85_Ranger4x4
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- Joined
- Aug 7, 2007
- Messages
- 32,326
- Reaction score
- 17,804
- Points
- 113
- Location
- SW Iowa
- Vehicle Year
- 1985
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Type
- V8
- Engine Size
- 5.0
- Transmission
- Manual
Omaha had their autoshow this past weekend and I was finally able to sit in the new Ranger after Ford dangled it in front of me a year ago. They have pretty much everything there to play with so you can go from one to the next and see what you think side by side with no annoying salesmen interfering... worth the $8 to park and $9 to get in on a cold winter day.
Anyway, the infamous oil filter shield. Just a rubber flap with a couple fasteners, no biggie. Some squirthead came over laughing about how you have to pull the tire to change the oil when he saw me poking around the wheel well with my penlight.
And then during TFL's towing thing they showed the spring was pretty close to the bumpstop with a trailer on it but commented that it wasn't really squatting that much. So while I waited for the cab to clear out I did a "fastpakr" and crawled under to investigate it.
There isn't really a ton of room between the axle and bumpstop to start with. Although the bumpstop (or "jouncer" as Ford calls them now) is much more elaborate than the chunks of rubber my trucks have.
First up we have miss 1619.
Lots of seat travel, impressive legroom. Seats are nice, truck feels nice. I am 6'-3" and wear 38" leg Wranglers for reference.
Knee doesn't interfere with the console too bad. I was concerned about this because my knee hits the console in my wife's Edge. Where my leg did contact it the thing was curved with no sharp edges. Still I wish I could delete the thing but it is tolerable.
I think it was "the truck guy" on youtube that didn't like the switch location, I didn't think it was too bad. About the same as my F-150... maybe a hair father back but not a whole lot.
For legroom I would say it is kinda similar fore and aft to the comfort of a first gen Explorer. If the guy in the front has the seat all the way back the guy in the back is going to be cramped and vice versa. Good for short trips with adults but I wouldn't really strike off cross country with an adult I fear retribution from sitting in the back seat. I think most midsizes are similar though.
As I figured it has a capless fuel tank compared to the reveal truck that had a cap (I took a pic of it knowing that would probably be changed for production)
(truck at the unveiling a year ago)
Miss 144 was there but was all locked up. Nice looking XLT FX4.
Lots of people grumbling about the price, same price as a F-150. Amazing how nobody can figure out that a $40k F150 will not be a Lariat.
Anyway, off to yota land for comparison.
Nice legroom, coming straight from the Ranger entry and seating position were weird though. The seat is like on the floor and the roof is low, it is kind of a weird hop/duck maneuver to get in (coming from a lifted std cab first gen owner take that for what it is worth) Console is lower, I liked it better than Ranger. Also I like REAL KNOBS for HVAC controls instead of membrane buttons like the Lariat Ranger (lower Ranger trims have two knobs) Shifter looks nicer and is less bulky than the Ranger.
Gladiator is coming, might as well sample the new Wrangler too. Interior is cool, probably the neatest of all of them... except for the 4wd lever.
Glad to have it, wish it could be somewhere else other than against my knee. I couldn't get it to move, some 8yo might have jammed it between selections so it is stuck somewhere it isn't normally supposed to be, I don't know.
Off to GM land, they only had a ZR2 which I really don't care for the looks of on the outside. Aside from a bland steering wheel and cluster the interior isn't too bad though. Console is similar to Taco, probably ranks #2 in my book behind the Taco.
Accelerator pedal seems unnaturally close to the trans tunnel though, I really did not care for that.
Entry had a little of the Taco weirdness but not near as much.
Rectangular lights sitting on an arched lightbar look weird though.
Also sat in the Ridgeline which kinda/sorta/not really is a competitor, very nice interior. Didn't get a pic though.
Anyway, that is my $.02.
Anyway, the infamous oil filter shield. Just a rubber flap with a couple fasteners, no biggie. Some squirthead came over laughing about how you have to pull the tire to change the oil when he saw me poking around the wheel well with my penlight.
And then during TFL's towing thing they showed the spring was pretty close to the bumpstop with a trailer on it but commented that it wasn't really squatting that much. So while I waited for the cab to clear out I did a "fastpakr" and crawled under to investigate it.
There isn't really a ton of room between the axle and bumpstop to start with. Although the bumpstop (or "jouncer" as Ford calls them now) is much more elaborate than the chunks of rubber my trucks have.
First up we have miss 1619.
Lots of seat travel, impressive legroom. Seats are nice, truck feels nice. I am 6'-3" and wear 38" leg Wranglers for reference.
Knee doesn't interfere with the console too bad. I was concerned about this because my knee hits the console in my wife's Edge. Where my leg did contact it the thing was curved with no sharp edges. Still I wish I could delete the thing but it is tolerable.
I think it was "the truck guy" on youtube that didn't like the switch location, I didn't think it was too bad. About the same as my F-150... maybe a hair father back but not a whole lot.
For legroom I would say it is kinda similar fore and aft to the comfort of a first gen Explorer. If the guy in the front has the seat all the way back the guy in the back is going to be cramped and vice versa. Good for short trips with adults but I wouldn't really strike off cross country with an adult I fear retribution from sitting in the back seat. I think most midsizes are similar though.
As I figured it has a capless fuel tank compared to the reveal truck that had a cap (I took a pic of it knowing that would probably be changed for production)
(truck at the unveiling a year ago)
Miss 144 was there but was all locked up. Nice looking XLT FX4.
Lots of people grumbling about the price, same price as a F-150. Amazing how nobody can figure out that a $40k F150 will not be a Lariat.
Anyway, off to yota land for comparison.
Nice legroom, coming straight from the Ranger entry and seating position were weird though. The seat is like on the floor and the roof is low, it is kind of a weird hop/duck maneuver to get in (coming from a lifted std cab first gen owner take that for what it is worth) Console is lower, I liked it better than Ranger. Also I like REAL KNOBS for HVAC controls instead of membrane buttons like the Lariat Ranger (lower Ranger trims have two knobs) Shifter looks nicer and is less bulky than the Ranger.
Gladiator is coming, might as well sample the new Wrangler too. Interior is cool, probably the neatest of all of them... except for the 4wd lever.
Glad to have it, wish it could be somewhere else other than against my knee. I couldn't get it to move, some 8yo might have jammed it between selections so it is stuck somewhere it isn't normally supposed to be, I don't know.
Off to GM land, they only had a ZR2 which I really don't care for the looks of on the outside. Aside from a bland steering wheel and cluster the interior isn't too bad though. Console is similar to Taco, probably ranks #2 in my book behind the Taco.
Accelerator pedal seems unnaturally close to the trans tunnel though, I really did not care for that.
Entry had a little of the Taco weirdness but not near as much.
Rectangular lights sitting on an arched lightbar look weird though.
Also sat in the Ridgeline which kinda/sorta/not really is a competitor, very nice interior. Didn't get a pic though.
Anyway, that is my $.02.
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