When Ford handed me the keys to a Ranger Wildtrak the other day, it almost felt like déjà vu. Except I wasn’t imagining things. This was indeed the second time that I got to try the slightly posher Ranger. With the first time having been a few years ago now, it felt right to go on a weekend trip out of town and see if this latest version is still the tough truck with a soft side that I remember.

You may think people who write about cars all the time drive the fanciest motors themselves, but at least in my case that’s not exactly true. While I have gone through a fair collection of automobiles over the years, our current day-to-day runabout is a little Suzuki S-Presso that my better half took a liking to, and that was subsequently purchased under the “Happy Wife, Happy Life” rule. It’s bright orange, and someone recently commented that it looks like a clown car when I get out of it, which is definitely not the best car-related compliment I have ever gotten.

The Ranger, on the other hand, is properly truck-sized and could theoretically carry Minnie—as my wife calls her car—on the back of it, as its curb weight is less than the one-ton cargo load the Ford can handle. It also has proper road presence, a fact my better half found out when she ran a few errands across town in it. Afterward, she told me how everyone got out of her way or let her squeeze into traffic gaps, something she wasn’t used to while driving the easily bullied little Suzuki. Welcome to Metro Manila traffic, where bigger is seemingly still better. The fact it’s so big takes a little getting used to, but the various cameras—front, rear, sides, and even a 360° one—make keeping the orange bodywork dent-free really easy.

The cabin is roomy at the front and the back, even for people of my size, and the controls don’t require a PhD in engineering to figure out. It also retains enough physical buttons to prevent touchscreen frustration, which is nice. The six-speaker stereo passed the wife’s “Latest TikTok Philippines Spotify” playlist test, and left me wondering what kind of noise passes as music these days. On the subject of which: no squeaks or rattles on this pickup truck, even on rougher terrain. Build quality and materials left no reasons to complain, and for a truck with big tires and leaf springs, it’s pretty quiet and comfortable.

Our demo unit was the 4×4 version with the biturbo engine, and the whole package represents pretty decent value for money at P1,940,000. The 10-speed box it comes with did a good job of keeping things smooth, and while it does have a manual mode where you can change gears with a button on the side of the stick, this is really only good for going downhill in a low gear or similar situations. The biturbo diesel churns out 210hp and 500Nm of torque, which is great for towing and off-roading, but “sporty” isn’t a term you’d use when talking about it. Neither is slow, mind you.

One of the best features is the adaptive cruise control that comes with lane-keep assist and other safety gizmos. It really takes a lot of stress and strain off the driver, especially on longer trips out of town. You still need to grip the wheel, but the car will do much of the driving for you if you want. The pre-collision warning system is a bit too jumpy at times, but that’s more down to the fact that what is considered normal on Philippine roads is probably classed as near-death experience in the Ford R&D department.

There really wasn’t anything we didn’t like on this truck. Sure, some of the plastic bits around the bed would look better in metal, but the price has to come from somewhere. It still has everything you need, including 12V and 230V power sockets on the rear bed and in the rear of the cabin, plus wireless phone charging, electric driver’s seat, USB ports, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plenty of cupholders, leather seats, and ice-cold air-conditioning front and rear.

It also manages a nice balance that I always appreciate in cars like this. It looks posh enough to rock up at a five-star hotel without making the valet turn up his nose; it is tough enough to haul cargo across rough terrain if needed; it has space for five adults and plenty of luggage; but it still doesn’t break the bank. As an all-rounder goes, this ticks a lot of boxes. So much so that my wife is currently checking how much Minnie is worth if we trade it in for one.