JW

Except buying a Mazda doesn't help Ford Motor Company as much as buying a Ford. There's a market for sporty vehicles ('Speed versions from Mazda, Cobalt SS, SVT when it existed, and so on), Ford just needs to build them and build them right (not another SVT Focus debacle).

I believe it's similar to the Rangers. Check the firewall (from the engine side) on the driver's side; you should see a big wiring harness there.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Fiesta-flavored version of the Mazdaspeed2...

Never driven a Caliber, but I did have a rental Cobalt a year ago. In true rental fashion, it came with power nothing, including the engine.

Horseshit. Except maybe in the most liberal population centers (LA/SanFran and the like), there will ALWAYS be a market for high-horsepower vehicles with higher-than-average fuel consumption. Not everyone buys vehicles "because of what it says about me" like the Prius crowd. This makes me want to put a V8 in the Ranger even more...

Today's Ranger wears sheetmetal that largely dates from the 1993 model year (the bed on my '94 is the EXACT same bed they're using today, and the 2-door cab is also identical). In fact, with only small modifications, I could take a brand new Ranger SuperCab body and bolt it onto a 1986 SuperCab frame (only the front cab mounts are different). The only significant size change in the Ranger's 25+ year history was on the standard cabs starting in 1998, when the cab grew 3 inches in length behind the seat. So how has it grown exactly? Meanwhile, in this article, the author hints that Ford might NOT be using the F-100 name for the new midsize. First place I've read that.

Yes, but even then the F100 was still a full-size. And the F100 lived on through about '82 or so, still as a full-size. The F150 was the same truck with axle and suspension upgrades. The F-Series has always been a full-size (relative to the market; the original F1/F100 was much smaller than the last 35 years of full-size trucks). NOT true. Most of that work has been done on the current Explorer. New frame/sheetmetal behind the doors and a solid axle, and look! An updated and competitive Ranger! Add the EcoBoost engines to the lineup when they're available. But there I go again... :beatdeadhorse: Dean and other dealers here - how do you think an Explorer-based Ranger would sell?? I'd go buy an extended-cab 4x4 version TODAY if it existed. And if they want to have a small "pickup", the Courier currently available in Mexico and elsewhere (or something along the same lines) would fill that gap nicely. The T100 argument isn't really valid. It didn't sell not because of its size; that thing was a shitbox in any size.

Yeah, I'd watch my ass if I were you :D

No minivan ever looked that good. I like it, but I think I'd rather see more length behind the doors (leave them the same size, and move everything else back, taking the wheelwell out of the door some more).

I'd really like to see a dolled-up Fiesta. I'm considering one as a daily driver (don't worry Dean, you get first crack at the deal :lol: )

Yep, on the road to recovery they are...

What difference does it make? Kerkorian's getting ready to list the company's assets on eBay, according to you...

Yes, but this one's the fast-track, Reader's Digest version.

I really hope this thread doesn't get locked. It's not often you get to personally witness someone's total implosion online.

The best part about this thread is how salsaking thinks Chrysler is poised for a monumental turnaround, and yet he feels Ford is in danger of being parted out

Back when it was announced that Olds was getting the ax, I thought either Cadillac or Buick would have been a better choice (Olds actually had a couple of somewhat promising cars out at the time). Cadillac has since made a resurgence (though there still isn't anything in their lineup I'd EVER buy), and Buick still blows, Tiger Woods or not. And why are they still bothering with GMC? Once upon a time there was differentiation between the trucks, now it's really just a different grille. Drop that, or maybe make that the medium truck division.

Depending on the rearend gears, the 3.0 was a pretty decent motor. My girlfriend's B3000 had 3.73's in it and it would run with my 4.0 Ranger easily.

Is that a reverse-sensing system I see on there? Does a car that small really need it??

Yep, the experts have spoken...

Las Vegas was a really good show, that inexplicably got cancelled. Hopefully he'll do as well as this one (and it won't get cancelled).

They're doing the things you said "needed to be done" and yet you still bitch that they're a miserable failure??

Don't hold your breath

That is a mean lookin'car! The loss of the manual on the V6 isn't so bad, since they kept the manual shift (which seems to work really well in every Mazda I've driven). Wonder if there will be a Speed version?