Global Ranger revisited - again

[Jim Oaks]

But hey at least there bringing the Bronco back.
http://www.fourwheeler.com/news/1404-2016-ford-svt-bronco-coming-soon/?sm_id=social21068874

Just kidding, its April fools.

My daughter came over yesterday and asked me if I heard they were bringing back the Bronco. You should have saw her face when I said "You know that was an April fools joke right?"

This looks pretty cool for a ute.

 

[brokemechanic3000]

There is a company that makes them called Icon Vehicle Dynamics

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...yrBmUNvOz2ALe9wVQ&sig2=RbnsfvDPK8aZTumY015LOg

 

[FijiRanger]

They should do away with that tax. But I'm actually excited to see what Chevy is going to bring to the table with the Colorado, and maybe that will encourage Ford to bring the Ranger back.

Chevy will bring back the Colorado in 2015 but unfortunately, the 2.8 duramax diesel won't be offered until 2016. These pics of the US ranger look too much like a unibody construction which would be total crap. Not a truck at all.

I actually just bought a new Ranger overseas in the country of Fiji. Its a 4 door XLT with the 5 cylinder diesel that can pull 7000 lbs, get 30 mpg, and drive through almost a meter of water. I'm not interested in a downsized POS unibody car/truck that can't do anything. If this is Ford's intention this would be sad. The global ford is an amazing truck. Ford believes it would not sell being the cost would be close to the full size. This is not true. In basic trim, the global ford in the UK is much cheaper with gas engines. But what Ford won't admit is that the global ranger is so good that people would buy it over the F-150 even if it were priced similarly. This truck sells like hotcakes overseas and has literally destroyed the Toyota Hilux diesel truck and Nissan Navara diesel. If people could buy the Global Ford with the 3.2 five cylinder diesel they would, and they would not care a damn how much it costs because this is the best engine ford has ever produced ... Period.

As for the Chicken tax, the global ford is also produced in south Africa. This country is exempt from the chicken tax so lets please not spread misinformation. The problem is more from added shipping costs from South Africa. If the Global Ford were to arrive in the states with the wonderful 2.2 and 3.2 diesels, these things would sell like hot cakes. They would destroy the F-150 in fuel economy but yet would delivery much of the performance and comfort of the bigger truck. It would cannibalize the F-150 to pieces and that's why Ford will give us a POS uni-body compact that is mostly worthless for any real work.

I hope Chevy has great success with the Colorado and diesel engine in 2016. I hope they destroy the mid size market and put Nissan and Toyota to the cleaners. Maybe then, Ford might consider importing or manufacturing the Global Ranger here.

In serious offroad use, the new Ranger will obliterate the long/heavy F-150. I view the huge truck as more of a status symbol for those that want something with lots of chrome, and giant size to impress. Ford mainly makes them this big to get around EPA laws. For some reason, once a truck gets so big they don't have to comply with EPA. Just look at the superduty trucks.. they don't have to even list MPG anymore.. they are exempt and it says so right on the window sticker. Unbelievable.

I listed a few pictures of my new Ranger here. Lets really hope we get this in the states and not some unibody compact piece of crap.

 

[FijiRanger]

That's why I still dream of a diesel Hilux. They are ugly and small but can take a beating all day long in some of the worst terrain in the world and still get you home.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I547 using Tapatalk

I agree. But for some reason Toyota won't bring in diesels into the US. But in all honesty, the new global ranger stands up very well against the Hilux. Has more torque, more pulling power, better fuel efficiency, can drive into 800mm of water. It was developed in Australia and its plenty tough. I know I own one.

The Tacoma is a gas guzzler getting about the same as a F-150 = epic failure. Toyota should put the Prado's six cylinder intercooled turbo diesel into the Tacoma. It would get 10 mpg more and deliver mountains more of torque. That's a great engine. Yet Toyota has zero plans about bringing in diesels. They are always so quick to point out they have zero intentions of doing that. One day, when chevy has a mid size truck with diesel (2016) Toyota may be back peddling on their stupid thinking.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Diesels are expensive... they are letting GM play the odds and see if they fall or if it is worth getting into. We have tighter emissions here and it adds cost to make them pass.

Better offroad than a fullsize... very much depends on what you are doing. Easier to stuff in a tight space yes but weight, width and length can help or hurt depending on conditions. I offroad with my Ranger in mud and snow because the '150 doesn't flinch at pulling it out, it doesn't work so well the other way around.

I have sat in many of the new "midsize" trucks, nowhere near the interior room that my '150 has. Actually considering they are supposed to be bigger they are rather disappointingly not much bigger inside than my 30yo "compact" truck. And I direct that right at a Tacoma.

 

[KnockKnock]

Diesels are expensive... they are letting GM play the odds and see if they fall or if it is worth getting into. We have tighter emissions here and it adds cost to make them pass.

Better offroad than a fullsize... very much depends on what you are doing. Easier to stuff in a tight space yes but weight, width and length can help or hurt depending on conditions. I offroad with my Ranger in mud and snow because the '150 doesn't flinch at pulling it out, it doesn't work so well the other way around.

I have sat in many of the new "midsize" trucks, nowhere near the interior room that my '150 has. Actually considering they are supposed to be bigger they are rather disappointingly not much bigger inside than my 30yo "compact" truck. And I direct that right at a Tacoma.

It's got to be an emissions-thing. The 3.0L PowerStroke is already ready to go, and powers the South American Ranger.

Emissions brought about the death of the much-loved 5.9 Cummins in the Ram back in 2007½, and now Nissan is making noises about offering a 2.8L I-4 Cummins-powered pickup.

It seems obvious to me that the market is there, but between Ford's history of not allowing models to overlap (a Ranger is not allowed to infringe on the F150's towing capacity [by ~ 500lbs.] for fear it will negatively affect the sales of the F150, and the Ranger CrewCab was not allowed entry because of the Sport Trac market), and the EPA won't allow any more of those stinky diesels on the road until flowers pop out of the tailpipe, so we end up with what we have here - a cool little truck that will likely never make it to the American market because of government and/or corporate bureaucracy.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

the Ranger CrewCab was not allowed entry because of the Sport Trac market)

It would be stupid to make two vehicles that are the same thing but one has the leaf springs mounted under the frame (like an Explorer) and one to have the rear leaf springs mounted outside the frame (like a Ranger)

The first generation ST WAS a Ranger Crew Cab. Powertrain, front suspension and interior are all identical. They changed the rear frame and how the rear springs mounted (to be like an Explorer) and added a really short box. They also threw in a 31 spline 8.8 which never hurts in a small pickup.

And it didn't sell well.

So then they updated it to a bigger body and threw the heaver/safer fully boxed frame and IRS under it so it rode and handled nice. Even threw in a 300hp V8 in it as an option.

And it still cost the same out the door as a F-150, got the same mileage... and they did not sell in droves so they killed it.

If you want a Ranger that is like an F-150 buy an F-150 and put Ranger badges on it. There is no free lunch, the Ranger was a Ranger because it was cheaper than a F-150. The whole point of it is they couldn't strip down an F-150 that far to get it to that price point. If you are going to get an F-150 type truck you are going to have an F-150 type price... which makes it stupid to not just get an F-150 to start with.

 

[brokemechanic3000]

"the EPA won't allow any more of those stinky diesels on the road until flowers pop out of the tailpipe"

L.O.L.

 

[KnockKnock]

It would be stupid to make two vehicles that are the same thing but one has the leaf springs mounted under the frame (like an Explorer) and one to have the rear leaf springs mounted outside the frame (like a Ranger) ...

It's not just about the springs man, I'm just sayin'...

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[85_Ranger4x4]

Aside from the bottom right one that wouldn't pass US crash testing it is by far the best looking truck pictured.

And the bottom two still have the stupid looking fender flares that are my biggest peeve with the Sport Trac's appearance.

 

[dsm21]

Chevy will bring back the Colorado in 2015 but unfortunately, the 2.8 duramax diesel won't be offered until 2016. These pics of the US ranger look too much like a unibody construction which would be total crap. Not a truck at all.

I actually just bought a new Ranger overseas in the country of Fiji. Its a 4 door XLT with the 5 cylinder diesel that can pull 7000 lbs, get 30 mpg, and drive through almost a meter of water. I'm not interested in a downsized POS unibody car/truck that can't do anything. If this is Ford's intention this would be sad. The global ford is an amazing truck. Ford believes it would not sell being the cost would be close to the full size. This is not true. In basic trim, the global ford in the UK is much cheaper with gas engines. But what Ford won't admit is that the global ranger is so good that people would buy it over the F-150 even if it were priced similarly. This truck sells like hotcakes overseas and has literally destroyed the Toyota Hilux diesel truck and Nissan Navara diesel. If people could buy the Global Ford with the 3.2 five cylinder diesel they would, and they would not care a damn how much it costs because this is the best engine ford has ever produced ... Period.

As for the Chicken tax, the global ford is also produced in south Africa. This country is exempt from the chicken tax so lets please not spread misinformation. The problem is more from added shipping costs from South Africa. If the Global Ford were to arrive in the states with the wonderful 2.2 and 3.2 diesels, these things would sell like hot cakes. They would destroy the F-150 in fuel economy but yet would delivery much of the performance and comfort of the bigger truck. It would cannibalize the F-150 to pieces and that's why Ford will give us a POS uni-body compact that is mostly worthless for any real work.

I hope Chevy has great success with the Colorado and diesel engine in 2016. I hope they destroy the mid size market and put Nissan and Toyota to the cleaners. Maybe then, Ford might consider importing or manufacturing the Global Ranger here.

In serious offroad use, the new Ranger will obliterate the long/heavy F-150. I view the huge truck as more of a status symbol for those that want something with lots of chrome, and giant size to impress. Ford mainly makes them this big to get around EPA laws. For some reason, once a truck gets so big they don't have to comply with EPA. Just look at the superduty trucks.. they don't have to even list MPG anymore.. they are exempt and it says so right on the window sticker. Unbelievable.

I listed a few pictures of my new Ranger here. Lets really hope we get this in the states and not some unibody compact piece of crap.

I personally don't like the color other wise bad ass truck, can I drive

I am actually surprised more forum members don't have these trucks. I believe the sell these in Mexico right???? Than again you might come back with more besides a new truck

 

[XLTsplash]

I was just messing around online when I found this:

Pretty cool, huh? B) I felt like I'd been living under a rock when I heard that the new Ranger is supposed to look like this:

...and I just thought to myself, 'I think we already have one of those, and it looks just like this:

...which really is quite different from this:'

The lesser capability is always a trade-off for the sake of efficiency, and for those of us with the 2.3L, we know this fact best. I'm wondering why the new Ranger has to be a re-worked Explorer Sport-Trac instead of a re-worked Flex. With talk about a new Bronco being made, I'm hoping that the new Ranger/Sport-Trac name-swap will make way for a new "Ranchero" with the Ford Flex. If they threw a Duratec 2.3 in there (and while we're in fantasy-land, a 5-speed ), they could come up with a truck with similar lesser capabilities, say tows ~1,500lbs; but still racks up nearly 30MPG. A little more bed-room than what's in the pic, and I'd want one of those!

...and ironically, I would put a camper-top on it

Thanks for finding and posting that picture. I think it's a great looking body for a new Ranger. It would be nice if Ford would put that body on a full frame and offer RWD and 4X4. I wouldn't buy a FWD truck. I think many people would now a days and don't care about FWD or RWD, full frame or unibody. I would want a Ranger over a F150 even if it costs more. I don't like the size of the F150. Most of the parking spots around here are too small for the giant trucks Ford is now making and the high beds of the F150 just make it harder to load things into the bed. I didn't buy my Ranger because it was cheaper than a F150. I bought it because it small, fun to drive, good on gas and handy for hauling things.

 

[FijiRanger]

I don't like the size of the F150. Most of the parking spots around here are too small for the giant trucks Ford is now making and the high beds of the F150 just make it harder to load things into the bed. I didn't buy my Ranger because it was cheaper than a F150. I bought it because it small, fun to drive, good on gas and handy for hauling things.

F-150's have steadily been growing in size over the last 10 years or so. Today, they have enormous wheelbases and basically no way to configure one a bit smaller. Try building one with just two doors,.. then they put a 8 foot box on it. No matter how you slice or dice it, its huge in any configuration.

The global Ranger is enjoying huge success in 180 countries and our homeland is the only country that does not get it. Even if it were priced similar to the F-150 I believe many would buy the Ranger if they would make available the 5 cylinder diesel that can reach 30 MPG.

Ford will never sell the Global ranger here. And that fact is an admission of how good it is. IMO, it would cannibalize the F-150 because its that good. I can say that being I actually own one and know from real experience that the Australian team at Ford hit a home run on this bad boy. Its easy for people to sit back and say it does not have a prayer against the F-150 when they have not seen, felt, or driven the global Ranger. Unless anyone on this forum has actually driven the new Ranger, I'm not going to take their criticism they have to throw at it seriously. Because its just hypothetical assumptions that have been formulated in their head without really knowing first hand. I know that statement will probably upset somebody here but I don't care. Its all hypothetical mumbo jumbo. In the Fiji Islands the new ford is literally destroying the rooted leader Toyota Hilux and Nissan Navara. Ask anyone over there which truck is best and 90 percent will say the word Ford. Its a status symbol in Fiji to drive a new Ranger. And that's because it provides more HP, Torque and at the same time improving MPG over the competition. At the same time, the others have no where near the ride as the ford. The roads are really bad over there and the ford irons out pot holes, and rough surfaces like butter. Off road and on-road ride is spectacular for this truck. Like I said, you really have to drive one before firing off criticism.

Here is a YouTube showing the ranger pulling out a 160 ton steam locomotive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPMgfdKCeZA

Yes, the 5 cylinder has insane amount of torque. The good news is the ford Transit is slated to get this same engine in the near future in the US. So yes, its possible to federalize the 3.2 diesel. Ford has already committed to that. The F-150 will get a new 2.7 diesel as well. But I have my doubts if it will get the same fuel savings as the new Ranger. If Ford can bring up the combined MPG to 25 with the 2.7 and maybe offer something with a wheelbase of 12 inches less then the current model, then I will buy a F-150. But I'm afraid that's wishful thinking.

 

[FijiRanger]

I have sat in many of the new "midsize" trucks, nowhere near the interior room that my '150 has. Actually considering they are supposed to be bigger they are rather disappointingly not much bigger inside than my 30yo "compact" truck. And I direct that right at a Tacoma.

Have you sat inside a new global Ranger? You would be surprised how roomy my Ranger is. Six footers will have no problem in the back seat of a new ranger. And those seats are actually very comfortable. Unlike most mid size trucks, the back is angled back more. This is not your normal frontier/tacoma truck that has horrible back seats. As I have said before, the new Ranger has redefined what a mid size truck can be. Many of the compromises that are usually associated with mid size trucks is not evident in the new Ford. Unfortunately, few Americans have experienced the new Ranger and can only base their biasism on known trucks that do compromise comfort and performance over their full size variants. The tacoma is the best selling mid size truck in American and it gets about the same MPG as the F-150 = epic failure. The Frontier has not been updated in so long that it is no longer relevant. No wonder Americans don't care for mid size trucks... we have nothing remotely worth our money when compared to the full size options that are available.

The problem with the Japanese mid size trucks is they really don't update them. Ford on the other hand, built the new Ranger ground up with all their newest tech thrown at it. Believe me, this truck has the manners of a nice SUV and provides the driver with a sense of luxury while also providing for aggressive off road capabilities. This truck is light years ahead of the American versions of the Tacoma/frontier gas guzzlers with back seats made for back aches. I have a 05 pathfinder and agree, the back seat is absolutely horrid. Thank god I never have to sit back there. Its about the same as the truck version.. although heavier, provides a nicer ride then the frontier.

 

[Kona]

You folks realize there is a bias in N America against light duty diesels right?