MAX is an overused acronym, description, suffix, or energy drink. To attach the word to a pick-up truck comes with it, a big responsibility. Or better yet, a demand. This expectation, which if not fulfilled to the brim, maybe a source of frustration.
So when Ford released the Ranger FX4 MAX, the idea was to fill out the gap between the Wildtrak and the aggressive Raptor. was further improved to the already well-bred and well-made Ford pick-up truck. Inserting another variant along with twelve or fourteen other versions is both a challenge (for salesmen) and a headache (for product planners) but a blessing (to consumers) who now have a little of everything in the line-up.
To me, that little of everything is the line-up of six toggle switches marked “AUX” which according to Ford’s service team is a pre-wired, high amperage line that can handle various accessories like a winch, LED light bars, spotlights, water pump, power inverters, air pumps, and whatever can draw power from 12 volts and 150 amperes. This one, dashboard-mounted array of on-off switches defined what the FX4 MAX is–control! The electricals are wired to the heavy-duty alternator, which rapidly charges the battery which in turn allows for all the power-hungry off-roading gear like auxiliary lights or motorized winches to operate.
I took the FX4 MAX to a place called “Bangkong Kahoy” near the foothills of the mountains of Dolores. Just below the mountain of deities, is the town of Banahaw, as the place is bordered by the edge of the “blessed” Mt. Banahaw. There are two ways up the mountain–a paved road, just 7.2 kilometers long, and an unpaved path the coconut farmers and their carabaos built–shorter, just 4.8 kilometers, but more exciting with mud, rock and carabao dung.
Then I remembered. This variant I was best of all world 4×4 AT. Despite the lack larger wheels (like the ones on the Raptor) the FX4 delivered where it should, in a not so modest but not very aggressive fashion either.
I took the unpaved road, not only because I had a 4×4 on hand, but I remembered intended to buy coconuts at farmgate prices along the road–my donation to the coconut farmers of Quezon, whose lives were wrecked by the pandemic, as the demand for buko pie, macapuno and buko juice dropped significantly.
A good friend from college had a piece of land here, inherited from his parents, who in turn inherited it from their parents. The slightly sloping land of 10,000 or so square meters in size, and he asked me to check out how being an “agriculturist” would feel. Though I studied at the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB), and agriculture was all around me, farming was not in my blood–though digitalizing farming was very interesting. I came with the most luxurious tractor money could buy. He drives the entry-level XLS with 4×4 which cost P1.304M–which got me thinking. Will all the FX4 MAX’s accessories justify the near P400K price gap?
Now that statement in itself is a conundrum–just like what the FX4 MAX did to the Ranger’s line-up. Just one step up from it is the Ford Raptor, which is the most desirable of the lot. Step back and it is the Wildtrak (which I test drove here). As you see how I’ve experienced practically the most sellable models of the line, thus I can say how the FX-4 now sort of confused me. The tubular rollbars were un-fancy and more practical than that of the Wildtrak and definitely a level up versus the Raptor’s empty cargo bed.
Oh but wait, may half of the price difference between a regular Ranger and the FX4 MAX goes to the Fox Shox–almost same as the one found in the Raptor, albeit with a slightly thinner tube diameter. And in the Ranger Life that Ford is communicating, this simply means a “Raptor Junior.”
I guess all these accessories justify the FX4 MAX’s P1.758M price tag in comparison to other models. A slot down the Raptor gives it enough boost to boast. There is a lot of aesthetic improvements, (including the battery of auxiliary switches) from body cladding to tires which give enough bang for the buck.
But wait. A comparison over Ford’s excellent website makes me realize that the safety department is compromised with a reduction of 4 airbags. Though cruise control remains, the lane-keeping function, the automatic emergency braking, front parking sensors, rear parking camera, and active park assist are deleted.
Testing that great value was me a tent and my friend’s farm which, according to him seemed too much. So we discussed over, over a cup of warm kapeng barako laced with a shot of the finest tuba to create a crude Kahlua when a few spoonfuls of carabao milk was splashed into it. On his farm, he had a nice wooden cabin with solar roof panels and a decent toilet.
I slept in the cargo bed of the Raptor in a Coleman tent, an airbed and an extension to the power outlet to run a fan and a phone charger. Call it my translation of the “Ranger Life” which is pretty cool.
And cool was the weather beside the foothills of Dolores. Cooler with the FX4 MAX.
