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.”
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.
