New 2021 Ranger Owner Here

[DAT84]

Just wanted to introduce myself. Been eying up my first ever truck for a while now. Coming from a 2015 Focus with the 1.0 3-cylinder Ecoboost 6 speed manual, which has been my dd for the past 5.5 years. My "fun car" is also a 2009 Mazdaspeed 3 with a similar 2.3 liter turbo as the Ranger.

After having my heart set on a new Ram Big Horn, I decided it was more sensible to go with a Ranger. With fuel prices going up, the 2.3 turbo made more sense, and the maneuverability of the smaller Ranger made more sense too. I saved about $10,000 going Ranger, although doing so meant forgoing heated seats, wheel, sunroof, sliding rear window, and led lighting on the Ram.

Now to the fun stuff. Picked up a 2021 XLT Crew Cab Sport in Cactus Grey. Once I saw the color in person, I was sold. The motor has plenty of oomph, the ride is decent, although maybe a bit over sprung here and there. My biggest complaint in the four days I've owned it is the 10 speed. This is my first automatic vehicle in 16 years, and dealing with the overactive shifting of the 10 speed wears on me. What I would do to have the oomph of the 2.3 but be able to choose my own gears and modulate my own clutch.

All in all though, I think I made the correct choice. I'm saving almost $100 a month and put $1,000 less cash down vs going with the Ram. I know I'm in Ford territory here, but that new Ram was hard to pass up, even with the higher cost.

Already have the mod bug, and I'll be needing to invest in floor mats, bed liner, tonneau cover, window tint, led headlights and foglights, and the list goes on haha.

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[2020FRL]

Congrats on the new ride, sweet ride ... Welcome to the Gang,

 

[CO2Ranger]

Congrats on the purchase!

Give the 10 speed some time to break in and I think it'll grow on you. Drop it into Sport mode if you want a more sure and aggressive shift pattern but be warned you'll kiss that MPG number goodbye if you keep it there long.

You made the right choice!

 

[GregM]

Just wanted to introduce myself. Been eying up my first ever truck for a while now. Coming from a 2015 Focus with the 1.0 3-cylinder Ecoboost 6 speed manual, which has been my dd for the past 5.5 years. My "fun car" is also a 2009 Mazdaspeed 3 with a similar 2.3 liter turbo as the Ranger.

After having my heart set on a new Ram Big Horn, I decided it was more sensible to go with a Ranger. With fuel prices going up, the 2.3 turbo made more sense, and the maneuverability of the smaller Ranger made more sense too. I saved about $10,000 going Ranger, although doing so meant forgoing heated seats, wheel, sunroof, sliding rear window, and led lighting on the Ram.

Now to the fun stuff. Picked up a 2021 XLT Crew Cab Sport in Cactus Grey. Once I saw the color in person, I was sold. The motor has plenty of oomph, the ride is decent, although maybe a bit over sprung here and there. My biggest complaint in the four days I've owned it is the 10 speed. This is my first automatic vehicle in 16 years, and dealing with the overactive shifting of the 10 speed wears on me. What I would do to have the oomph of the 2.3 but be able to choose my own gears and modulate my own clutch.

All in all though, I think I made the correct choice. I'm saving almost $100 a month and put $1,000 less cash down vs going with the Ram. I know I'm in Ford territory here, but that new Ram was hard to pass up, even with the higher cost.

Nice looking truck Dave and Here we Go

 

[DAT84]

Congrats on the purchase!

Give the 10 speed some time to break in and I think it'll grow on you. Drop it into Sport mode if you want a more sure and aggressive shift pattern but be warned you'll kiss that MPG number goodbye if you keep it there long.

You made the right choice!

Thanks. Yeah I figured the trans needs some time to learn. I knew there would be plenty of shifting going on, just surprised how aggressive it is to shift up and lug the engine.

 

[Trustable]

Awesome! That's a great looking truck! Happy you enjoyed the 2.3, as a test drive is not enough time for me to judge the engine! The ranger I ordered hasn't even been built yet, and I already figure I I'll be spending 2k within the first year thanks to this forum lol. Lots of helpful information on here as well! The build threads are a great place to start. I also am coming from a focus, a 2014 with the dreaded 6 speed select shift dual clutch. how does the feeling of the focus compare to the ranger size wise for everyday driving? Love the nimbleness of the focus, that's gonna be the hardest thing for me to get used to.

 

[Ranger2021]

Congrats and enjoy!

 

[DAT84]

Awesome! That's a great looking truck! Happy you enjoyed the 2.3, as a test drive is not enough time for me to judge the engine! The ranger I ordered hasn't even been built yet, and I already figure I I'll be spending 2k within the first year thanks to this forum lol. Lots of helpful information on here as well! The build threads are a great place to start. I also am coming from a focus, a 2014 with the dreaded 6 speed select shift dual clutch. how does the feeling of the focus compare to the ranger size wise for everyday driving? Love the nimbleness of the focus, that's gonna be the hardest thing for me to get used to.

I'm glad I got the manual Focus after seeing all those issues with the DCT! I think you'll like the Ranger size wise. It's not the big lumbering truck of yesteryear. Easy to park thanks to it being a bit more narrow than full size, front hood is relatively short, and thanks to the rear camera, it no biggie to back in. It also has a really good turning radius in my opinion. It's also actually a bit of fun to drive on back roads. Is it a Focus? No, but for a truck, I can't complain at all! Congrats on the order too.

 

[JKocot]

Congrats and welcome!

 

[Toph]

Thanks. Yeah I figured the trans needs some time to learn. I knew there would be plenty of shifting going on, just surprised how aggressive it is to shift up and lug the engine.

I picked mine up about 2 weeks before you and had the same concerns about the tranny. The hunting got better after about 200 miles but the lugging still concerns me a bit. (I've heard lugging is bad for turbo engines, fwiw.) Sport mode on the shifter fixes the lugging, btw!

We have the same color too! So gorgeous. Congrats and enjoy!

 

[DAT84]

I picked mine up about 2 weeks before you and had the same concerns about the tranny. The hunting got better after about 200 miles but the lugging still concerns me a bit. (I've heard lugging is bad for turbo engines, fwiw.) Sport mode on the shifter fixes the lugging, btw!

We have the same color too! So gorgeous. Congrats and enjoy!

Yep. After years of owning turbos, I've always heard lugging is no good. Ford has me intrigued with the aftermarket Ford Performance tune. Adds about 50 more hp/tq (91 octane) and said the shift points have been revised too. And yes, love the Cactus Grey. Jealous of your FX4 too, after seeing that prob 90% of the members here have the FX4 package.

 

[24dRanger]

Welcome! I too passed on a new generation Ram mainly due to price. I’m a big guy and didn’t think the Ranger would fit me but it’s not bad. Definitely gave up a lot from my Longhorn package but I likely would have gotten the Laramie in a newer Ram. Cost of new trucks is ridiculous. Prior to the ‘15 Ram I had a ‘06 F-150 that I kept for 10 years. The EcoDiesel was no longer tenable for me as modern diesels need to be worked in order for the stupid EPA crap to not smother the motor. So I looked at F-150s, Rams and Rangers.

I don’t know if I’ll make ten years in this vehicle or not but at least in a few years I’ll have more disposable income and hopefully a decent used market again.

 

[Texasota]

Thanks. Yeah I figured the trans needs some time to learn. I knew there would be plenty of shifting going on, just surprised how aggressive it is to shift up and lug the engine.

That bugs me also and especially when driving around in town. I frequently push the towing button when driving around town and it stops the aggressive up-shifting. Sport mode is fun but it turns my Ranger into a deranged beast.

 

[RangerRod31]

Just wanted to introduce myself. Been eying up my first ever truck for a while now. Coming from a 2015 Focus with the 1.0 3-cylinder Ecoboost 6 speed manual, which has been my dd for the past 5.5 years. My "fun car" is also a 2009 Mazdaspeed 3 with a similar 2.3 liter turbo as the Ranger.

After having my heart set on a new Ram Big Horn, I decided it was more sensible to go with a Ranger. With fuel prices going up, the 2.3 turbo made more sense, and the maneuverability of the smaller Ranger made more sense too. I saved about $10,000 going Ranger, although doing so meant forgoing heated seats, wheel, sunroof, sliding rear window, and led lighting on the Ram.

Now to the fun stuff. Picked up a 2021 XLT Crew Cab Sport in Cactus Grey. Once I saw the color in person, I was sold. The motor has plenty of oomph, the ride is decent, although maybe a bit over sprung here and there. My biggest complaint in the four days I've owned it is the 10 speed. This is my first automatic vehicle in 16 years, and dealing with the overactive shifting of the 10 speed wears on me. What I would do to have the oomph of the 2.3 but be able to choose my own gears and modulate my own clutch.

All in all though, I think I made the correct choice. I'm saving almost $100 a month and put $1,000 less cash down vs going with the Ram. I know I'm in Ford territory here, but that new Ram was hard to pass up, even with the higher cost.

Already have the mod bug, and I'll be needing to invest in floor mats, bed liner, tonneau cover, window tint, led headlights and foglights, and the list goes on haha.

Welcome aboard! I love the cactus grey!

 

[DAT84]

Welcome! I too passed on a new generation Ram mainly due to price. I’m a big guy and didn’t think the Ranger would fit me but it’s not bad. Definitely gave up a lot from my Longhorn package but I likely would have gotten the Laramie in a newer Ram. Cost of new trucks is ridiculous. Prior to the ‘15 Ram I had a ‘06 F-150 that I kept for 10 years. The EcoDiesel was no longer tenable for me as modern diesels need to be worked in order for the stupid EPA crap to not smother the motor. So I looked at F-150s, Rams and Rangers.

I don’t know if I’ll make ten years in this vehicle or not but at least in a few years I’ll have more disposable income and hopefully a decent used market again.

Glad to hear someone in a similar situation as me. The Ram was an amazing vehicle, no doubt, and

Welcome! I too passed on a new generation Ram mainly due to price. I’m a big guy and didn’t think the Ranger would fit me but it’s not bad. Definitely gave up a lot from my Longhorn package but I likely would have gotten the Laramie in a newer Ram. Cost of new trucks is ridiculous. Prior to the ‘15 Ram I had a ‘06 F-150 that I kept for 10 years. The EcoDiesel was no longer tenable for me as modern diesels need to be worked in order for the stupid EPA crap to not smother the motor. So I looked at F-150s, Rams and Rangers.

I don’t know if I’ll make ten years in this vehicle or not but at least in a few years I’ll have more disposable income and hopefully a decent used market again.

I like hearing from someone in a similar situation. Everytime I see a new Ram Big Horn, can't help but think "did I make the wrong choice". But at the end of the day, I'm saving 10 grand. I see the Ranger as my gateway into truck ownership, and it should at least hold value better than my Focus lol. The shifting is my biggest gripe, but other that that, I'm enjoying it. Already replaced my lows and fogs with Auxitos, and license plate bulbs with Sylvania LEDs. Now for the stimulus to come through, might have to get the Ford Performance tune lol.

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