New Ford Ranger mega thread

You must ‘burn headlamps while using wipers’ in NC. But I drive all lower 48 for work. I have this deduced that in most states you need headlights not DRL when it’s raining. But yes, I agree, it does depend on where you live, but either way I think it’s best to run your headlights in the rain so I don’t disagree with Ford’s decision to make this an automatic feature.

 

Most manufacturers have moved to that now anyway. My '16 F150 had headlights that automatically turned on with the wipers, and so does my '15 Ram. The GF's '13 Honda did, and her '16 Mustang does as well. GM's are the same way; the in-law's '15 GMC does it automatically. If Toyota isn't doing it on their new vehicles as well they're behind the times.

 

^Eh, pretty soon this will be an academic discussion, since DRLs, running lights, and headlights are all going LED and are often the same lamp unit, so "full headlights" just means running the LED at 100% power instead of 80% power...

 

True.
The issue that I have with the LED switchover that everybody's doing is that they ice up if you're driving in sleet/freezing rain/wet snow, since they don't produce enough heat on their own to keep the lens defosted. I did an LED retrofit in my F150, and while the extra light output was great most of the time, driving in bad weather meant stopping every 30-40 minutes to knock the accumulated junk off of the headlights so you could see where you were going. Annoying.

 

^Yep, though that's been the case since the late '90s with xenon HIDs. 35W doesn't produce much heat, and most of that is dissipated through the ballast.

 

Never done a xenon kit; wasn't aware that it was an issue for them as well.

 

I agree with DRLs or using running lights appropriately. I do run with headlights on 2-lane highways in all weather conditions, makes my white truck visible from a longer distance against an indistinct environment. It's unscientific but I believe it makes oncoming drivers make better decisions about when to pass or not, e.g. lowering risk of head-on crashing I hope.

I know I was being tongue-in-cheek, but you take good with the bad. I don't see all automation and technology as progress, though. A little bit makes things convenient, a lot of bit lets the driver's attention wane completely. We're past the tipping point, there's so many distractions and so little for the driver's subconscious to do now that all the driver aids are necessary.

I think automobiles as utility peaked in the 1990s, they'd pretty much dialed in how to make them with minimal defects and very reliable (yes, things like EFI, I don't miss carbs) but not yet jam-packed with gadgets. So you had to constantly anticipate gear selects, be thinking how to position your 2 feet on 3 pedals, watching blind spots but still no infotainment and constantly thinking about texts and emails and calls.

So I didn't feel quite as scatterbrained. It's the reason I won't give up my stick shift, I don't want the car to take yet another function from me, I want to be engaged in the operation.

 

Had LED headlights in a work truck and they iced up bad. However, I’ve not had that issue with my 35w HID.

 

How do we not have performance numbers yet

 

This conversation is tight and I'll let you finish in a minute.... but weren't we talkin about the new ranger at some point?

 

I am honestly baffled on why the US might be the last to get the Ranger Raptor if we get it at all! Maybe delayed so it does not take away from the introduction of the standard Ranger models? Money in hand for this truck though.

 

^Yes, could be that or a few other reasons:
Price renegotiations / capacity ramp-up with suppliers like Fox. If the Ranger Raptor is priced in the US as highly as it is in Australia or Europe, you'll probably walk.
Extra time needed to repeat the US certification tests (for fuel economy, towing, stability control, etc.) over the "normal" Ranger.

 

If its MSRP is around $55k I would think that would be a fair price. Pros going for close to that with the market adjustment BS.

 

^We'll see. It's $84k AUD in Australia, equal to about $61k USD : https://www.ford.com.au/future-vehi...raptor-double-cab-pick-up/?l=2481&c=2481&u=P&

US prices should be lower due to the expected higher sales volume. I think the only reasonable guarantee we have is it will be priced below the F150 Raptor, probably.

The truck is 80" wide, about the same as a 2nd gen Taco with +2" per side LT kit and 285 tires.

 

Base F150 Raptor is like 49k if I'm not mistaken so I would think the Ranger version would be less.

 

Just checked & its $55K now starting price. I haven't checked to see what a fully loaded Ranger will cost but I think the pricing for the Raptor version would be under $50 if not closer to mid $40's to compete with the Pro & ZR2.

 

I just googled 2019 F150 Raptor MSRP and it says $50,115, I would figure a Ranger version would probably start about 5k less.

 

50k gets you a cloth supercab raptor

 

I must have been on starting price of Double Cab to start with. Either way I agree that if they do bring it to the states it needs to be around $5K under the price of the full size Raptor.

 

Um, there is a big difference between the cost of steel in 2016 and the current cost of steel now.