jpd80 Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 (edited) May 20 2011 Ranger boasts exceptionally good front head room The Double Cab has maximum interior space without compromising the cargo box volume Engineers optimised every millimetre of Ranger's dimensions and came up with innovative solutions to provide more interior space As more and more customers use their pickup to haul not only cargo but also people, the all-new Ford Ranger delivers more cabin room where it matters. Boasting exceptionally good front head room as well as rear leg room and knee clearance in the Double Cab, Ford's global pickup gives customers maximum interior space without compromising the substantial cargo box volume. Engineers put in a lot of effort into keeping the vehicle short but the occupant space large by fully utilising every millimetre of Ranger's dimensions. They also came up with innovative solutions to make sure there's no wasted space. At the start of the Ranger program, the engineers were given targets for the pickup's interior, overall length and the box length. "We weren't quite sure how to get all of them to add up. It was like making 2+2 = 3," quipped David Stanley, package supervisor, Product Development, Ford Australia. In the end they found a way to optimise the clearance between the rear seat, the box and the body structure. They slimmed down the back of the seats and headrests, while ensuring the same level of comfort. They also used clever shapes in the sheet metal, by utilising smaller sections instead of one large section. This meant they could make the body structure thinner without compromising on the vehicle integrity. Likewise, to achieve front head room of 1022mm, the engineers squeezed the clearance between the headliner and the sheet metal to the absolute minimum. "It should be big enough to do its job and no more," Stanley said. "We try to account for every millimetre and during Ranger's development, we'd often find a few millimetres here and a few millimetres there which we would pare down to push out the interior as much as possible." As a result, Ranger's front leg, shoulder and hip room are ultra-competitive while the overall roominess in the front is set to rival some leading competitors. Zooming in on the back seat With Ranger increasingly being a work-and-family vehicle, the engineers have paid special attention to the rear seats. While the second row in the Super Cab is very spacious, it's the rear seats in the Double Cab that truly shine. Shifting away from the one-door-fits-all approach, Ranger now has a two-door strategy. The Regular Cab and Super Cab share one long front door, while the Double Cab has a separate shorter front door. Moving the B-pillar forward in the Double Cab has done Ranger a whole world of good. The Double Cab delivers rear leg room of 902mm and knee clearance of 39mm. This translates into three adults fitting easily in the second row while two six-footers can comfortably sit one behind the other. The rear ingress and egress are also among the best in the segment. Moreover, the rear glass is bigger which not only helps the driver's vision but also gives the second-row occupants a more spacious feeling, due to the greater amount of light that comes in. The perception of roominess is further enhanced by the B-pillar being further away from the eye. To open up the interior even more, engineers went down to the details and optimised the pillar size, pillar trim and the blackout on the glass, squeezing them as small as possible. Still, it wasn't enough to whittle down every last millimetre. The engineers made sure the seat back angle was optimised. Some competitors make the rear seats very vertical to improve leg room and knee room but second-row occupants might just end up slouching into the available knee room. "We wanted Ranger to be better than an ordinary pickup. We wanted it to have the comfort levels of an SUV," Stanley said. "So we looked at the hip angle, back angle and torso angle to make sure we've got it right." Edited May 21, 2011 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Jellymoulds Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 (edited) Love the two dogs JPD, they look like they finding it very comfortable inside with all that extra space, they are not hunchbacked up in the back some unpractical cramped jellymoulded car. The two dogs look like the give it the two paws up of approval. Yes it looks like the space inside has been improved a lot JPD, not a great fan of the RAP Cab the structure just looks so weak not very rigid, the single cab is still the best most practical with the bigger load area. Have you improved on the crash protection for the driver in the new Ranger, which NCAP rated very poor on the present Ranger the drivers leg & chest area crash protection was rated poor & weak My Brother has just started using the Ranger at work, l asked him what he thought of it. He said it took a bit of getting used to (after just driving cars only), the front wheels tend to lock up under just moderate braking, wheel spins if you pull away to fast, parking sensors never work & the suspension & ride is a bit bouncy when its not carrying a load in the back. Apart from that he said it was not bad. He is going to let me take it out for a spin sometime in the near future, as he knows l like the Ranger. Edited May 21, 2011 by Ford Jellymoulds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 (edited) Thanks FJM, The Ranger your brother is driving was developed by Mazda, the T6 Ranger is completely different vehicle to that and has been designed to achieve a minimum 5 star rating. The T6 also uses the I-4 and I5 diesels found in Transit so some commonality there for people in Europe. Pics are Extra cab not the dual cab. Edited May 21, 2011 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blksn8k2 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 It would be extremely appreciated if certain people would cease and desist from posting information about vehicles that 99.9% of the members of this forum cannot now and apparently never will be allowed to purchase. All this serves to do is create dissension among the populace. On another note I think there are several Ford executives that could easily run for political office. They have already mastered the art of dodging questions which seems to be a prerequisite of that particular profession. :shades: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blksn8k2 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 BTW, jpd80, how do the dimensions of the T6 compare to those of the Tacoma? I am sure many of the members would like to know since the Toyota will probably be their next truck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 (edited) BTW, jpd80, how do the dimensions of the T6 compare to those of the Tacoma? I am sure many of the members would like to know since the Toyota will probably be their next truck. Externally the width of T6 is around 72" which is still 2" narrower than a Tacoma. Oddly enough, the Tacoma is not seen as a competitor to the mighty F150....... Hmm, maybe Ford needs to start dismantling Toyota by taking key markets back, like Tacoma... Edited May 23, 2011 by jpd80 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Jellymoulds Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 (edited) Can we have a nice RWD Falcon replacement for the Cortina we lost in the UK JDP, which Ford used to sell 33,000 to 55,000 every August in the UK. Mundaneo sells about 1,000 in August in the UK its about as much use as a chocolate tea pot. Edited May 23, 2011 by Ford Jellymoulds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 (edited) Can we have a nice RWD Falcon replacement for the Cortina we lost in the UK JDP, which Ford used to sell 33,000 to 55,000 every August in the UK. Mundaneo sells about 1,000 in August in the UK its about as much use as a chocolate tea pot. I sure hope so, a nice Capri -Mustang and a slightly larger but very efficient Falcon-T'bird pair to boot.... Markets changed a lot over the world FJM, I think we're men out of step..... but who want to dance the silly dance of mundane plain vanilla..... Edited May 23, 2011 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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