Ford keeps its streak alive with its compact Ford Ranger pickup. The Ranger is a true compact truck, sized below the mid-size Toyota Tacoma, Dodge Dakota and Nissan Frontier. Only GM's truck twins, the GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado, still offer the smaller dimensions in the truck class. There’s no true four-door version of the Ranger, but the Super Cab has two small access doors for cargo stowage.
Three versions are offered--XL, XLT and Sport. Last year, the Ranger adopted standard seat-mounted side airbags and electronic stability control.
The 2011 Ford Ranger is a compact pickup truck available in regular-cab and extended-cab (Super Cab) body styles. Both are available in XL, XLT and Sport trim levels. The Ranger Sport receives upgraded wheels (16-inch alloys on 4x4 models), a full-size spare tire, heavy-duty gas shocks (Super Cab), skid plates (Super Cab 4x4 models only), sidestep bars, bucket seats and a center console.
The 2011 Ford Ranger comes standard with a 2.3-liter inline-4 that produces 143 horsepower and 154 pound-feet of torque. This engine is only available with rear-wheel drive. EPA estimated fuel economy is 22 mpg city/27 mpg highway and 24 mpg combined with the manual and 19/24/21 with the automatic.
Rear-wheel drive and a five-speed manual are standard, with four-wheel drive and a five-speed automatic available separately.
Safety
The 2011 Ford Ranger comes standard with four-wheel antilock disc brakes, front-seat side airbags and stability control. Side curtain airbags are not available.
In government crash testing, the Ranger earned a top five-star rating for driver protection in frontal impacts and four stars for front passenger protection. Super Cab models can be had with a pair of rear-seat access doors and small, inward-facing rear jump seats.
The final generation of Ford's Ranger offers an optional Personal Safety System, complete with Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and SecuriLock now offered on all models.
This engine makes the Ranger the most fuel-efficient truck in America, with a highway rating of 27 highways, 22 cities with the manual transmission.
Standard wheels are painted steel 15-inchers, with larger 16-inch cast aluminum rims as options. All Rangers have a 1,260 lb payload capacity. Towing capacities range from 1,580 lbs to a maximum of 5,800 lbs.