Best midsize Pickup?

[Newtosavage]

Curious what these new Rangers are getting in real world fuel economy.

 

[Boarmaster]

No, a F150 is bigger than an F350 from just 15 years ago. My 03 F150 is smaller than a new Ranger. And the ranger has a higher tow rating.

The size creep is beyond out of control.

LOL, maybe I’m just getting bigger…

 

[keystone112]

Curious what these new Rangers are getting in real world fuel economy.

About 22.5 for me.

2.5” front level and 265/70R17 tires.

 

[Newtosavage]

About 22.5 for me.

2.5” front level and 265/70R17 tires.

Not to knock your ride, but you're saying if I give up about 50% of the interior room and bed capacity I have now, I could gain 0.5-1 mpg in fuel economy. My Silverado has the same tire size and presumably the same clearance. I will concede that on narrow mountain roads, my Silverado gets a bit tight.

 

[keystone112]

Yes.

I would love better MPG, but it just isn't there. I love the size of the truck vs. my last truck (Silverado) but the mid-size class doesn't offer better fuel economy. It's like the manufacturers just don't care. I don't tow anything, so I would trade some torque for say 35 MPG. I'll never see it.

 

[Newtosavage]

Yes.

I would love better MPG, but it just isn't there. I love the size of the truck vs. my last truck (Silverado) but the mid-size class doesn't offer better fuel economy. It's like the manufacturers just don't care. I don't tow anything, so I would trade some torque for say 35 MPG. I'll never see it.

Unfortunately, I feel like I've seen this for 20 years now. Smaller trucks that don't get any better fuel economy than "full sized" trucks. I can remember running Ford Rangers at work in the late 90's/early 2000's and they got 18-19 mpg and I was like that's it? The reason my boss bought them was to save fuel. Meanwhile, my 6'4" arse had to fold up into and out of one every day. I didn't appreciate that at all.

A true mid-size with a diesel that had torque to tow and got 35 mph would be ideal.

 

[Buzby]

Unfortunately, I feel like I've seen this for 20 years now. Smaller trucks that don't get any better fuel economy than "full sized" trucks. I can remember running Ford Rangers at work in the late 90's/early 2000's and they got 18-19 mpg and I was like that's it? The reason my boss bought them was to save fuel. Meanwhile, my 6'4" arse had to fold up into and out of one every day. I didn't appreciate that at all.

A true mid-size with a diesel that had torque to tow and got 35 mph would be ideal.

The half ton diesels are getting 30-33mpg. With higher payload and more interior room! It’s still hard to justify a mid size, when they only offer one benefit, smaller exterior dimensions.

 

[Macintosh]

Yeah, it's not like I was towing a fifth wheel but for my 4000lb boat trailer my colorado diesel had plenty of torque to tow (passing, uphill, etc) compared to my current v8 silverado. Best fuel economy I had was on long trips, around 31-32 mpg, mid to high 20's around town if I recall correctly. My sob story about that vehicle is somewhere back there^^, but torque was not the reason I sold it. At the time dodge had their diesel, but there were no half-ton diesels available after dodge recalled them and stopped production, so that colorado was the only diesel option available in the US. Regardless, people just arent buying the diesels, so they arent making them. At the time I got it (2017) diesel was only like 50 cents/gallon more than 87 octane gas around here so the savings in fuel pretty much made up the increased pricetag in the vehicle. That's changed, which I imagine is a big part of why we havent seen more diesel offerings or inventory.

 

[Newtosavage]

Yeah, it's not like I was towing a fifth wheel but for my 4000lb boat trailer my colorado diesel had plenty of torque to tow (passing, uphill, etc) compared to my current v8 silverado. Best fuel economy I had was on long trips, around 31-32 mpg, mid to high 20's around town if I recall correctly. My sob story about that vehicle is somewhere back there^^, but torque was not the reason I sold it. At the time dodge had their diesel, but there were no half-ton diesels available after dodge recalled them and stopped production, so that colorado was the only diesel option available in the US. Regardless, people just arent buying the diesels, so they arent making them. At the time I got it (2017) diesel was only like 50 cents/gallon more than 87 octane gas around here so the savings in fuel pretty much made up the increased pricetag in the vehicle. That's changed, which I imagine is a big part of why we havent seen more diesel offerings or inventory.

It's really unfortunate too. I had a Golf TDI (diesel) that was just outstanding. All the torque you ever wanted, fun to drive and 52 mpg anywhere I went.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

My co workers bought 3 TDIs between them. Tank lasted forever

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

I didn't think I was in the market for a new vehicle but this thread has me thinking. I've spoken to a handul of Colorado owners over the last month. The ZR2 guys LOVE them. I've not driven one.

I am not married to any brand. But a diesel does appeal to me for the mpg. What half ton sized vehicles are still made with a smaller diesel? I'd for sure prefer one size up from a Colorado with a small diesel and some off road capabily (read Locker or something).

 

[hoff1ck]

I didn't think I was in the market for a new vehicle but this thread has me thinking. I've spoken to a handul of Colorado owners over the last month. The ZR2 guys LOVE them. I've not driven one.

I am not married to any brand. But a diesel does appeal to me for the mpg. What half ton sized vehicles are still made with a smaller diesel? I'd for sure prefer one size up from a Colorado with a small diesel and some off road capabily (read Locker or something).

GM, Ford and Dodge all have one. Not sure outside of that. Only have experience with the GM offerings, but it’s a nice option for sure.

 

[tony]

Curious what these new Rangers are getting in real world fuel economy.

2021 with the Tremor package, stock running gear 16,000 miles
I average 25 mpg and hit 27 on one trip.

I tell people the secret to getting good mileage is doing the speed limit or a little over and don't let the damn thing sit and idle.
My GF's liberal tree hugging neighbors literally will let their cars run for an hour to melt the snow off them only to drive a few miles to town

Future plans are a 1" level, an engine tune, aftermarket inter cooler and charge pipes.

From what I understand GM ditched the diesel from the canyon/Colorado line and has a new turbo 4 cylinder like the ecoboost. Supposedly Toyota is doing the same for the next gen Tacoma

 

[GarnerAF1]

2021 with the Tremor package, stock running gear 16,000 miles
I average 25 mpg and hit 27 on one trip.

I tell people the secret to getting good mileage is doing the speed limit or a little over and don't let the damn thing sit and idle.
My GF's liberal tree hugging neighbors literally will let their cars run for an hour to melt the snow off them only to drive a few miles to town

Future plans are a 1" level, an engine tune, aftermarket inter cooler and charge pipes.

From what I understand GM ditched the diesel from the canyon/Colorado line and has a new turbo 4 cylinder like the ecoboost. Supposedly Toyota is doing the same for the next gen Tacoma

I’m really crossing my fingers that Toyota rolls out something extremely impressive. Just not sure I want to wait that long. Kind of a stinker that GM would drop that little baby duramax. Sure heard it was a killer set up.

 

[Coldtrail]

I tend to drive everything to the end of it's usable life and one of the things I always try to look at with all these trucks and MPG is how much technology it takes to achieve it, more technology, the more issues you may have. So far that issue has kept me from many of the new offerings.

My rusted out non turbo 6cyl F150 4wd with oversized tires gets 21-22mpg empty & my '19 Tacoma 6cyl/6sp auto 4wd gets 25-27mpg empty on a 2 lane so like some have said, a guy can spend a ton of money to get another 1mpg & a few extra horses, but also become the owner of a whole host up "upgraded" technology to maintain. I'm not knocking anyone buying a new rig, but I do think that for those looking to run them into the ground that it might be worth a little sacrifice in mpg to stay away from the latest & greatest technology. I can't recall where I read it, but I did see something about some of the smaller shops not being able to do much with some of the new deisel offerings, basically it wasn't worth them getting the equipment when only a couple rigs a year show up with a problem.....if true, something to keep in mind.

This will be the 1st year my F150 doesn't go more than a few hours from home and my Tacoma becomes my "primary" out of state travelling vehicle.....the jury still out to see how much cursing I do along the route trying to stay comfortable or wishing I had a little more under the hood.

 

[ChrisAU]

A couple weeks ago I finally got my GMC Canyon AT4 I ordered Nov 9th 2021 lol. It does feel like a much nicer truck than my Toyota was. Got 22.5 MPG on the one road trip I've taken it on so far which is muchhhh better than my Toyota ever thought about doing. Taking it to Wyoming for mule deer in a couple weeks, much excite!

 

[GarnerAF1]

Well as much as I am impressed with the performance of the Ford Ranger. I’m not sold on the current generation. I might wait till the 2024 Ranger to be released since it definitely looks like they have refined and upgraded everything about it including the interior and it’s user friendliness.

I got a chance to use a Ranger as a rental and as nice as it rode. The transmission is absolutely jerky and the interior is like something out of a 2011 Ford Fusion.


So far what really has my attention is the new ZR2 Chevy Colorado coming out next year. To all the Chevy or GM current or past owners. Is it truly a option to consider or are all the horror stories about GM quality true?

 

[GarnerAF1]

Not dogging Ford. I still believe it’s one of the best performing quality Midsize trucks currently out there. However it needs a new generation under its belt to fully be on par in all categories with the rest. The transmission needs refining, the suspension is god awful as for stock suspension. Have heard the same with everything minus the Tremor stuff. The interior has the worst layout for controls, they are small, really hard to know what your selecting without taking your eyes off the road. Infotainment system seems like it’s just an IPad put in a dash with a cheap plastic bezel around it. The back seat is darn uncomfortable and doesn’t have a split when folding. Oh and I will say one of the most annoying parts I hated was that darn Auto Start/Stop nonsense. Granted you can turn it off per drive but you usually forget each time till that first stop at a light when it engages.

Like I said, power, torque, fuel mileage, ride comfort, seat position, head room is so much better than my last truck but it still needs some noticeable refinements in my opinion.

 

[amassi]

Not dogging Ford. I still believe it’s one of the best performing quality Midsize trucks currently out there. However it needs a new generation under its belt to fully be on par in all categories with the rest. The transmission needs refining, the suspension is god awful as for stock suspension. Have heard the same with everything minus the Tremor stuff. The interior has the worst layout for controls, they are small, really hard to know what your selecting without taking your eyes off the road. Infotainment system seems like it’s just an IPad put in a dash with a cheap plastic bezel around it. The back seat is darn uncomfortable and doesn’t have a split when folding. Oh and I will say one of the most annoying parts I hated was that darn Auto Start/Stop nonsense. Granted you can turn it off per drive but you usually forget each time till that first stop at a light when it engages.

Like I said, power, torque, fuel mileage, ride comfort, seat position, head room is so much better than my last truck but it still needs some noticeable refinements in my opinion.

Fwiw you can delete the auto stop start on ford trucks.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[GarnerAF1]

Fwiw you can delete the auto stop start on ford trucks.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Awesome! That’s good to know!