NAIAS Debut Tomorrow?

BlackBII said:

Eh... warning, diatribe ahead.

No single cab with a 6' bed? Lame. No manual transmission? Lame. I like the 2.3 Ecoboost. I dislike the Colorado/Tacoma rear doors, the Tacoma grill and headlights, and the Nissan fenders.

It really has the looks of a copy paste Tacoma.

I know they wanted to differentiate it from the F-150, but I had really hoped they would have taken some styling cues from it to make it look like a Ford truck, and not a Toyota/Nissan. I don't think it's bad looking really, just not Ford Ranger looking.

This makes me worried for the Bronco.

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No single cab, but the extended cab does have a 6 foot bed. It's not dramatically different in size from the previous super cabs, they just widened it a few inches.
I have mixed emotions on the styling as well, but functionally it should be a great platform.

It is an amusing line to draw, they just put a steel bumper on the front of the T-6 more or less.

The base Ranger carcass came out in 2011. It was facelifted to its current form for 2015 model year. The new Taco didn't come out until 2016... and looks a lot like the overseas Ranger. So by not changing the truck much when coming to a new market Ford catches crap for copying the guy that copied them.

2011 T-6 Ranger


2015+ T-6 Ranger


2018 NA Ranger



2011 Taco


2016+ Taco


I honestly have not been a fan of fullsize styling for awhile and am glad they distanced themselves from it.

My point wasn't that Ford copied Toyota or vice versa because that doesn't really matter, only that I think the trucks look too similar, and wished they had gone a different direction in the styling.

Ford catches crap for copying the guy that copied them

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Then they should have changed it a little more.

BlackBII said:

My point wasn't that Ford copied Toyota or vice versa because that doesn't really matter, only that I think the trucks look too similar, and wished they had gone a different direction in the styling.



Then they should have changed it a little more.

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Actually when you roll it back and forth they are quite a bit different. The shape of the grille and where the headlights sit are somewhat similar but the shape of the front of the trucks is vastly different.

I think Ford is doing this first round on the cheap styling-wise to test the waters too.

I looked at both trucks yesterday (TRD Pro Taco) and the new Ranger, they don't look a whole lot alike in real life. Ranger has a much smoother front end.

Bobby Walters made it into one of Motor Trend's photos:
http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/5/2018/01/2019-Ford-Ranger-Lariat-FX4-18.jpg

Actually, I think I'm in that one too. Framed dead center in the driver's window wearing glasses.

Jim posted that in GD, he is behind Bobby talking to a Ford guy.

EDIT: Here is my video from the reveal. I know there are better videos but is from where we were filmed with my digital camera.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd9CgdPcKfo&feature=youtu.be

Farther back (better video)

the reveal vid was cool at the event.... on the computer....its just another video.

bobbywalter said:

the reveal vid was cool at the event.... on the computer....its just another video.

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I know, we were close enough I couldn't get the options on the sides too.

85_Ranger4x4 said:

I know, we were close enough I couldn't get the options on the sides too.

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Some of the official videos on YouTube do show the voting choices.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Ford wants to market this as an adventure vehicle. When we were talking to the Ford Ranger Team, I tried to express the value of upfitter switches like they offer in the SuperDuty's. I told them that I need to add off-road lights to the front, and work lights to the rear of my adventure vehicle, and need a switch to wire them to. I want Ford to at least add them to the FX4 package, or make them an option.

I was a little disappointed that they allowed us to ask questions, but didn't take advantage of our experiences and ask for our input.

I am hoping they just have what they are going to launch ironed out and they were noting things we were interested in to add down the road.

Upfitter switches and an integrated brake controller would be great sellers IMO.

Jim Oaks said:

I was a little disappointed that they allowed us to ask questions, but didn't take advantage of our experiences and ask for our input.

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Well, I'm hoping that they at least read the forum

They are promoting best in class: Last night I was looking at the competition - Canyon has integrated brake controller. Come on Ford!

And raise the bar with the upfitter switches; Tacos have'm - makes installation of light bar look so professional.

don4331 said:

Well, I'm hoping that they at least read the forum

They are promoting best in class: Last night I was looking at the competition - Canyon has integrated brake controller. Come on Ford!

And raise the bar with the upfitter switches; Tacos have'm - makes installation of light bar look so professional.

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I'm tired of the Ranger lagging behind the competition, or always being a response to the competition. I'd love to have a job with Ford where I was involved with the design, and promotion of the Ford Ranger.

They're marketing this to the Adventure Crowd. I told them they need to take this to the spring and fall Overland Expo. They had no idea what I was talking about.

You can't put 'adveture' and vehicle together without thinking Overland Expo.

don4331 said:

Well, I'm hoping that they at least read the forum

They are promoting best in class: Last night I was looking at the competition - Canyon has integrated brake controller. Come on Ford!

And raise the bar with the upfitter switches; Tacos have'm - makes installation of light bar look so professional.

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F-Series has both too, not that groundbreaking for ford.

Jim Oaks said:

I'm tired of the Ranger lagging behind the competition, or always being a response to the competition. I'd love to have a job with Ford where I was involved with the design, and promotion of the Ford Ranger.

They're marketing this to the Adventure Crowd. I told them they need to take this to the spring and fall Overland Expo. They had no idea what I was talking about.

You can't put 'adveture' and vehicle together without thinking Overland Expo.

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Make sure they bring it to Overland Expo East.