2.3 ranger questions

[Guy]

Been out of the RBV scene for a while, and although I am enamored with my '94 F150, I am looking to replace my geo metro DD with something that I can pull my boat behind.
What I need: is a truck that gets baller gas milage- so Im pretty stuck on the 2.3, needs to be an ext. cab, and other than that I aint picky.
My questions to y'all is this, what kinda fuel economy can I expect as a DD with a rig like this? what are the best years to be looking for? What is the last year that the 2.3 was installed? Or alternatley is there a diffrent motor that affords the same fuel economy, or better? All my RBV experience is with 4.0's and I know that engine aint gonna do what I want. P.S. most of my driving is a 40 mile round trip commute on 2 lane country highways.
Thanks for the info.

 

[scotts90ranger]

best mileage is with the duratec ('01 up) 2.3, but a normal 2.3 from the early 90's should net you in the 23mpg neighborhood

 

[Zeisan]

I've got an 03 2.3l, 2wd and I get between 25-28mpg, that's with 235/75r15s on it. I suppose it would also depend on the size of boat you wanna pull. The best thing for mileage would be a diesel, they put out decent power too. Good luck finding one, though you could do a swap.