.
Although it’s a carryover from the previous generation, the 2.0-litre BiTurbo engine in the Ranger feels well and truly up to task in this application. It has plenty of low-down pull with no obvious weak spots or torque holes.
Outputs peak at 154kW at 3750rpm and 500Nm between 1750 and 2000rpm. It’s easy to filter through various traffic, and the responsiveness is impressive.
Revisions to the 10-speed automatic make it a much smoother operator. It’s more settled in how it shifts gears, and no longer hunts and thumps the way the old Ranger could.
A lockout switch on the shifter allows you to set a high gear limit, if you want to lock out taller overdriven gears but still let the transmission cycle through ratios itself (when towing, for instance). It’s also possible to use that same rocker switch and select gear ratios manually.
The one area Ford possibly hasn’t vaulted ahead is refinement. There’s still plenty of noise and vibration from the BiTurbo engine. That’s not to say it’s a poor performer in that regard, but it doesn’t move the game forward compared to the old model in the same way other aspects of the vehicle have been improved.
That’s in contrast to the Ranger Sport we recently had through that was more isolated – it seems the extra sound deadening of higher-grade models makes a significant difference here.
While 16-inch wheels and ‘all season’ tyres are standard, the vehicle we drove was fitted with optional 17-inch wheels and all-terrain tyres ($750). Although conditions never got too wet in the week Drive had this car, light rain and damp roads didn’t appear to give up grip too badly, and the all-terrains weren’t unduly noisy on most road surfaces.
It’s also worth pointing out that the Ranger's 2.0-litre is paired with a part-time four-wheel-drive system with typical two-wheel-drive high-range or four-wheel-drive low- and high-range. The four-auto torque on demand 4x4 system is reserved for Ranger V6 models, which start from the XLT and above.
Another XLT and up feature is four-wheel disc brakes. The XLS sticks with front discs but rear drums. Splitting hairs just slightly, the drum brake rear felt less grabby and easier to modulate at slow speeds compared to disc-braked Rangers.
| Key details | 2023 Ford Ranger XLS |
| Engine | 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel |
| Power | 154kW @ 3750rpm |
| Torque | 500Nm @ 1750–2000rpm |
| Drive type | Part-time four-wheel drive |
| Transmission | 10-speed torque converter automatic |
| Power to weight ratio | 68kW/t |
| Weight (kerb) | 2272kg |
| Spare tyre type | Full-size (non-matching steel wheel) |
| Tow rating | 3500kg braked 750kg unbraked |
| Turning circle | 12.7m |
Should I buy a Ford Ranger?
The 2023 Ford Ranger may just be the most well-rounded dual-cab ute on the market at the moment.
Ford takes this vehicle seriously, and with development led by a team of Australian engineers, it’s obvious that the focus on creating a vehicle to deal with local conditions was unwavering. Something no rival gets quite as close to.
Honestly, it’s harder to pick holes in this car than it is most others on sale at the moment. It isn’t perfect, but even in the areas it doesn’t excel, the new Ranger is still competent. Your specific use case might uncover shortcomings, but in general-duty use it’s hard to falter.
Its other issue might be how close it sits to the better-equipped Ranger XLT. Our as-tested price of $59,105 before on-road costs is within spitting distance of an XLT ($61,190) that already comes loaded with a Tow Pack, bed liner, Tech Pack, 17-inch wheels – plus adds in more chrome, rear disc brakes, LED headlights and a few other niceties.
Still, the fact Ford lets you mix and match options and build a car to suit your needs is commendable, and even unoptioned the XLS balances out the needs of the balance sheet with the needs of the occupants nicely.
Ratings Breakdown
2022 Ford Ranger XLS Pick-up Double Cab
8.0/ 10
Interior Comfort & Packaging
Infotainment & Connectivity
Insurance from
$1,072/yr
Estimate details
Kez Casey migrated from behind spare parts counters to writing about cars over ten years ago. Raised by a family of automotive workers, Kez grew up in workshops and panel shops before making the switch to reviews and road tests for The Motor Report, Drive and CarAdvice.
Read more about Kez Casey