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2019 Ford Ranger First Drive Review


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I am currently on vacation on Kauai and see that with the locals the midsize pick up is king.  Tons of Tacos and Fontiers, not so many of the GM twins.  Still a fair number of old sport tracs and rangers.  When I come I always rent a crew cab pick up.  Looking forward to the day I can get a ranger crew cab when I come.  This time I got a Frontier.  Not bad but certainly not the most modern of vehicles of I have driven in the last 10 years. Interior is boring, acceleration is only adequate and fuel economy is so far poor but it is a new truck with less than 1000 miles on it.

 Kinda of off topic but related to the the 2.3 engine and speed. Seeing tons of rental mustang convertiables on the road, 90% or more are non GT.  Every now and then you see a GT.  I hope that are not paying more for the joy of all that power.  The max speed limit I have seen on Kauai is 50 mph with lots intermittent drops to 35 mph or slower in the larger towns.  Here anything greater than the 2.3 would a waste of engine. 

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For the (at least) 5th time, what you're feeling (if anything) is the Electronic Throttle Control programmed delay.  It can be eliminated with a tuner or a PedalMax and it's present on all models not just ecoboosts (or at least it used to be - not sure if the new ones still have it).

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9 hours ago, Anthony said:

I just leave it in D all the time.  I'm not super concerned about going fast.  I'd rather get the best fuel economy I can.  I have no complaints about the way it takes off from a stop, because I really wouldn't go any faster even if it could!

How is your fuel economy, out of curiosity?

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59 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

Then those people don't understand how exhaust driven turbochargers work. Seriously.

When the engine is running there is exhaust gas spinning the turbo.  By the time the torque converter engages the transmission it’s already producing considerable boost.   

If you’re so certain go find a Lincoln MKC or Mustang review that mentions turbo lag.

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6 hours ago, rperez817 said:

I don't think anybody seriously claims that Ford 2.3L Ecoboost does not have any turbo lag. Ford did a good job reducing the lagginess compared to older EcoBoost engines. The twin scroll turbo and tuning of the engine software help a lot. While I haven't test driven a Ranger with the 2.3L Ecoboost, I did experience a Mustang with the same engine and transmission. Day and night difference compared to the old 2.0L Ecoboost with single scroll turbo.

No turbo engine is going to behave like a normally aspirated engine off the line, completely free of lag. It's just the physics of how turbos operate.

if you drive in D, Throttle response is much slower making you think there is a ton of lag. It is not the case. Shift it into S and you will snap your head back in most cases from a dead stop. MKC 2.3L,  Explorer Sport, '15 SHO, '19 Ranger all act this way. Even my rental Escape with a lil over 150 miles on it. (SHO got a new front wheel bearing)

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7 hours ago, akirby said:

When the engine is running there is exhaust gas spinning the turbo.  By the time the torque converter engages the transmission it’s already producing considerable boost.   

If you’re so certain go find a Lincoln MKC or Mustang review that mentions turbo lag.

Or talk to someone that owns an Ecoboost Mustang.  :)

Even in the “Normal” drive mode, there isn’t any lag. 

Edited by CurtisH
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