But a reality check is in order on big trucks and/or engines. I was lucky enough to get $500.00 for my old gas guzzeling F-250 Ranger. My Mazda B-4000 gives me 3x better milage with some compromise's but the trade off is more than worth it. One hour's work buys me 2gal of gas after taxes. I have no 'cost of living' raise built into my income, so I am forced to look at the bigger picture, and it ain't pretty. Who is going to be next on being 'downsized' out of their job? That $700.00 you are spending a month on your truck may suddenly become your net income on your next job. Things can change for the worse w/out notice... and so can our economy.

 

I know what you are saying about gas prices. I will be very suprised if Ford does not offer a 4 cyl and 6 cyl option in the next generation Ranger. I would avoid a V8 like the bubonic plague.

 

I just bought an 07 Ranger reg cab 4wd with a 3.0 V6 and an auto trans (wife won't learn to drive a stick). Some knuckle head engineer decided the only way to offer that performance package is with a 4.10 rear end, I wish they would offer a 3.55 as I am sure the mpg's woudl be better but this truck is still doing better than the 06 F-150 supercab 4wd with a 5.4 that I traded in.


And I wish this truck had a bigger fuel tank.

I do not see Ford completely ditching the smaller truck liek a Ranger, they will have somethign smaller than the F-150 but it may be a bit bigger than the Ranger and a different name. Bazzman you have the right idea on a truck but unfortunatley ford does not put the 2.3 in a 4wd Ranger and the beds won't fit a quad, which brings up another question. Why doesn't Ford put the 2.3 in the 4wd trucks? I had a 95 2.3L 5 speed 4wd with a 4.10 rear end that got 24 mpg all the time with a 7' bed. The truck was great but I got rid of it because of too many miles.

 

the 4.6 and the 4.0 have the same mpg rating. look at f150's and rangers, they have the same mpg.

 

the change starts with me? cmon buddy, if i decide to drive a 4banger i dont think gas is going to drop per gallon!! it starts with the governmnet, it starts with epa, it starts with opec, starts with the big 3 making mpgs....not me guy.....if i want to wish for a 4 door v-8 ranger i can! im not worried about what gas will cost in five years from now so go take your view of what the GDP will be in five years somewhere else bro...

 

V-8 does not have to mean gas guzzler, my 300 hp mustang GT gets 23-24 mpg around here and I got 26 mpg on a trip and it wasn't broken in yet. I get the same mpg localy as does my son with his 04 4 cylinder ranger, he beats me on the highway by a little. It doesn't matter how much gas cost, there's still jobs that will need to be done that a 4 banger can't handle. There are people who have to work thier vehicles to haul, tow, pull , push and whatever else. They will push the price of gas until we say uncle. So far the stock market is still doing well, inflation is in check, jobs are being created and so on. When gas prices sart effecting the economy, then they will level off. Let the stockmarket crash, run away inflation, job loses, signs of an all out depression, then they'll go down. Opec can't sell thier oil to people with mo money to buy it, they'ld rather have the money than the oil. Every day on the news they say how so far gas prices haven't had an effect on the economy, thats why it keeps going up. Let some one anounce that they have found an abundance of an alternintive fuel of some kind and the price of a barrel of oil will be cut in half over night. When your the only game in town you can set the rules. Let E-85 be the norm instaed of the exception or hydrogen. Lets build more nuke plants and allow drilling in the artic. When I was in W,Va this past summer, they have a large coal burning power plant at Mt, Storm, they were constructing large wind mills at the plant to asist in making electricity. A lot of this tech we allready have is comming on line very slowly because of money. Opec doesn't want to lose it, so alternitive fuel tech is at a slow pace. Every new house built should have solar pannels and a wind mill, but there not, all city buses and cabs or anyother short run vehicles should be electric or hydrogen at least hybrid, but there not, "WHY", MONEY Opec formula, people + cars = money. V-8 ranger are not the problem, greed is.

 

I was gone a couple of days and logged on to this ... Wow ... What a response.

I love my V10 Superduty for the times I need it. But most of the time, I am the only one in the truck, on dry pavement, going to work and back. Luckily, I live 2.5 miles from work and gas, day to day, is not an issue. But I take a few road trips and the Ranger would be great for that. I am tall, so the the Ranger has to be an xcab. I think I am going to order a 4x2 xcab, 4.0 auto, 3:55 ls and use it as an everyday driver. I like everything about the Sport, except it has no carpet. I will probably get the XLT just to get the carpet. I just don't like the wheels.

If this is the last year for the small Ranger, I better get one. I would only put about 10k per year on it so it should last a while. Plus the 4.0 is plenty snappy in my wife's Mountaineer so it should be fine in the Ranger.

 

And as oil starts trading at over $100 this year I stick to my guns. We all need to re-think our driving habits and just how much truck is required to get the job done. I really don't care to subsize other peoples wasteful driving habits, but I'm forced to at the pump. '08 doesn't look to good economy-wize.

 

It's not about an oil shortage, it's about money. You can buy as much gas as you can afford, all the stations have it, you can buy a million gallons if you want. There's to much money involved, thats why we have no energy plan as a nation. All vehicles built should be E-85 compatable, there not, all new homes should have solar pannels and wind mills, they don't. All short commute city vehicles should be electric, hydrogen, or hybrid, there not. We should be building more nuke plants, were not. We have no national energy plan, it's not about conserving, it's about money and lots of it. If we started conserving oil as a nation, it would drive oil prices higher so they could recoupe thier lost revenue. There's no sense of urgency about conserving in this country because that would mean loss oil revenue. When they've picked our pockets all they can and the economy starts suffering, then changes will be made, but the oil companies aren'y going to give up thier high profits, you buy less and they will just charge more.

 

exactly, I.E. record forclosures nation wide for how many months now???almost a year. wheres the gov. stepping in and stoppin people from losing there homes and having jacked up credit????none, they set the rates and alowed banks to lend out loans to people who cant afford it. and them ARM loans, major root cause.

back to oil, well wendell summed it up. politics and greed.

 

i dont think gas will be an issue if ford put a V8 in the ranger...I mean the truck only weighs in at what 3gs??? it would take little power for the V8 to maintain speed unless your like me with a lead foot. I wonder what size V8 ford could or would stuff in there 4.6???? maybe the 302 ford is coming out with??? WHO KNOWS

 

It depends on what model you're talking about. I ran my '04 FX4 Level II across the scales and it weighs a little over 4000 lbs. My old '91 LWB with a 4.0 weighed 3500 lbs. So I don't think you'll find a Ranger at 3000 lbs. unless its a 2.3 L. SWB model.

 

but my point still stands its a light truck it wouldnt suck up alot of gas if it had a V8 i have a 04 supercab 4x4 so yeah it weighs about the same as urs but if i had a v8 it would use alot less power to get up 2 speed thus better mpgs IMO

 

I agree with Wendel above..The 4.6 in a friends 04 Mountaineer knocks down 21MPG all day with 3.73 gears.. And with the 5 speed auto its kind of fun to drive.The 4.6 2v is an excellent all around mileage engine in a lighter vehicle.No it wont tow the Titanic but the power versus mileage they seem to get in a lighter weight vehicle gets my attention.It apperars that deeper gears dont affect the MPGs in these lighter vehicles as much as some but yet really helps them pull down the road with ease..Just my .02s worth And by the way..If they make it with a stick?? I will be waiting at the door.Am tired of automatics that dont seem to match the work at hand..

 

Sometimes a larger motor can get better mpg than a smaller one for the fact it doesn't have to labor as hard.