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The Ford Ranger is an excellent midsize pickup truck — here are its best features (F)

Matthew DeBord/BI

  • The 2019 Ford Ranger is the Blue Oval's return to the midsize-pickup-truck market in the US.
  • The segment is quite large. Folks who enjoy what pickups can do, such as hauling around mountain bikes and going on Home Depot runs, but don't want an F-150 or a Silverado in the driveway.
  • The 2019 Lariat SuperCrew four-wheel-drive Ranger I recently tested was nicely equipped and cost almost $45,000. But it was loaded with great features.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

At Business Insider, we avidly anticipated the new Ford Ranger, which is actually a built-in-America version of a global pickup that Ford has been selling outside the US. The Blue Oval is already super-strong in full-size trucks — can you say "F-150"? — and back in the day, the Ranger was a popular starter pickup.

In 2019, the entire pickup-truck market is driving US sales, and the midsize offerings are much improved over the little pickups that used to cover this segment. They're really more like shrunken-down full-sizers, and where Chevy (as well as GMC, with the Canyon) and Ford are concerned, the idea is to offer a solid hauler that's simply more compact than a big boy.

We've sampled pretty much everything the market has to offer on this front, so a key question was, "What does Ford bring to the party with the new Ranger?"

The answer is a great truck, with some great features.

In May, I checked out the impressive 2019 Lariat SuperCrew four-wheel-drive Ranger, nicely equipped and stickering at almost $45,000. The base-price pickup is a little more than $24,000. I couldn't find much to complain about. And I found lots to like.Matthew DeBord/BI

Read the review »

1. The Ranger's design. The styling of this midsize truck isn't wild or radical. But it is solid, and my tester looked sharp in "Lightning Blue."Matthew DeBord/BI

2. The "Ranger" call-out across the liftgate. This is a cool thing, as well as a throwback to day when pickups proudly announced themselves to whomever might be in the rearview mirror.Matthew DeBord/BI

3. The versatile, lined short-box and bed. The SuperCrew configuration that I tested sported a 5-foot bed, but the Ranger can be had with a two-door cab and a 6-foot bed. I used the Ranger for both a run to Costco and to transport some furniture about 120 miles.Matthew DeBord/BI

4. The 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine is a turbocharged power plant that cranks out 275 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque. Towing capacity is 7,500 pounds — enough to tow just about anything owners of the Ranger would want to.Matthew DeBord/BI

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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