Senior Editor Alex Kierstein reviews the 2019 Ford Ranger.
TranscriptALEX KIERSTEIN: I'm Alex Kierstein, and this is a 2019 Ford Ranger.
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The truck was actually designed by Ford of Australia, and it's been significantly revised for the American market. In this configuration, it has one powertrain. It's a 2.3-liter turbo-charged four-cylinder engine and EcoBoost. It makes 270 horsepower and 310 foot pound of torque. It's paired to a version of the same 10-speed automatic that's in the F-150 and a lot of other Ford products.
And one of the kind of interesting things about this truck is it's a little bit smaller than the competition. The Frontier is the oldest truck in the segment. It's the smallest. This is the next smallest. It's slightly smaller than the Tacoma and the Colorado. It also feels smaller. And I don't mean that in a bad way. It doesn't feel cramped or claustrophobic, but it feels like there's some differentiation between it and the F-150.
I was a little concerned when I first drove the Ranger that this 2.3-liter engine was going to be not a good character fit for a mid-size pickup. A small, downsized motor-- a few years ago, I would say this would be a non-starter in the segment. That being said, it doesn't sound and feel like a V6. It also doesn't sound and feel like a small turbo-charged motor in a car. They've done a pretty good job of making this feel like a truck motor. You don't have to work it super hard to get the kind of performance you'd expect from a V6. It just does the job.
I think the transmission helps a lot. The 10-speed automatic really helps keep this 2.3-liter engine in its sweet spot in its power van. There's also a lot of torque available down low, and the throttle tipping is pretty aggressive. And what that gives you is an engine that feels bigger than it is.
It's also an engine that I think is not super overstressed in this application. Think about the towing numbers. This thing can 7,500 pounds when properly equipped. It doesn't seem like it will be overstressed in that application.
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This truck was designed for a different market with different tastes. In a lot of the rest of the world, they like a midsize truck to have more of a car-like look and feel. For the US, they've really changed a lot of the exterior panels. Some of it was to make it lighter weight. There is an aluminum hood and tailgate, for example.
Some of it's for aero, and some of it's to make the truck look a little more rough and tumble. I think especially if you compare this to the trucks as it looked when it's sold in the rest of the world, it looks really good. It doesn't look like a small F-150. It has its own identity. I really think Ford did a good job adapting this product for this market.
One of the other things that Ford did to get this truck ready for this market is make the interior resemble the F-150 a little bit more. And it does. It has some overtones without being a downsized clone. Things look proportionally. In this truck, they've nicely laid out the larger sync setup. You've got a nice, meaty wheel that's wrapped in leather. The seats are comfortable. It's a well-thought-out interior.
For the things that most people do with their trucks-- traveling around the suburbs, towing a boat, taking your kids to school, running errands, going to the hardware store-- this seems like a great size.
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I was a little apprehensive about this truck before I got in it. I was worried about some of the decisions that Ford made-- the downsized engine, the slightly smaller sizing, the focus on fuel economy, the fact that it was a truck that wasn't designed here. It was just adapted for this market.
But after driving it, the 2.3-liter EcoBoost in the real world is not a limitation in the way it feels or what it can actually do. I think people should keep an open mind about the engine and not dismiss it out of hand. The same goes for the right sizing of the vehicle. It's compact, but also large enough.
And lastly, compared to its competitors, in some ways, I think it's more interesting and looks better. The exterior and interior styling, in my mind, works better than the kind of awkward, overdone Tacoma. And the interior especially is way better than the Colorado.
When you add it all up, you've got a midsize pickup that I think is going to be a success. I think Ford read the market correctly, took the right risks, was conservative in other areas, and ended up with a truck that looks good and drives well and has class-leading fuel economy. This is a great midsize pickup.
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