Video Tacoma vs Ranger

Just stumbled into this marketing video of Toyota talking down the Ranger.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OVPsijFEb8o

It’s not bad, but I laughed a little when they said the Tacoma has a “Whopping” 278hp

 

What could possibly go wrong with a ford transmission that has 10 gears?

 

haha for ranger ohh hell no

 

This is actually a decent review of them both, for sure a little more biased towards the Tacoma but not painful to get through like most.

 

better or worse than the thousands of complaints about the tacos 6 gears?

 

My ranger has been rock solid for 23 years. Ugly as hell, but still kicking. GF has a newish focus and it's on its 4th transmission and I've replaced the wheel bearings twice and it's not even to 60k miles. I don't think I would ever want a modern ford.

 

According to Internet Forums, every single Transmission sold in America has issues. Except Manuals, the Die-Hard stick shift guys rarely admit anything bad about them. I used to be one of those guys and still am when I take my 350z out on occasion.

 

I never had it with the 2016 AT on the stock tune, always shifted fine even in CC. No comment on the MT drivers who think rowing the shifter
yourself is some kind of feat reserved only for Mensa members.

 

If it's a ZF, I wouldn't be too worried. I would much rather have a 10sp standard design automatic than a 4sp or certainly a cvt. It's the big steps between gears that scare me driving low-gear-count autos.
Edit 2: it's a joint venture transmission between GM and Ford... nah son, I'm not betting anything on that one! I hope I'm wrong for the sake of those who buy them, I'm just scarred, haha.

The ax-15 is a known time bomb. Good trans in many ways but synchros by 100k is pretty much a given. I replaced mine with an nsg-370. The AX is still in the garage, ready to go behind either the 302 or 4bt in the Bronco. It'll do well with the 302, i think the 4bt might beat it to death. We'll see.

Back on topic, I liked the tacoma more than the ranger, so that's what I bought. I don't understand the pissing matches and self affirmation wars people get in about vehicles that compete against whatever forum you're on. It's like a high school pep rally for validating how much money they spent. Now to watch the video and see how hard it makes me cringe. Edit: not as bad as expected. They missed a couple of advantages of the tacoma, but that's the marketing dept for you, they never really know what they're selling.

 

I'm a huge fan of the old Rangers.
I had two personally and used them for work.....as intended.....on 35,000 acres of forest I used to manage. They were great trucks.
I was given Jeeps, Chevy S10's and one Dodge Dakota that was a basket case since say one.
The only ones that performed for the tasks and lasted were the Rangers.
But.....like most everything.....nothing stays the same.
When it came time for this truck, I took about a 5 minute look at the Ranger and decided on Tacoma.
I need a more proven system. Seemed like a lot could go wrong on the Ranger and I'm seeing too many 1-2 year old used ones on every dealership lot already.

 

Decent review but obviously biased. Both are good trucks. Ranger is too ugly for me and not versatile enough. Ranger will definitely suit some people better; Karen’s and Pop’s need trucks too. Tacoma all the way for me.

 

My first toyota 4x4 mini truck was a 78 wolverine conversion. Surprised they didn't mention their small 4x4 pickups were around since 1979.

 

At the end of the day we’re all here looking for the same thing, little bit of modern conveniences, OffRoad capabilities and a truck that can still do work. Looking at the Ranger it obviously doesn’t fill those needs in my opinion. Tacoma’s on the other hand fill that need quite well.

 

A lot of passive commenting going on here...."the Ranger only has", the Rangers is only available with..."

Seems like a Toyota commercial by proxy to me.

Just sayin'....

 

That's because manuals have clutches that blow up and you replace for $100 and it saves the transmission from abuse. Sure, there are money shifts and other user errors, but as a whole, manuals are less maintenance\cost\hassle in every imaginable way. Then, and this is the key here, when you do fubarb a manual box you can get another one for a few hundred bucks where most slush-boxes cost thousands. Don't even get me started on the dual clutch shit from ford that is literally the biggest financial mistake FORD has ever made.

Plus, swapping a manual transmission is pretty damned easy. So is retrofitting one because it lacks the computer that tells the ECU what its doing so you have less hassle there. I've done my share of transmission swaps, I have 4 5 speed trannys in the shop that I pulled from cars and replaced with 6 speeds. I was going to turn them into pool table legs, that would be pretty cool.

From a maintenance and performance aspect, manual transmissions are always superior to slushboxes.

Now, when it comes to driving a slow ass truck to and from the hardware store with less than 300 hp and 4500 lbs. Its slow as shit in every imaginable way and that's fine because its a truck and trucks are for getting stuff not speed. A slush box should be fine, but I straight up hate how it wants to kick down on the highway whenever the cruise is tripped by someone moving out of my lane. It needs to calm the fuck down, if I was in a hurry, I wouldn't be in a truck.

Lets just hope this fail-o-matic in my new truck doesn't make me regret getting my first slushie ever.

 

The Ranger is garbage

 

I test drove a Ranger FX4 Lariat before I bought my 2020 Tacoma. I needed to see if the Ranger would wow me. It didn't.

 

Bwahahahahahahahaha!!! I just spit coffee all over my iPad.

 

Same here. The overall package and the general feel of the Taco sold me on it. Plus them willing to make a much more reasonable deal than the Ford dealer on a year newer vehicle didn't hurt obviously.

 

My buddy just got one. I cant say anything bad about the 4banger turbo. They got it right w that one. U punch it..it moves.