http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/experiencef150/
I just KNOW someone is gonna react like I did. At certain points it sounds like the truck is rockin' a V8...but clearly they dubbed in sound for some reason. Listen real close at some of the close-ups of the truck as it rounds the circle track, and when it's in the Baja racer, definitely a six.
That thing's pretty sweet....and yeah you're right, you can definitely hear the V-6 in the Baja.
I would drive one!
i would love to put am EB in the TC
11,300 lb towing capacity V6....Impressive.
I would murder Mike Rowe for that truck.
...Ok, no I wouldn't. Mike Rowe's awesome. So is that truck. I've already seen that vid and the rest of them too. I looooove the look of the new F-150 and I hope the Ranger is in store for some new powerplants next year. They already gave it a small facelift, so following Ford protocol, it should be getting some engines next year.
Don't hold your breath on the Ranger thing, it's riding off into the sunset next year with no replacement. As much as I've chided Ford for being in the stone ages over many things, they are extremely stupid for turning their backs on their two prehistoric bright spots, the Ranger and the Panther. As ancient as those two vehicles are, and as much as the car magazines made fun of them, they absolutely owned their markets. Their costs were amortized decades ago, so they were essentially licenses to print money. And all it would have taken was some modern drivetrains. Ecoboost 4cyl Ranger anyone? Or how about a 5.0 Crown Vic? Or even a 4.6 3-valve CV, for that matter. Hell, many police agencies would have loved to have seen a Duratec 3.5 or 3.7 powered CVPI. More powerful than the 2-valve 4.6 and more efficient to boot. Alas, it all falls under the "what could have been" umbrella now, just like our factory HO powered fox Birdcats....
Oh no! Guess I'd better buy one while I've got the chance huh? pshh as if I could afford a new truck:rolleyes: I was building one online earlier, even at the cheapest I can't afford one:punchballs: This really sucks. Of course, that will just give me free rain to drool over the Frontier, which is my favorite non-fullsize truck. I can't believe their gonna can it. It does seem like a stupid move. I find it strange that you say that though, cause I could swear I thought I saw pics last year of a leaked 2012 model ranger? and I believe it was 4 door and totally redesigned, like Chevy did with the S-10 back in the late 90's?
It seems like Ford is about to cut way too much out, if they don't start replacing it with something, I don't know what's going to happen. Sure the Taurus is cool, and the F-150 is a badass truck, but they don't appeal to every buyer. Ford will now have no fullsize sedan am I correct? Or does the Taurus fit that genre? And F-150 doesn't come in a cheap and small form. Between that and Mercury, I don't know. I'm starting to shake my fist at Ford too. I gotta say though, I'm not that bummed about the Towncar disappearing. I think the current version is just plain ugly.
Taurus IS a fullsize, Fusion is midsize...
Ranger sales going down every year, the EB engine will actually mean an even quicker demise of the Ranger...a little less efficiency in a much larger truck with more room= bye bye ole Ranger.
I'm tired of stuffing myself into mini trucks....add a coupla kids to that, and they're less than worthless to me. I need 2 couches on a 4x4 chassis with some clearance, and enough room left over for 2 weeks' worth of grub and supplies for all of us and 5 dogs.
Sadly, I'm outgunned on an Expedition or pretty well any big vehicle purchase....THIS year, anyway.
Yes, Ranger sales have been going down every year, but when you consider that this is a truck whose body style dates back to 1993 and it still sells as well as it does, I think that shows there is a market for a small truck. I fully believe that with a refreshed body and some new engines while keeping with the Ranger's current strengths (small, cheap) Ford would have a winner. As for "A little less efficiency in a much larger truck", just imagine that efficiency if the Ranger's engine line got the same attention that the F-series does. An Ecoboost 4-cyl putting out in the range of ~250 horses ang getting over 30 MPG would be just what the doctor ordered. And there are many, myself included, who prefer the smaller, nimbler (especially off road), easier to handle (and park) footprint of a small truck...
Yeah there's no good reason to kill the panther, fleet services would definitely continue to buy and buy for years to come.
I am doubtful that Ford will cease Ranger production forever. There will be some sort of replacement eventually, its too large of a market for them to ignore and let Toyota, GM, etc take over. Plus with EPA mandated mfg fleet MPG requirements, they will need a small pickup in the lineup to keep their numbers where they need them.
Hell, I was reading somewhere the other day where they say the 1/2 ton pickup may be on the way of the dodo bird due to how tough it would be to meet mpg requirements. Current 1/2 tons average what, 15-17 mpg at best? It would be a huge undertaking to get a 1/2 ton 4x4 up to 35 mpg (of course ecoboost is a step in the right direction). I would not be shocked if in 10 yrs all you can buy new is either a Ranger-sized pickup, or a diesel HD style rig.
While I am a huge Ford fan, I don't see this as a big deal. Any modern engine should yield similar results.
Did you not watch the head to head? It beat the bejeezus out of the Chevy and Dodge V8's.
And as far as Ecoboost being a blow to the 4 cylinder efficiency idea, it is certainly not a game changer. Have you seen the price tag on the Ecoboost? You can't get an ecoboost F-150 for less than 27,000 for the most basic model possible. As far as I'm concerned, they can keep that. And I will sit back with the rest of the median income working class who can't even afford an 18,000 4-cyl compact truck.
I was simply stating that with the advanced materials and engineering we have today, this feat should be attainable by any manufacturer.
I agree with you all on the money front. Even the "cheap" Focus has become obscenely over-priced.
Sure, its attainable, but nobody else has accomplished it yet. Thats why its exciting;)
I don't know about that. They all have their own torture tests that we see or hear of. With the economy the way it is now, manufacturers are going out of their way to sell, so I won't be surprised to see more stuff like this.
What I find more beneficial to the cause is the thousands of Crown Vics on the road for fleet use that have been to hell and back with 400K+ miles on them with nothing more than routine maintenance.
The last shop I worked at had a lot of taxi cab customers. It was routine to see Panthers with 700,000+ km (~450k miles). There was one '01 Town car, an airport taxi (was on the highway 24/7) with 1.7 million km, or slightly over a million miles, on it. And everything worked. The driver was very fussy, and if there were so much as a glove box light not working he'd have it in the shop. It was in every other week for an oil change, too, and even though the oil would have 3k miles on it, it would come out of that pan almost as clean as new...
http://www.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1050522_all-new-2012-ford-ranger-not-coming-to-the-u-s-heres-why
that sucks.
Bugs the out of me. People used to buy rangers because they were good on gas. If you wanted a truck you would buy an f-150. Makes sense. You could never use a ranger as a truck.
And here I am thinking about buying a ranger, because I want something that can easily fit my engine puller and parts, and ford is killing it because there is no market.
I like having a small truck for work so I can carry tools and equipment that wont fit in the trunk/backseat of my thunderbird:rolleyes: I don't want a big f-150 or silverado to drink all my gas, just a small truck like a Frontier or Ranger. I guess it doesnt' really matter since I'll never be able to afford a new truck but it would still be nice to buy one of those in a few years. I really like the look of it.
Kinda makes me wonder they'll even be selling the mustang????? I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see them ditch it in less than 10 years. Every time we think a model has cemented itself in Ford's line up, GONE. So, how appropriate would it be ford them to 86 it too.