GTwannabe

I hardly ever see any of the $15k stripper Tacomas. It's either the $22k 4cyl 4WD or the $30k V6 quad cab. Ford shot themselves in the foot with the Ranger by not offering seating for 4 adults. Same problem with the Sport-Trac and it's dinky bed. Neither worked as a sub-$30k daily driver with 80% pickup truck capability on the weekends.

Is Mexico still getting/building the T6 Ranger? Seems like a no-brainer to slap an F-100 badge on the new Ranger, limit the engines to 4 and 5 cylinders, and sell it on Ford lots. So what if it's 90% the size of an F-150? Who cares? You're just utilizing excess Mexican plant production capacity when it's available. Price them similar to the Tacoma/Frontier (loaded 4WD quad cab under 30k) and they will fly off the lots!

Supposed to come out in 2012, but no diesel. Might get a Pentastar V6... or it might just be the Wrangler's crappy 3.8. Either way, it doesn't seat 4 adults and I doubt it will average more than 18mpg. For my purposes (daily driver, ability to haul firewood several times a year) the Ridgeline is ~90% what I need: Pros: - seats 4 adults - standard 4WD - 1500lb payload - fits a mountain bike with the rear seats folded - large lockable trunk under the bed to carry tools/guns/etc. - can get over 20mpg on the highway Cons: - overpriced (it's a Honda) - no manual transmission - "4WD" is actually AWD and lacks low range - weak interference engine that needs timing belt changed every 60k miles - lousy city MPG - something hangs very low in the middle of the undercarriage and kills ground clearance

Now that Ford has killed any hope of a redesigned Ranger, what will be your next truck? The F-150 is just too big, heavy, and expensive for me and has no manual transmission option. Currently leaning toward a quad cab Nissan Frontier with the PRO-4X package. Any 4WD truck in my price range will get lower MPG's than my B3000, so I'm trying to hold off as long as possible. Come on, Ford... Nissan and Toyota can make money in the mid-size truck arena, why can't you? A 2.0 Ecoboost mid-size would spank the competition in fuel economy. Even a Honda Ridgeline style unibody truck would be better than nothing.

Hope they do... a mid-size, quad-cab, diesel pickup that gets MPG's in the high 20's- low 30's will spank the competition and spur development.

2011 Mazda6 has a direct injection 2.5 with 170hp. Mazda 3 still uses conventional injectors and has ~140hp. Wish they offered the V6 with a 6spd...

Toyota sells plenty of 4WD 4-cylinder Tacomas, and the Taco is a much bigger, heavier, and more expensive truck than the Ranger.

The new Explorer is based off the FWD unibody Taurus X platform.

Ford lets the Ranger rot because they don't want a more capable Ranger siphoning off potential F-150 sales. Why they don't just call it the "F-100 Ranger" and lump it in with the F-series sales numbers is beyond me.

Grr... Ford's letting the Ranger rot on the vine. 13 years without a redesign is way too long. Hopefully Ford can put something new out before I need to replace my 98. Otherwise I'm going to have to get a Nissan or Toyota

I disagree. I see a lot of new Frontiers and Tacomas on the road, the majority of which are not the $16k base model. Most are in the $25k range; 2WD quad cabs or 4WD extended cabs. You can get either a Frontier or Tacoma with 4WD, quad cab, and the offroad package for $30k sticker. A comparable F-150 stickers for $39k. The current Ranger is not competitive because of the gas-guzzling 4.0. My 98 4WD 3.0 can get 23mpg on the highway, which is much better than the 2WD F-150's claimed 19mpg. A 4WD F-150 would be down around 15-16 at best. Plus, it's 1000lbs heavier than than the Ranger and you will take much more of a hit in stop-and-go driving.

Supercab would be fine... as long as it can fit 4 adults. Doesn't have to do it comfortably; just have real seating in the rear and not jump seats that barely fits a 10 year old.

Here's what I want: - mid-size - quad cab - 4cyl turbodiesel - 6spd manual - 4wd

Sweet car, but the pricing will kill sales. A base AWD Taurus is ~25k. The SHO has the ecoboost engine ($700), better wheels/tires ($1000), and a warmed-over suspension/different trim. Yet Ford set the SHO price at 38k, placing it in low-end Infinity/Lexus/BMW/Mercedes territory.