Jim Bray's Car & Tech rants - publishing online exclusively since 1995
Ford Rangers offer some nifty versions of the compact pickup truckBy Jim Bray If you happen to be looking for a compact pickup truck, Ford may be your huckleberry, thanks to its line of Rangers. And judging from my couple of weeks in back-to-back Rangers, including the outrageous Raptor version, you just might think they have done it right. Now, as my regular reader knows by now, I've opined many times that I am not the best person to be reviewing pickup trucks. I don't like them, I don't like driving them, and as a person whose legs barely reach the ground on a good day I don't like getting into and out of them. This applies especially to full size pickups, but even the Rangers had me hopping out gingerly lest Parent Nature use her gravity powers to face plant me on the ground outside the truck. Still, ingress and egress were a lot better for me than in a big pickup and, thanks to the Rangers' running boards, my wife and I managed. And I'm glad I did! I really enjoyed the two Rangers (I really wanted to put a Lone Ranger joke there, but NOOOOOO!), though obviously I liked the packed-with-goodies Raptor better, because it not only had more toys, but it was more fun as well. A lot more fun! Not only that, but because Ford appears to know what it's doing when it comes to its customers, I didn't have to cuss out its stupid nannies even once! Oh, the lane change thingy doesn't turn off completely, but you can emasculate it so it's barely noticeable. And the rest of the nannies are either completely turn offable or minimizable as well. And as a result, my blood pressure remained normal. Bravo! 
It still wouldn't make me buy a truck, but it makes me like Ford better! Anyway, the Ranger XLT Supercrew 4x4 (base price $46,120, $58,525 as tested) came with the 2.7 litre twin turbocharged EcoBoost engine, a damn 10-speed automatic transmission and premium cloth seats. Naturally, there's a lot more, too. That 2.7 litre V-6 puts out 315 horses and 400 torquey-like thingies and if it weren't for a transmission with too many gears – that keeps upshifting to save gas if you don't stand on the accelerator, then has to downshift multiple gears when you want to accelerate to, for instance, pass someone – it would be a peach. Of course, if you really want to go for the gusto, the Ranger Raptor's three litre V6 EcoBoost is even lovelier. Ford says it cranks out 405/430 hp/torque and the difference is obvious, even with that 10-speed tranny. The Raptor's paddle shifters work well, too, (the XLT didn't have them) but you still have that multiple gear kickdown to work with if you want any passing power. Still, the extra oomph doesn't hurt! The Raptor starts at $77,945 and my sample listed at $82,860. That's some serious coin, but this is a fantastic truck. Both of Ford's sample Rangers came with four-wheel drive, which came in handy when we had a typical southern Alberta spring snowstorm. I slapped it into "4A" and let it manage things for me, which it did just fine. I can't believe I trusted a robot and it didn't bite me in the butt! Here are some of the XLT's other features:
The sample didn't include stuff like leather seats, but it's a surprisingly robust package – though it ain't cheap! Still, it seems competitive when compared with comparable trim levels. I checked out the Toyota Tacoma and its base model starts at $52,054.50 according to their website. Then there's the Raptor! I've driven a few Ford Raptors over the years and they're always a lot of fun. This Ranger version, while obviously smaller than the F-150-based one, is still a real blast to be in and to drive. Chief among its good things is that three litre EcoBoost engine mentioned above. It's powerful, naturally (though not aspirated naturally…), and it manages to minimize turbo lag so that when you prod the gas pedal, the truck jumps to attention. Despite that darn 10-speed automatic. Ford's sample was a Super Crew model with 4x4 and it also came with a lot of toys and tools. One thing I really liked when we had a cold/snow snap was its heated steering wheel. On the downside, you have to activate it via the big, 12-inch LCD screen that makes up most of the centre stack, instead of just putting a little button on the wheel itself, or on the dashboard – but on the upside the truck remembers how you had it set the last time you drove it and returns it to that setting. 
Helping make the Raptor's robustness are Fox live valve shock absorbers, an independent double A-arm front suspension and a Watt's-link rear suspension. You won't forget you're driving a truck, but you may notice less sliding around of the rear end than in some other trucks when you're going over frost heaves and the like. I don't remember hearing about a Watt's link suspension before, but as it turns out it has been around for literally centuries, invented (according to Wikipedia) by James Watt, the guy who also invented the steam engine! The Raptor's 10-speaker (with subwoofer) Bang and Olufsen audio system is terrific, as one might expect from B&O given their history. I played some high-resolution audio files via my phone and CarPlay, and was impressed mightily. The seats are unique to the Raptor, Ford says, and also feature power adjustment and memory. I missed having seat memory in the XLT; I also liked the keyless entry the Raptor offers that the XLT didn't, though I can't imagine either would be a deal breaker, either. Nannies abound, of course, but as is Ford's way you can get rid of them, mostly, though you have to pay for them in the first place, which annoys me. Still, this isn't a Ford issue but is pretty well industry wide. Ford lists the Raptor on its Canadian website at $80,715, which is starting to be quite the chunk of change, though it pales in comparison with the F-150 Raptor R I reviewed a while back (which was in the neighbourhood of $150,000!). But for that 80 grand for the Ranger version, which does appear to be competitive with other top line compact pickups, you're still getting a heckuva truck. Copyright 2025 Jim Bray |
