The newest Ford Ranger is about to go on sale in North America, a few 12 months after the favored ute grew to become out there in the remainder of the world.
In comparison with the outgoing Ranger, there appear to be fewer variations between the worldwide and American variations. Final time round, the US Ranger had a novel bonnet and tailgate, rode on taller suspension, and used a single wheelbase setup for each tremendous and crew cab our bodies.
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This time round, the North American Ranger is barely out there in physique type, a four-door crew cab. Exterior variations appear to be restricted to smaller particulars, such because the facet marker lights constructed into the wheel arch protectors, and altered graphics for the tail-lights.
The US Ranger is 5350mm lengthy, 1920mm vast, 1890mm tall, and rides on the identical 3270mm wheelbase as the worldwide ute. Floor clearance is 240mm on 4×2 fashions, and 260mm on 4×4 variants.
Given diesel engines aren’t well-liked Stateside, until we’re speaking about bigger work-oriented pickup vehicles, such because the Ford Tremendous Responsibility and Chevrolet Silverado HD, it’s no shock to study the American Ranger lineup consists purely of turbocharged petrol engines.
Customary is the Ford’s 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine, which is rated at 201kW and 420Nm.
All common Ranger variants could be optioned up with a 2.7-litre twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 petrol engine that’s stated to develop 235kW and 542Nm.
Each engines are solely mated to a 10-speed computerized transmission. Rear-wheel drive is the bottom configuration, with an digital shift-on-the-fly 4×4 system out there.
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Within the US, the Ranger has a most payload ranking of 819kg (1800 kilos), and a most towing capability of 3400kg (7500 kilos).
In contrast to the present automobile, the brand new Raptor might be offered within the US too. Like the worldwide model, it’s fitted with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine that generates 302kW and 583Nm.
The Ranger Raptor has a daring Ford-branded grille, a wider stance matched with prolonged wheel arch protectors, and 33-inch BFGoodrich all-terrain KO3 tyres on 17-inch alloy wheels. It rides on long-travel suspension with Watts hyperlink setup on the rear, and a pair of.5-inch Fox Stay Valve shocks.
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Inside, the cabin ought to really feel immediately recognisable to Ranger aficionados from different elements of the world. An 8.0-inch digital instrumentation show, and 10.1-inch touchscreen are commonplace, as is a 4G LTE modem.
Larger-spec fashions have a 12.4-inch instrumentation cluster and a 12.0-inch touchscreen operating the newest Sync 4A infotainment system.
Out there options embody an exterior zone lighting system that may be managed via the touchscreen or the FordPass smartphone app, a 400W inverter with outlet within the tray, and an built-in facet step behind the rear wheels.
Driver help objects prolong to adaptive cruise management with cease and go operation, automated parking, trailer steering traces and prompts, and blind spot monitoring that takes an connected trailer under consideration.
One merchandise notable by its absence is the hands-off-the-wheel, eyes-on-the-road Blue Cruise Degree 2 autonomous driving system, which works on choose highways in Canada and the US. At current Blue Cruise is barely out there on the Mustang Mach-E, F-150, and Expedition.
Whereas Australia-bound Rangers are inbuilt Thailand, and different world markets are served by Ford’s South African manufacturing facility, the North American Ranger is inbuilt Wayne, Michigan.
The brand new Ranger goes on sale quickly with the primary automobiles arriving in homeowners’ driveways by the center of the third quarter, though consumers who go for a 2.7-litre V6 mannequin should wait till round November.
It is going to be attention-grabbing to see if the brand new mannequin will assist revive the Ranger’s fortunes within the US. Final 12 months, gross sales fell virtually 40 per cent to 56,987, which means it misplaced its normal second place behind the Toyota Tacoma.
In 2022, the Ranger was outsold by the Tacoma (215,853), Chevrolet Colorado (89,187), Jeep Gladiator (77,855), Nissan Frontier (76,185), and even the smaller Ford Maverick (74,370).
It did handle to remain forward of the Honda Ridgeline (42,762), Hyundai Santa Cruz (36,480), and GMC Canyon (27,821).
