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Ranger Boats
Revolutionary New Z-Series*
By Dan Kimmel
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Ranger Boats unveiled the exciting and totally new Z-Comanche Series line of bass boats this past August at the FLW Championship. The Z-Comanche’s are the first major redesign of a bass boat line in many years; the product of an 18-month stem to stern revamp resulting in a revolutionary new bass boat series. Why
would the acknowledged leader in the bass boat industry change a great thing?
“New model introductions provide us with a great opportunity to showcase many
of the latest innovations, features, and designs that we've been working on,”
Ranger Boats’ President Randy Hopper said. “From our very beginnings, nearly
four decades ago, we've always been obsessed with excellence. It's a huge
part of our legacy, the fact that we never stop pushing ourselves to higher
standards while striving to deliver even greater overall product value and
pride of ownership. The 2005 model year marks some very exciting milestones
as we continue our commitment to deliver the strongest product line in the
industry.” |
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Ranger
Boats has always been about providing a great looking boat that is a pleasure
to own and fish out of. The Z-Comanche continues that tradition with an
aggressive flair accentuated by having the trademark Comanche hull stripes
raked forward, muscle-car-inspired contours and polished aluminum hardware.
These enhancements along with a lengthy roster of standard equipment features
make the Z-Comanche models “a series of total performance fishing machines
with more best-in-class features than any other tournament rig on the water.” According
to Hopper, “The Z-Comanche series features numerous technological innovations
and breakthrough design standards. The high performance look is engineered to
complement the overall design goals, but it goes much deeper than the obvious
first-glance differences.” Some
of the new features include an ultra-wide 95” beam that eclipses all other
rigs in its class; more floor, storage and fishing space; and an integrated
10” engine setback. The hull is a completely new design “engineered for
faster, shallower hole shots, strong top end delivery, extremely responsive
handling, and a smooth, dry ride.” Dryness
is a prominent feature of this series. One of the many noticeable differences
in the Z-Comanche layout is what Ranger calls its Dri-Latch™ compartment
locking system. The innovative new method leaves all lids solid with no holes
for key locks or lift rings. Instead, there’s a set of extruded longitudinal
rails running alongside each box. These machined-fitted rails add strength
and allow for a pivoting, dead bolt style of tamper resistant security for
your equipment. The
Dri-Latch system works with a car hood-release-like automatic lid lift that
pops the lid up for easier access when unlatched. The lack of any holes in
the lid and a new raised lip-and-channel lid seal virtually eliminates water
leakage in these new Rangers. Ranger Boats is promoting the Z-Comanche as
having the industry’s driest storage. The
new high performance cockpit is transformed into a sleek, windswept console
with increased legroom and more vertical height. There’s more room for personal
instrumentation thanks to custom-branded, multi-function gauges with
increased visibility. The all new digital key and touch pad has solid state
switching now eliminating fuses. The circuits are resettable from the cockpit
keypad. While
the Z-Comanche boats are totally new, improvements don’t stop there. The
industry-leading Ranger Trail trailer also includes new features like an
innovative swing jack that’s been relocated to the center of the frame for
better support while being able to retract flush with the trailer frame.
Ranger has borrowed from the enhanced performance of racing technology by
adopting aluminum brake calipers with hydraulic surge brakes that have
extremely low heat transfer. The
NMMA certified Z-Comanche models clearly set new standards for the next
generation of bass boat design. “The Z-Comanche series represents a whole new
level of leadership,” Hopper concluded. “Developed through extensive computer
modeling and field performance tests, this series is engineered to raise the
total performance bar even higher while delivering the most technologically
advanced rig on the water.” For
more information, you can go online at www.rangerboats.com. *Article written for the Michigan BASS Chapter Federation Bass Lines magazine – December 2004 issue. |
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