New Ford Ranger mega thread

Automatic only...

 

It's definitely different since they stopped making them in the US. I love my 98. Only 35k miles and in excellent condition. Curios to see one in person when they come out.

 

The video from Thailand confirmed that in that market, the Ranger diesel uses the 5 cylinder which is offered in the US in the full size Transit van. That’s got some pretty decent specs. If they do offer that in the Ranger, and keep the 3.0 V6 diesel for the F150, that could be a win-win. Differentiation from the larger truck, and a pretty potent powerplant for the smaller one. 350 lb-ft of torque!

 

I think ford missed an opportunity going with the steel body here.. would have loved to see the aluminum..

 

Probably to save money. Considering how this truck isn't completely new and is just the global version with a redesigned grille/headlight combo and different engine.

 

Its said they did use a little Aluminum, Tailgate and Hood if im not mistaken.

 

You are correct.

 

I've been in the global rangers oversee's in the middle east. It was actually pretty nice, and I had a lot of a room in the back seat as a 6'0 tall person in battle rattle/weapon. Had room for my combat boots to not get smashed/caught up under the seats.

Curious to testdrive the American version as I know it'll have a much nicer interior.

 

Now that's a truck commercial!

 

Nothing the Taco can't do.

 

I may do the same. Or vice versa. As long as the Ranger isn't a hanger queen, it should be a fun, capable truck.

 

I actually find the commercial very interesting from a cultural viewpoint. No mention at all of the truck being “fun”. No images of bombing around in the desert, hauling a camper, hitting the beach with the family, or going mountain biking with the guys. It’s plain and simple: “if I buy this truck, it better be able to do work, period”. Much more along the lines of how full size trucks are marketed in North America. I like it, though it’s kinda strange, being a short-box.....not the most practical work truck.

 

I’ve driven plenty of f150’s for work and every time it shifts from 1 to 3, I’ve never seen 2nd gear outside of manually selecting it. I really think it’s a selling point more than anything. I can see the point of a 10 speed in a super car that goes 260 mph but in a truck barely going over 80? Ridiculous if you ask me.

 

Maybe its to get that 75-80 mph cruise speed under 1500 rpms. Try and take a Taco over 75mph and you'll nosedive.

 

I had 1000 pounds of stuff on my taco, clothes, moving items, RTT, rack, spare tire, etc and it died going up every hill from Bay Area CA to Scottsdale AZ. The RTT and rack are midheight (RCI) and below the roof line, and I'm on stock tires...

I would HOPE a Forced Induction vehicle will keep in the powerband easier and negate elevation losses... I was in 3rd gear on the interstate to keep the damn thing from bogging, got passed by a PRIUS!

 

I think it's load based as well. If you have a payload on that truck, or a large trailer the truck will sense it and perhaps it'll use 2nd gear to help keep things smooth and responsive, or on inclines to keep you in the power band. Unloaded, the trucks engine doesn't need 2nd. Just like us Manual trans taco guys who probably skip 5th gear because 5th and 6th are pretty close, and since both are overdrive gears they are both useless on hills so we drop to 4th or 3rd from 6th...

Just because it HAS 10 gears, doesn't mean it always needs them, but the availability of more gears isn't a bad thing, if the ECU and management systems are smart enough not to hunt everywhere (unlike the taco's trans that hunts all day long- something i attribute to a poorly mated engine/power band and the desire to squeak every .5mpg they can out of it).

In a perfect world, infinite gear ratio's would be the perfect thing as the engine speed/load would maintain the same, yet you could get ALL the TQ and HP at any speed/load. That was the theory of a Constant Velocity Transmission, however you are limited by cone size and the amount of power the bands could actually taker and not slip, which ultimately made them undesirable.

Same thing why we love 4low and 2 speed rear ends on work trucks.... more gears, more options, more torque.


I haven't driven a new F150, but I have hopes that Ford didn't screw up the brain and that the 10speed shifts relatively ok, since you have driven perhaps you could comment on that?

 

I love my truck, but the powertrain is seriously lacking. Toyota should be looking into a low-boost 2.4 from the RAV or something. Give it an "ECO" mode that chills the throttle out for stop and go traffic and call it a day.

 

It is strange, mostly because in the rest of the world they don't have "full size trucks" It's either these or a box truck/ "18 wheeler" in most countries. Oversea's they use the hell out of these trucks, Ranger, TaTa, and the Hilux are the 3 big ones I saw, everything else was either a Land Cruiser/ Toyota SUV or a big box truck/transit van

 

Yea I definitely thing toyota screwed the pooch on this engine. I get they don't want to turbo the truck due to reliability/cost/simplicity, but they need to design an engine meant for the taco/4r instead of repurposing a car engine. This engine would be great in a smaller car... I find it miserable in a truck. My GF isn't a car person and even she realizes how much of a bitch this thing is to drive at times, and her Dodge Dart completely smokes this thing on hills. I'm used to my trucks not being fast but having the power and torque on hills and that's where I made my gains in traffic in the mountains was on the inclines, all the small cars, vans and suvs would slow up and I could just power through them (my old 06 ranger and my beast of a 96 bronco.... miss that 5.8L V8)

 

I have two options for hills with the 3rd gen Taco:

1.) Bleed speed as I gently increase the throttle to try and make it up without a double down shift.

2.) Floor it and scare the s*** out of everyone as my MPG's plummet.