We test the Ford Ranger Raptor and Isuzu D-Max XTR to see which is best for surviving the apocalypse

IT might feel like the end of days are upon us.

We have to queue for UHT milk and dried pasta, we can’t see our friends, and going to the park is as demonised as hurting kittens.

No doubt about it, Covid-19 is having a major impact on society but life will return to normal.

Still, it got me thinking: What vehicle would be best for surviving the Apocalypse? Just in case you need to go looting an abandoned supermarket for essential supplies.

Well, you could do a lot worse than this hulking pair.

You’re looking at the Ford Ranger Raptor, a beefed-up, Baja-inspired brute that I’ve reported on before.

The other, in its Jason Vorhees black hockey mask and sporting all manner of acid-green accents, is the Raptor’s cut-price alternative: The Isuzu D-Max XTR.

You might dimly remember the Isuzu Trooper of the Eighties and Nineties but these days Isuzu in the UK styles itself as a pick-up specialist, offering up the no-nonsense D-Max.

The XTR is the bad-ass version. Beyond all the mean styling, there’s specialist off-road suspension from UK firm Pedders (which raises ride height by another 250mm) and it has stonking brakes with Kevlar-carbon pads.

Serious stuff.

Thing is, the XTR engine isn’t serious stuff. It’s the same 1.9-litre turbodiesel you’d find in any other D-Max and it is agricultural in the extreme.

So is the on-road ride quality, which bounces like Tigger and has too much road-roar.

It’s tough to look at and tough to live with. In terms of on-road refinement, performance and interior finishing, the Raptor is king. But the XTR retaliates.

It’s not cheap at £40,000, yet that figure includes VAT — and as it can still lug more than a tonne in its load bay and pull 3,500kg of braked trailer, the Isuzu can be registered as a commercial vehicle, bringing the price down to around £34,000.

TRULY EPIC

The Raptor, for all its bulk and power, cannot hold a tonne in the load bed, so has to be sold with VAT, and it can only tow 2.5 tonnes due to its hitch being mounted in its rear bumper.

That said, Raptor is truly epic off-road.

I know it can do more than 100mph on gravel and survive big jumps with little difficulty.

To sum up, then: The XTR is a bold effort from Isuzu. It’s got a certain cool about it and the suspension upgrades give it a sheen of technical respectability.

If you’re a business owner, or someone who counts every penny, or you’re a huge fan of the Friday The 13th film series, buy the XTR. But if you can afford it, and you want the perfect bug-out vehicle for the end of days, the Ford Ranger Raptor feels the more unbreakable.

Winner: Raptor.

• GOT a news story? RING us on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk