Manual transmission?

[adsm08]

The manual would be great, as well as just a basic work truck...every automaker has gotten way out of control with gadgets and gizmos. So now people think that's the standard. Automakers really need to get back to the basics, build stuff to last instead of building stuff with planned obsolescence and electronic failures LOL.

The ever rising cost of a vehicle compared to the never rising income is a huge upset and as a result some like myself look for great used vehicles to keep from walking. Nothing on the market currently is worth my time and money looking at and buying...maybe in 10-15 years when they've depreciated back to earthly prices but right now nothing out there is worth looking at, and definitely wouldn't be going new ever again, I'll let someone else take that economic hit LOL.

The owner of my dealership will periodically complain that he can never manage to sell a new vehicle to any of his service techs.

Of course he can't. We make $750 a week, maybe, most of us are the primary or only income of the household, and we see everything that goes wrong with these vehicles, and so we have no confidence in the product.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The certification costs probably could not be shared with the new Bronco(different weights) and could be in the millions. The take rate on manuals is so low that several European and American sports cars and sport sedans that used to offer manuals do not now because the costs were not recoverable. Even Porsche is only offering the PDK automatic on several of their sports models. The automatics are so good today that they are quicker and more economical and allow more driver control that manuals are becoming a thing of the past. I saw a test of a Mustang GT convertible 10A that was within an eyeblink of a GT350 running 0-60 in 3.9 sec and 11.90 in the quarter stock. In view of all this, I don't think Ford really will miss the the hundred or so people not buying a Ranger for lack of a manual.

Meanwhile every other competing truck has a manual option

 

[Blmpkn]

Every other competing company isn't as close to bankruptcy as ford is, to be fair.

It's clear a LOT of what's been happening with/to new fords has been to save as much money as they can. Theybe got their bean counters on overtime trying to save all their asses.

 

[wildbill23c]

The owner of my dealership will periodically complain that he can never manage to sell a new vehicle to any of his service techs.

Of course he can't. We make $750 a week, maybe, most of us are the primary or only income of the household, and we see everything that goes wrong with these vehicles, and so we have no confidence in the product.

That's about 2x what I make a week, and yeah, that's the problem the lack of confidence in a product, in this case a $40k+ product. Hard to swallow that kind of money and have the extreme potential to have problems that are expensive to fix.

 

[wildbill23c]

Meanwhile every other competing truck has a manual option

Not anymore, Nissan dropped the manual transmission option on the new Frontiers this year.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Not anymore, Nissan dropped the manual transmission option on the new Frontiers this year.

Frontier don’t count, they have been circling the drain for years.

 

[adsm08]

That's about 2x what I make a week, and yeah, that's the problem the lack of confidence in a product, in this case a $40k+ product. Hard to swallow that kind of money and have the extreme potential to have problems that are expensive to fix.

One of our younger guys bought a brand new Ranger when they came out. It has less than 10K miles on it. He keeps telling me about all the screwy things the transmissions does, and I tell him "run it 'till she blows so I don't have to overhaul it".

 

[wildbill23c]

One of our younger guys bought a brand new Ranger when they came out. It has less than 10K miles on it. He keeps telling me about all the screwy things the transmissions does, and I tell him "run it 'till she blows so I don't have to overhaul it".

Thought that new 10 speed was supposed to be the best transmission out there LOL. Kind of like the A4LD when they decided to take a C3 and add overdrive...we all know how that ended. Still not sold on needing 10 gears...sounds cute because the driver isn't the one shifting, bet if they had to do the shifting they'd quickly change their mind about needing that many gears in a pickup. Heck I think really 6 gears is more than plenty in a pickup...the more gears you add, the more gears it has to hunt through, the more hunting, the more heat, the more heat the quicker the transmission death.

I see that the Ford Transit Vans have a 3.5L V6 that isn't turbo charged, too bad they don't offer that with the 6 speed automatic for the Ranger, might be a much better seller that way. Not a fan of turbocharged gas engines trying to make up for missing cylinders.

 

[4x4junkie]

Meanwhile every other competing truck has a manual option

The Chevy Colorado didn't offer one either when I checked a few years back (not on a 6-cyl or with 4WD anyway).

Toyota seems to be the only game in town currently for a V6 4WD manual pickup. Dealers are also less willing to deal on them since Toyota limits it to something like 5% of total production (this when the take rate would likely be closer to around 10% otherwise). This proves there is some demand for them, but as was said earlier, it probably is harder for car manufacturers to integrate it with all the stupid electronic nanny bullshit they're being forced to put in vehicles nowadays, and have it all work well when there's no control over how the engine is coupled to the rear wheels. So they (or maybe it's the dealers) make up these BS storylines that the reason car makers aren't making them anymore is because there's no longer a demand for them.

I guarantee Ford has lost many more than 100 sales to Toyota because they didn't offer a manual option.

 

[JohnnyO]

With the current new Ranger? Not likely. Since they are supposed to be replacing it with a model based on the Bronco, I really doubt it.

With it’s replacement? Possible but it’s anyone’s guess as to whether it will ever be offered.

Doubful. If they do it will only be on models for Europe and South America if it isn't already. It's easier to meet emissions and mpg standards with an automatic.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The Chevy Colorado didn't offer one either when I checked a few years back (not on a 6-cyl or with 4WD anyway).

Toyota seems to be the only game in town currently for a V6 4WD manual pickup. Dealers are also less willing to deal on them since Toyota limits it to something like 5% of total production (this when the take rate would likely be closer to around 10% otherwise). This proves there is some demand for them, but as was said earlier, it probably is harder for car manufacturers to integrate it with all the stupid electronic nanny bullshit they're being forced to put in vehicles nowadays, and have it all work well when there's no control over how the engine is coupled to the rear wheels. So they (or maybe it's the dealers) make up these BS storylines that the reason car makers aren't making them anymore is because there's no longer a demand for them.

I guarantee Ford has lost many more than 100 sales to Toyota because they didn't offer a manual option.

They did for the diesel until last year. IMO very probable limiting it only to the diesel and I think it was a higher trim only option killed it. I am sure very doctor and lawyer that plunks down $50k+ for a loaded diesel ZR2/Bison wants a manual too for their luxury offroader.

I have built many a manual V6 Gladiator on Jeep's website.

 

[RonD]

Off-road manual trans only has one advantage, downhill slowly
Automatic has the advantage of no lost momentum shifting gears going uphill

It takes more skill to use a manual well, but its not really a needed skill any more, lol

Manual also has the edge in reliability, which is a big deal 50miles out in the bush

 

[Ramcharger90]

5 bucks says the manual option if it exists on the new ranger (even on the bronco) will be like a +5,000 dollar option. It will not be cheap...

I would spend the money.

 

[Ramcharger90]

Off-road manual trans only has one advantage, downhill slowly
Automatic has the advantage of no lost momentum shifting gears going uphill

It takes more skill to use a manual well, but its not really a needed skill any more, lol

Manual also has the edge in reliability, which is a big deal 50miles out in the bush

I only lost momentum when dragging ass up hill loaded 80k-95k damn trubo lag

Plus with hydraulic clutchs and synchronized transmissions is it really a skill?

 

[RonD]

Feathering clutch, brake and throttle is a skill set, stalling the engine means more practice is needed, lol

No one can shift a manual as fast as an automatic going uphill, on the flats it's a moot point, momentum loss is negligible unless you are "pedal to the metal"