Ford Ranger Debut

phsycle

Adventurer
One of the car journal sites got pictures of a diesel Ranger being tested: https://www.autoblog.com/2018/02/20/2019-ford-ranger-wildtrak-diesel-spy-shots/#slide-7249735

Here is to hoping that we will in fact get a diesel option for the Ranger, and hopefully the 3.2l inline 5 at that!

I think Ford was smart to offer a small displacement turbo gasser as a base engine, but they would be dumb if they don't offer something that can compete with the 2.8l diesel Colorado. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

I was trying to find how well the Colorado diesels were selling. It looks like Colorado sales are up from last year, but I don't know what % of sales the diesels make up.
I would guess Ford would wait for another year or so before jumping into the diesel option (like they did with the F150).
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Think the only people who complain are the ones who actually tried to haul something...

...where-as the average Tacoma buyer thinks it rides too rough. ;)
Well, it *is* a truck after all. If a buyer wants a car then they should get a car. But in all honesty Toyota has always sold us fairly softly sprung trucks. My '78 FJ40 had aftermarket suspension by the time I bought it but they were known to have flat springs. My 1991 rode on the insanely thick overload all the time until I got replacement springs. Same with my 2008, the overload spring was engaged except when commuting.

I think it's a byproduct of how compact and midsized trucks are marketed in the U.S. Full size trucks OTOH are expected to be trucks first, so no one complains when it actually rides and drives like one. But small trucks are seen differently I think. I got one originally because I wanted a truck that just was smaller but a lot of times they are substitutes for cars and mini vans by people who never engage 4WD or routinely put cargo in the back. So the expectation is they don't ride so harshly on a daily basis.

It's an impossible task to make a single spring and damper rate that makes all users happy. I expect that it's a lot easier to sell a soft riding truck that doesn't rattle fillings on test drives, so that's how they are built to be competitive. It's always possible to increase the spring rate with extra leafs or air bags, which isn't unusual even with full size trucks when you put in a camper or whatever.
 
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Dalko43

Explorer
I was trying to find how well the Colorado diesels were selling. It looks like Colorado sales are up from last year, but I don't know what % of sales the diesels make up.
I would guess Ford would wait for another year or so before jumping into the diesel option (like they did with the F150).

Colorado sales are doing very well. They went from selling 5k annually in 2013 to nearly 150k over the last 2 years. They don't break out the different sales figures for diesel vs gasoline, but I haven't heard any negative feedback regarding the diesel sales trends.

Ford may very well wait a year before bringing in the diesel, but I think the market is already there.

It's interesting how back in 2006, many of the big names (Chrysler, GM) were preparing to introduce diesels into trucks outside of the 3/4 ton segment, but abruptly cancelled those plans when the economic crisis hit. It's taken nearly 10 years for the OEM's to get back to that point, but I think they all are starting to see some incentive in putting out smaller diesel trucks and 4x4's.
 

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