2019 Ranger XLT test drive review from Seattle Auto Show

[Minuteman3]

Had a chance to drive a '19 Ranger XLT today around downtown Seattle. Pretty impressive.

My perspective ... we have a 2017 F-150 Platinum, 3.5EB, that we really like. However, on a recent cross country car trip, my wife and I were talking about whether our not we need the size of the F-150 once our son graduates from college in a couple of years. My feeling is a Ranger Lariat would probably fit our size requirements perfectly.

However, I did notice a couple of things right off on my test drive ... I REALLY miss the handle on the window pillar!! Makes getting in and out a lot easier! The seat seemed to not go back as far as I would like, but I'd probably want to see a full production Lariat before making that determination. The Ford guy admitted that the gas mileage would not be a lot different between the Ranger and our F-150.

Most everything else was top notch. I especially noted that the fit and finish was impressive for a pre-production truck. Driving in the rain over a bunch of lousy streets and potholes produced no squeaks or rattles at all!!

All In all, I'd say this will be a worthier consideration in a couple of years.

They had one gray Lariat indoors and several outside. The red looks to me to be a tad more "orange-ish" than my photos show, but not bad looking at all.

Cheers!!

Ken


Moderator edit:

Thank you Ken for your review! We've added an independent video review of the Ranger test drive from the Seattle Auto Show to supplement this review.

Ha!! That was the truck I drove as well!! Different Ford guy.

Ken

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[rangerdanger]

Traffic was a little heavy so I really didn't have a chance to "test" the acceleration .... or the driver's patience!!

I drove the silver XLT ... I'm pleased to note the grab handles may be available on the Lariat. IF we were to make a move, it would definitely be to the Lariat level.

As I've thought about it over the past couple of days, I remain pretty impressed. I felt right at home inside as it felt to me like a it was a twin for my wife's '16 Fusion Hybrid (size wise). I'd be willing to bet the difference is not more than an inch in any direction!! And that's not a bad thing, we love our Fusion and it's the perfect size for us.

However ... I get really good mileage on our 3.5EB F-150!! I average around 17-18 in town and on a 8,000 mile cross country trip we averaged 22MPG!! Nice to have the extra room at times as well.

One thing I "missed" was the start/stop feature in the Ranger. Our F-150 has that and I have gotten used to it .... and I'm sure it's one of the reasons we get such good mileage dealing with traffic. On the XLT I was in, either it's not there or it was disabled!!

Ken

Very thorough review. The Ranger has stop/start, but several conditions have to be met for it to work.

It was very smooth and seamless on the XLT I drove.

 

[BlakeRom]

Traffic was a little heavy so I really didn't have a chance to "test" the acceleration .... or the driver's patience!!

I drove the silver XLT ... I'm pleased to note the grab handles may be available on the Lariat. IF we were to make a move, it would definitely be to the Lariat level.

As I've thought about it over the past couple of days, I remain pretty impressed. I felt right at home inside as it felt to me like a it was a twin for my wife's '16 Fusion Hybrid (size wise). I'd be willing to bet the difference is not more than an inch in any direction!! And that's not a bad thing, we love our Fusion and it's the perfect size for us.

However ... I get really good mileage on our 3.5EB F-150!! I average around 17-18 in town and on a 8,000 mile cross country trip we averaged 22MPG!! Nice to have the extra room at times as well.

One thing I "missed" was the start/stop feature in the Ranger. Our F-150 has that and I have gotten used to it .... and I'm sure it's one of the reasons we get such good mileage dealing with traffic. On the XLT I was in, either it's not there or it was disabled!!

Ken

My Lariat tester had start/stop and a button to disable it. The fusion is a great car I love selling them as the owners are always happy with them when they report back!

The ranger will be a smooth smaller version of the F150, definitely not as much room but for downtown driving and parking you would be much happier. Also I can bet the fuel mileage would be close to 30mpg in the ranger and 20 city. Were you thinking about preordering a Ranger?

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