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It's been eight long years since we've seen a new Ford Ranger on US shores, but the wait is finally over.
Ford is bringing back the mid-sized Ranger to do battle with the Toyota Tacoma, the Chevy Colorado, and the Nissan Frontier.
I'm finally getting my chance behind the wheel, so you know what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna get it dirty.
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The range is going to be offered in three different trim levels with a varietive difference appearance packages.
But you know the package that I am interested in is the FX4 OFF Road.
Our show on all those things are just cosmetic like oo there is a sticker in, there is visible [UNKNOWN] in the front.
But there are some core bona-fide offer goodies There's skid plate protection all the way around.
The shocks are tuned for off-road use.
The front air dam, that's out of the way.
And there will also be bigger tires.
I mean, yeah they're Hancocks, but still there's more tread on there.
Plus there's the terrain management system, with different modes for normal, grass, gravel, snow, mud and ruts It's in the sand.
Unfortunately there's no baha mode like what we have in the Raptor.
I know super bummer.
And there's also a trail control mode.
So you think of this kind of like cruise control for off road.
Where the truck takes care of the brake and the gas.
And all you have to do is, But honestly, when it comes to all these electronic mumbo jumbo help, I'm not really a fan.
Either you can drive off road or you can't.
But having said that, consumers these days, they want stuff to be easy, and the best selling Toyota Tacoma, well that's got a train management system, so Ford is smart to keep up.
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[SOUND] Under the hood of each Ranger is a 2.3 liter EcoBoost engine, which is putting out 270 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque.
It's really helping me climb up this super steep hill right here.
Now that is the most amount of torque that you can get with a gas engine.
Yes the Colorado is available in a diesel with 369 pound feet of torque.
But that is also way down on power.
Plus this truck in the four by four configuration gets 22 miles per gallon combined.
So when you put that engine with that gas mileage, With the awesome intensity automatic transmission that's lifted right out of the F-150.
And this is a really tough power train to me.
But engine specs don't really mean anything off road if you don't have the geometry to back it up.
Now the fx package does not give the Ranger a lift, so we're still doing the same eight and half, nine inches of ground clearance and the same approach angle at about 29 degrees Now that's way better than the regular Colorado that's only got 17 degrees as an approach angle, and about the same as the Colorado ZR2, but the Tacoma, you can get an approach angle of 35 degrees.
35 degrees!
That is so much more than this Ranger and can really open up places This is where you can go in a Tahoe that you might not be able to get to in a Ranger.
Now I haven't been in the Ranger for that long and I'm on an off road course that Ford has designed, so of course the Ranger is going to do well on it, but I think if it were me, I would start with an actual base Ranger.
I would bypass the FX all together, only so that then I could put my own lift on it, I could put a set of [UNKNOWN] or King Shocks on it, and better tires.
That's really though if you want to take your truck and turn it into a prerunner, go down to Baja, take it out to [UNKNOWN], that kind of stuff.
Most normal people who are just hanging out, taking truck up to the mountains doing a little bit of light off roading.
The Ranger is gonna do you just fine, indeed.
I'm very, very impressed with this vehicle.
And where the Ranger really has the competition is in the interior.
I mean, the Colorado is really function over form.
The Nissan Frontier is super old The Tacoma is, well, kinda ugly.
Here, everything looks as it should for this price point.
I've got a lot of tech in the Ranger.
This has got an 8 inch screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
It runs sync 3. I've got blind spot monitoring that can cover a trailer, which is really nice.
And, adaptive cruise control.
Adaptive cruise control on a midsize truck, that is awesome.
So while I can't get a manual, like I can in the Tacoma, and I can't get a diesel like I can in the Colorado, the Ranger really represents a very, very well rounded truck.
If you're just Doing some light offroading, maybe going out to the desert for a weekend here or there or going up to your mountain cabin, it's going to do you just good.
And my goodness, look at that, I found a mud pit.
Here we go!
Yeah, buddy!
Whoo!
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I've done did that so many times today there's hardly any mud left.
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The 2019 Ford Rangers starts at about $25,000.
Now that is a really good price but good luck keeping it there, depending on your trim and options that can go all the way up to $39,000.
Now I have only spent a few hours in the truck, I can confidently say that the competition should be afraid He should be very, very afraid.
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