- Ford’s new Ranger Raptor is the most powerful standard bakkie in the local market.
- It churns out 292kW and 583Nm from it’s 3.0-litre V6 engine.
- Ford’s new Ranger, Raptor and Everest models use Sync 4 technology to run its infotainment system and features like the Sketch app.
‘Are we there yet?’, ‘How far do we have to drive?’, ‘How long do we need to be at the shop?’ These are questions all parents are used to. Ford has a cool feature in its Ranger Raptor bakkie that might put these queries to rest and keep your children happily occupied in the car.
Road trips are almost painful in our household. Even an hour’s drive to Malmesbury to visit family requires mental preparation – along with snacks, books and little activities to keep our child busy. She hates long drives; until recently when we discovered a pretty neat feature in the Ford Ranger Raptor.
READ | Is the Ford Ranger Raptor the ultimate road trip vehicle?
A simple app of one of her favourite things has changed her mind set about spending time in a vehicle. Next to reading, she loves drawing and writing, and I wish the Sketch feature from Ford came in every other car.
What is Sketch?
Holiday trips need careful planning and hitting the road during the very early morning hours so she can sleep most of the way. However, while the new Ranger Raptor was in the News24 Motoring test garage recently, my daughter literally begged us to go for drives or even to the shopping centre just so that she could stay in the bakkie with one of us to play Noughts and Crosses, or better known as Tic-tac-toe after we discovered this really fun feature.
You could also call it a digital colouring book. There are two pictures of the Ranger Raptor loaded on the app, and occupants can use either their finger or a stylus to colour in or draw pictures which can be sent straight to their phone or uploaded to social media. While this feature can be used while you’re driving – I wouldn’t advise it, as your children should be strapped into their seats – and your eyes should be on the road ahead.
The latest Raptor is fitted with an engine borrowed from the F150 in the US, and this 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6 is the most potent standard bakkie in our local market. It delivers 292kW and 583Nm and it is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.
ALSO READ | Why Ford’s new Ranger Raptor matters: Is this the bakkie that changes the market for SA?
The Sync 4 system is a technology used in Ford Ranger and Raptor vehicles that allow drivers to access various features through the infotainment system’s touchscreen display. Among these is the Sketch feature, made possible through the Sync 4 system, which provides the software and hardware necessary to support various functions in the next-gen vehicle.
The Raptor’s Sync 4 system and huge 12.4-inch display screen also allows for seamless mirroring of your smartphone via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
A user-friendly and innovative feature
To use this feature, you simply press the “Apps” button on the home screen and select “Sketch”. From there, you can start drawing on the screen and save your sketches for later use. It’s a user-friendly and innovative feature that adds a personal touch to your driving experience. But it’s even better when you have to sit and wait in the vehicle – perhaps you have younger children who need to be kept busy on the school run.
I’m not too fond of shopping, even for groceries, so I leave it to my husband, much as this was to my daughter’s delight. My husband also loves a particular delicacy every once in a while, – deep-fried fish roe (better known as vis kuite), which is quite a drive away to the decades-old fisheries in Athlone, known as Fisherman’s Pride. Mr Royker runs this family-owned business and says he’s been there for 32 years. And, because each order is made fresh, and it’s so popular, going there is never shorter than a 30-minute wait (at least) in the car. No, this is not a paid advertisement or a barter for a free meal; the food there is just so good; I want more people to know about it and taste something they’ll be blown away by. But for the first time, my daughter and I didn’t mind the long wait at all. And, because she’s so darn good at it, we never got bored of playing and colouring in.
Deep-fried fish roe or better known as vis kuite (in Afrikaans).
You could also use a blank canvas to write messages for your passengers. But I love that you can save drawn pictures and send them to your phone, or revisit them and recolour too. We also created colouring pages, which I could print. She was rather chuffed about that; who doesn’t love seeing their child smiling and happy? Because the touchscreen display is so responsive, anything you create will appear as intended.
This Sketch feature is available in any new Ford vehicle equipped with Sync 4. If you drive one of the latest Ranger or Everest models and have yet to discover it – let your kids play around.
Since the Raptor has left the garage, we’re still playing Tic-tac-toe, on paper, or even serviettes at the rugby field… every chance this child gets.