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Perry Mack
Solid on-road manners including acceleration and cornering
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Perry Mack
Small truck can haul a large load photo Perry Mack
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Kevin Pearce
Lariat Interior
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Perry Mack
Ranger Lariat
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Perry Mack
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Perry Mack
Smooth but boring traction control demonstration
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Perry Mack
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Perry Mack
Ranger with Kayaks
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Perry Mack
The Ranger has great traction even with a wheel or two in the air
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Perry Mack
Every off-road test needs a water hazard
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Perry Mack
We felt right at home with this payload.Too bad the tanks were empty
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Perry Mack
Words and Photos by Perry Mack
Ford says the new Ranger fulfills truck owners demand for a ‘Built Ford Tough’ mid-size pick-up. The specs look good, but does the driving experience hold up to expectations? Let’s find out as 4WDrive magazine takes a drivers eye view of the new Ford Ranger.
We strapped in behind the wheel of the new Ranger in La Jolla California and set out for the hour and a half drive to the Bradford Ranch for off-road testing. Twisting our way along the two-lane highway the Ranger handled the curves with minimal rolling. The suspension was comfortable, although a little floaty for my taste. However this softness settled down later on in the payload and trailering tests, and was awesome at smoothing out the off-road terrain at higher speed.
We were in the 4x2 SuperCab XLT. The rear seat was a tight fit. With a 6’2 guy in the front with his knees against the dash, the 5’8 guy in the rear seat had his knees against the back of front seat. The space is adequate for short drives but the SuperCab is really better for families with smaller people in the rear. The SuperCrew gives you a full four inches more rear legroom and an extra 3” of rear headroom, making it the best option for travelling with four adults.
Braking was solid and confident as we occasionally ran up behind some snails-pace trucks as we were pushing the Ranger to its on-road limits. Acceleration was good for a small pick-up. Not snap your head back acceleration but adequate, even at 60 mph when you need to pass. Still, leave yourself lots of room.
Inside the cab, the engine doesn’t sound like a little four banger. But there’s a reason for that. Like the F-150 series, Ford ‘augments’ the engine sound using the audio system in the truck. You are hearing your engine, it’s not a recording, but it is enhanced so it sounds the way North Americans want it to.
The 2.3 L Ecoboost mated to the 10-speed transmission provided very smooth acceleration. Unless you were really paying attention, you don’t notice the shift changes.
A bone of contention for some drivers is the auto stop/start technology. I can say that it worked flawlessly on our trials, and you can turn it off with the push of a button. However, the default position is ON, so every time you turn the key to shut the truck off, when you turn the key back on, it restarts to the auto stop/start on position.
Overall I enjoyed the driving experience although I expected a sportier feel from the suspension and the EcoBoost engine. I enjoy driving the six cylinder 2.7 litre Ecoboost in the F-150, and was hoping the four cylinder 2.3 litre would be just as fun in the smaller Ranger. If you own the 4x2 model you can drop it into ‘S’ for sport mode for quicker acceleration but it doesn’t change the suspension and we didn’t really feel a significant difference.
On a positive note the inline four does produce 270 hp, 310 pound-feet torque, and gets 11.8 city, 9.8 hwy, and 10.9 L/100km combined (21, 26 and 23 mpg). That’s less horsepower than Tacoma at 278 or Colorado at 308 in their gas V-6 engines but more torque. In fact, the only way to get more torque in this segment is the diesel Colorado at 369 pound-feet, but you give up a lot of horsepower - down to 200.
What is interesting with the Ranger’s 2.3-litre is you get 270 horsepower using 89 octane. If you use 92 octane Ford says you can get 300 horsepower. So if you need another reason to choose Ranger, buy better gas.
And Ranger buyers will have to be happy with it, as it is the ONLY engine option. When asked why, Ford staff said they believe it is the best engine choice for the truck. I asked why not include the existing 2.7L EcoBoost? The answer was they wanted a shorter, lighter engine for the truck. Any weight savings means a bigger payload capacity, and in this case it is a segment leading 844 kg (1860 lbs). That’s roughly three hundred pounds better than competitors.
The shorter engine improves the approach angle of the truck and makes room for the powered cooling fan, improving off-road and towing capability.
Now for the off-road test. First up was a test of Ford’s Trail Control feature, which is also found in the Ford Raptor, and they chose the 2019 Tacoma Crawl Control to do a head to head comparison. Both systems are essentially an off-road cruise control, which allow computer-controlled throttle and braking to each wheel. Ford made theirs with a range of 1-20 mph, while the Toyota system is between 1 and five miles per hour.
It was immediately apparent that the Ford Trail Control system is much smoother and quieter. And while rolling over logs was a good test, a great test would have been a demonstration of getting unstuck from sand, like so many Tacoma videos out there.
The off-road course was a circuit that included some mud, off-camber corners, open running, small climbs and descents. Typical terrain for reaching that out-of-the-way fishing hole or favourite isolated camping spot. This is where the Ranger really did shine. In the 4x4 version, the approach angle was useful at 28.7°, the break over angle was good at 21.5°, and the departure angle of 25.4 degrees meant we didn’t get hung up on the trail. The suspension worked to keep higher off-roads speeds controllable and comfortable. 4x4 was dependable throughout and made easy work of the course, which honestly could have easily been done in 2-wheel drive.
When it comes to off-road we like what Ford has done. This is a body on frame construction with a solid rear axle by Dana, the same company that supplies Jeep, and the Ranger comes with a rear-locking differential. It is an off-road worthy truck that will get you where you need to go to have fun.
The Ranger has a max payload of 844kg (1860 lb) in the best 4x2 configuration. It was loaded with a couple of motorcycles weighing in at about 1200 lbs. The payload had little impact on the drive quality with respect to acceleration, braking, and cornering, but the ride did improve, as the suspension didn’t feel like we were floating down the road as it did when we were unloaded.
We tested the tow capabilities of the Ranger by hooking up a Moomba Makai. The 2.3L Ecoboost delivers a best-in-class for gas tow rating of 7,500 lbs. In the mid-size segment only the Colorado or Canyon with the Duramax 2.8-litre diesel is better at 7700 lbs.
The Ranger towed the boat easily enough although I wouldn’t want to tow this much on a regular basis. But, for occasional hauling, you can get the job done and for a lot less money than buying a full-size truck. You can accelerate adequately in traffic and safely bring the truck to a stop. You will want to take your corners slowly though, and keep in mind that your truck can be narrower than your load so drive cautiously.
The trailering package has the Ford Blind Spot Information System (BLIS), which after the trailer is hooked up, radar in the taillights monitors vehicles in the your blind spots right to the back of the trailer. The Ranger can store up to three different trailer profiles taking into account the trailer length to let you know if there is a vehicle there. When the trailer isn’t attached, BLIS has a cross-traffic alert that can warn you of approaching traffic when you are backing out of a parking spot.
Ford is doing some cool things for Ranger outside of the trucks’ engineering. They market the truck as a lifestyle piece of gear. And they’ve done a great job by partnering with quality aftermarket accessory companies like Yakima, Thule, Bedrug, Truxedo, Undercover, Kicker, Aeroskin, Bushwacker, Borla, Rigid and Warn. The advantages to you and me include having trusted brand names, that allow you to incorporate your existing accessories, and because you can get them at your Ford dealer, you can incorporate them into the purchase financing of your vehicle. That means outfitting your truck with the gear you need, when you need it, and hopefully at a cheaper rate of financing than you can get anywhere else if you need to finance.
Ford says it is bringing back the Ranger now for two main reasons. Firstly is the higher size and price of the F-150 since the introduction of the new aluminum body. This is pushing some pick-up truck buyers out of the full-size market and into the arms of the Toyota, GM and Nissan mid-size trucks. These buyers don’t want to spend that much, and don’t have the room to park it.
Prior to that Ford was concerned that the Ranger would cannibalize F-150 sales. Ford’s fears were alleviated after watching the successful re-introduction of the Canyon and Colorado, and how they did NOT eat into Silverado and GMC sales, as they did in their initial sales in the 90’s.
In other news, Canadians won’t get the full line-up of Ranger trim lines. Not surprisingly Ford won’t even attempt to sell the 4x2 configuration here - all models will be 4x4. We’ll get an XL SuperCab (starting at $30,969 CAD), XLT in SuperCab and SuperCrew, and the Lariat in SuperCrew with deliveries starting Spring 2019.
The mid-size pick-up market has grown to a half a million vehicles with expectations that it will reach 600,000. Which means that Ranger growth will soon have to come at the cost of other brands. Dominance may mean survival. We’re excited with the truck Ford has delivered in the Ranger. Let’s see what the rest of North America thinks.
Check out our YouTube videos;
Performance Review
Full Trail Control Demo
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