“Dear North America, since departing your market, hitting the gym and taking my vitamins, I have blossomed into one of the most award winning vehicles around the world for 2012. Heck, I just won 4×4 Magazine Pick-Up of the Year 2013 with one wheel tied behind my tailgate. Do you think One Ford (you know – the one global platform thing) is ready to accept me? Can I come back to the United States?” – – Ford Ranger
The only reason most folks reason for the new Ford Ranger’s absence from our shores is the F-150.
Ford’s new Ranger is a completely different machine over the one that sat, nearly unchanged, in our market for a ba-zillion years.
Overseas, most small trucks use turbo-diesel engines, because it’s the best way to get monster torque while maintaining good economy. (I converted the numbers, so everything listed is an approximate estimation for North American measurements). The base model 2-liter, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel engine makes around 277 lbs-feet of torque. That’s a heaping spoonful of twist and those numbers are comparable to big, gasoline V6s sold in the U.S. Better yet, it can achieve about 28 mpg.
Want more balls?
The big 3.2-liter, five-cylinder diesel makes about 347 lbs-feet of torque at 1,500 to 3,400 rpm. A six-speed manual or automatic are available. The Ford Ranger can get up to about 23 mpg with the manual and slightly less with the auto. Lemme repeat that first part as I bet some of you glossed over it… THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY SEVEN-ish POUNDS OF TORQUE!
Yes, that’s a lot.
I don’t know about you, but I love the modern, sleek look of the new Ford Ranger. It mixes functional, beefy components into a shape that looks pretty aerodynamic to me. You certainly know it’s a Ford product from just about every angle.
The interior is very nice and gives a nod to Ford trucks and cars. It’s an interesting amalgamation of Ford design bits and it looks high quality to boot. It looks like a larger interior than the Ford Ranger that was sold on our shores; although, that’s not too hard to imagine.
Look, I understand Ford not wanting the F-150 to suffer local market loss with the new Ford Ranger around, but there are so many folks who could use a cheap, small, well made pickup truck. Imagine if Ford brought this to us with a four-cylinder EcoBoost hooked up … that would be a killer machine for our market.
How about a mini Raptor?
The possibilities are tempting to say the least.
What do you guys think? Ford watches The Fast Lane Car videos and sees posts like this one. Do you think Ford should bring back this awesome Ranger?
Here’s a video of the European Auto Show debut of the new Ranger:
