Car and Driver goes deep in this full-on review of the new crew cab, 4×4 Ranger. The first part is about off-road handling and is also about where just about nobody is going to drive a Ford Ranger.
However, the second half gets into the real world, in my view. If you’re looking for a go-getter or an estimate vehicle or anything not requiring 8-cylinders and that won’t get stuck in the snow, Ranger seems to have a lot to offer: nice mileage, reasonable price, and decent towing capacity (with the tow package).
If you’re looking for the most scaled-down new truck, the Ranger 4×2 extra cab gets high marks, here.
Highlights From Car and Driver:
Hooked to the 10-speed automatic and under the hood of every new Ranger is the aforesaid turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four. Related to the turbo fours of the Mustang and the Focus RS, the engine makes less power here than it does in those cars. But the Ranger’s 270 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 310 pound-feet of torque at 3000 rpm pushed this 4536-pound SuperCrew pickup to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds and through the quarter in 15.0 seconds at 93 mph. That’s 0.4 second behind the V-6 Colorado and a tenth off the Honda Ridgeline’s pace but nearly a second quicker than a V-6 Toyota Tacoma. There’s virtually no lag from a stop, and the low-end torque motivates the Ranger without much effort. We didn’t tow with it, but we have no doubt that this engine and transmission combo would have no real issue hauling near the truck’s 7500-pound tow limit. (Lacking the Trailer Tow package, our test truck was rated to pull 3500 pounds from its bumper.) Compared with the six-cylinder trucks it competes with, this Ranger’s city figure of 20 mpg is best in the class and its 24 on the highway is 1 mpg shy of the Ridgeline’s and tied with the Colorado’s. We only managed 16 mpg during our boost-filled week with the Ranger. It’s likely you’ll do better.
Driving more slowly than we do won’t improve the interior. Boring and uninspired in the manner of a cheap car from 2011 (or a modern Mitsubishi), the design is at least simple and the controls are easy to decipher. Ford offers an 8.0-inch touchscreen, but the lines, materials, and switch gear are straight out of Obama’s first term. At least the Ranger’s cabin is much larger than before. In the new-to-this-gen SuperCrew configuration, there’s plenty of space for four large adults, and the rear doors open wide to allow easy entry. This Ranger is also 3.9 inches wider than the last rear-drive SuperCab model and 7.2 inches longer.
A base rear-drive Ranger starts at $25,495, and a SuperCrew 4×4 opens at $31,875. Choose our truck’s XLT trim and that jumps to $35,310. Options brought our total to $41,725, a price that doesn’t include leather and would put you into a nicely equipped F-150. Big incentives on full-size pickups and dealers motivated to move F-150s may hurt Ranger sales, but that’s true for all mid-size trucks, and yet the segment is growing. Toyota sold nearly a quarter-million Tacomas last year, Colorado and Canyon sales were just shy of 170,000, and Nissan came close to selling 80,000 Frontiers—which is remarkable considering the Frontier carbon-dates to 2005. Although this Ranger isn’t wholly new, mid-size-pickup buyers are clearly a forgiving lot. The new engine and transmission, quiet on-road demeanor, and slightly more manageable size should allow the Ranger to thrive in the shadow of the F-150.