Ranger wins shootout review against Gladiator, Tacoma and Colorado

Stevie Gee

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The VIDEO in that article is really good.
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RedlandRanger

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The VIDEO in that article is really good.
Thanks for posting that - I only read the article the first time. The video was pretty good too. I wish they would have posted their "spreadsheet" (or whatever they used to determine those scores). Be interesting to see what they evaluated them on.

I really don't get the love for the looks of the Gladiator - A couple of the guys said it was the best looking of the bunch - I think the thing is fugly. I guess if you really like jeeps maybe it is a thing. I know they have great off road cred.
 

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my transmission still does wonky things. for the most part if I haul on it like i stole it, it always shifts well...if I grandpa it, i get odd shifts that make me think its the GM side of the design.
probably gonna run 93 octane in it for awhile and see if it makes enough power in grandpa mode to even out the shifts
I feel the same, if I give a good push of the pedal it shifts great, but when light on pedal it seems to get lost in itself sometimes.
 

DrDom

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Interesting, if not curious review. I can't say that my experience has even remotely matched theirs. One thing that many reviewers don't seem to do is read the documentation, to comprehend how all of this stuff actually works. The Ranger, and several competitors, are somewhat technologically robust.

It's amazing how much better the experience can be if you first RTFM. In addition, a truck that has almost no miles on it, or has been sitting for a while, is not going to perform as well as one that has been properly broken-in and at least somewhat regularly been driven for more than an occasional test drive. I noticed markedly better handling, performance and fuel consumption once I made it past about 2.5K miles, and had a few extended drives under it's belt.
 


Allenfrx

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One point nearly always ignored by these comparisons is 2WD on-road performance.
Since this is probably 98% of all miles driven it would seem to be relevant.
HANDS DOWN the Ranger is by far the best in this group for real world everyday service, including towing, hauling, comfort, quality and appearance.
Let's take a 500 mile road trip with the base version of all four and see who ends the trip rested and relaxed.
I could hardly stand 50 miles in the Jeep, or a hundred miles in the Tacoma.
Of course the group might get tired after the trip waiting for the Chevy to arrive late!;)

Ford is good at this. Look at the mustang....while not as comfy as a challenger or as track worthy as a Camaro 1le with trans and diff coolers.....mustang manages to consistently win the “over all best combination of compromises” vote.

Ranger seems to be a similar proposition.
 
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FULLSCALE

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That’s an interesting read. I do agree that the other three all do some things better, but the Ranger is better overall. Within a two hour span before I bought my truck I test drove all these back-to-back-to-back-to-back except I was in a Canyon instead of a Colorado.
 

HenryMac

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From the article:

"The test consisted of two parts: a multi-hour road route, both freeway and two-lane, and then a full day at a 400-acre truck playground called Twisted Trails off-road park. We evaluated the trucks based on dynamic qualities — such as ride, handling and off-road capability — as well as the hard specs, like cargo volume, payload and fuel economy. Pricing was also factored in, and we weighted qualities related to versatility and capability, since midsize truck buyers want true multipurpose machines."

Nice that they used hard specs too, rather than personal opinion. Thanks for the thread.

The VIDEO in that article is really good.
I couldn't get the video to work? I was able to find it though on YouTube..............

 
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saintpauljeff

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interesting article; as someone who is contemplating a couple of the vehicles on the list, it gave me some items to be mindful whenever I start test driving
I ended up going buying a vehicle that wasn’t a Ranger. Hope everyone here continues to enjoy theirs. My Ranger test drive went ok, but just decided that truck just wasn’t for me.
 

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I ended up going buying a vehicle that wasn’t a Ranger. Hope everyone here continues to enjoy theirs. My Ranger test drive went ok, but just decided that truck just wasn’t for me.
What did you buy?
 

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I ended up going buying a vehicle that wasn’t a Ranger. Hope everyone here continues to enjoy theirs. My Ranger test drive went ok, but just decided that truck just wasn’t for me.
Glad you found the right vehicle for you! Curious what you ended up going with, and what made it edge out the Ranger.
 

saintpauljeff

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What did you buy?
Glad you found the right vehicle for you! Curious what you ended up going with, and what made it edge out the Ranger.
I ended up buying a Gladiator Sport S. The powertrain felt much smoother (and quieter) and the internal cabin was the best of the three trucks. The Ranger felt... dated. I dunno, it was hard to put my finger on it but the Gladiator felt most interesting. Really wanted to take advantage of those fantastic deals on the Ranger too, but it just didn’t end up suiting me.
 

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I ended up buying a Gladiator Sport S. The powertrain felt much smoother (and quieter) and the internal cabin was the best of the three trucks. The Ranger felt... dated. I dunno, it was hard to put my finger on it but the Gladiator felt most interesting. Really wanted to take advantage of those fantastic deals on the Ranger too, but it just didn’t end up suiting me.
Nice choice. I do like the look of the loaded model.
 

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I ended up buying a Gladiator Sport S. The powertrain felt much smoother (and quieter) and the internal cabin was the best of the three trucks. The Ranger felt... dated. I dunno, it was hard to put my finger on it but the Gladiator felt most interesting. Really wanted to take advantage of those fantastic deals on the Ranger too, but it just didn’t end up suiting me.
The 8 speed trans they're using is by far the best on the market in my opinion. I've had 2 Rams with them and she has a 300 with one and they're just perfect. Those things are so smooth and always in the right gear.
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