THE Ford Ranger is one of the best-looking pick-ups you can buy and that is why it has been a global success for the Blue Oval.

Big, bold and all-American the Ranger is tough and rugged and it can be bought in a large variety of styles and with a choice of a couple of engines.

It combines the ability to shift and move bags of hardware with almost the comfort and equipment of an SUV.It also offers fantastic towing capacity as well as the talent to go off-road and tackle the rough stuff.

The Ranger's exterior style is improved by a number of upmarket design features but it is no soft touch.

You can wade through rivers, traverse rough terrain, slip through mud and snow with ease because the Ranger has enough grunt to do it.

On regular roads this Limited version behaves like most very large SUVs although it does feel a bit bouncy at times and on motorways it will cruise with decent ride and handling.

The Limited features 17-inch alloy wheels, a huge chrome front grille, power-foldable door mirrors with integrated turning lights, side steps, roof rails and rear privacy glass.

Inside the double-cab offers enough room for a family or for five workers and boasts equipment to satisfy leisure owners. You get satellite navigation, Bluetooth with voice control, rear parking sensors, a large touchscreen with Ford SYNC 3 technology, a DAB radio, heated windscreen, and a large number of power sockets as well as power heated door mirrors with puddle lights.

You also get leather seat trim, an electrically adjustable heated driver's seat and at the touch of a button you can select between a choice of drives and low and high ratios.

Safety features include a raft of airbags, hill launch assist, hill descent control and an electronic stability programme with traction control and emergency brake assist.

This Limited version came with the 2.2 TDCi diesel power plant combined with an automaticsix-speed gearbox. It punts out 160ps and gives the Ranger a top speed of 109mph and a 0-62mph time of 11.8 seconds.

It has a claimed combined figure of 40.4mpg but that will depend on how hard you drive it and how heavy it is loaded.