Ranger Loud Compared to F150?

[1depd]

Well last weekend we took a Ranger for a test drive. We chose the XLT. I liked the Lariat, but leather seats get hot without the cooled seats and that option is not offered. The wife didn't like two major items. 1) She felt closed in. That could be easily explained by the fact that we are driving an F-150. 2) She thought the engine was entirely too loud. Our current truck I very quiet.

My questions to anybody who might know are: Is the Lariat Ranger quieter than the XLT? Is Ford contemplating putting cooled seats in the 2020 Lariat?

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[Tyler]

To your first question, yes, the lariat is a little quieter because of an engine cover. You can buy the Lariat's engine cover for the XLT though. I notice the engine on my XLT is loud when its still warming up. After the truck is warm, it is much quieter than my F150 was.

No one is going to know the answer to your second question except ford. Anything would just be rumor.

 

[RedlandRanger]

Also, on the ngine loudness - she could have been referring to the mechanical fan at startup. It is pretty loud but quiets down quickly. It doesn't bother me - in fact, I kind of like it.

Comparing the interior room on an F-150 to a Ranger is not a fair comparison. The interior of the F-150 is cavernous - but the truck is gargantuan. Nice to sit/ride in, but hard to park and maneuver.

 

[Geoff]

I admit my hearing is not the greatest anymore but my Ranger is one of the quietest, if not the quietest, vehicle I've owned. No complaints here....

 

[Rick - Saber]

If my notes from some TFL (The FastLane Truck) videos where they take the midsize trucks up the Ike Gauntlet challenge are correct, here are the decibel levels they recorded.

Ranger: 67 dB @ 4,000 RPM
Tacoma: 70 dB @ 5,500 RPM
Canyon Duramax: 69 dB @ 3,000 RPM
Colorado V6: 73 dB @ 5,000 RPM

The Ranger comes out as the quietest midsize truck while towing a load (@ 5,000 lbs I think) up a long and steep incline. Undestandable the midsize Ranger interior will feel somewhat smaller when compared to a full size F-150.

 

[Floyd]

My truck has A/C to cool the interior, I have often laughed or at least looked askance at the idea of Air Conditioned seats.
I eat fast food and drink a big gulp when traveling so I usually keep the seat bottom covered anyway.
I like all the good normal engine noises, to me they are reassuring.
The ones which are not normal do make me nervous though.

A truly quiet engine is the worst, that's when I got the most field calls.
They are usually most quiet when they won't run!

High fan on the A/C will solve both problems by covering the engine noise and making you so cold, you'll be glad your tush is warm!

 

[RedlandRanger]

If my notes from some TFL (The FastLane Truck) videos where they take the midsize trucks up the Ike Gauntlet challenge are correct, here are the decibel levels they recorded.

Ranger: 67 dB @ 4,000 RPM
Tacoma: 70 dB @ 5,500 RPM
Canyon Duramax: 69 dB @ 3,000 RPM
Colorado V6: 73 dB @ 5,000 RPM

The Ranger comes out as the quietest midsize truck while towing a load (@ 5,000 lbs I think) up a long and steep incline. Undestandable the midsize Ranger interior will feel somewhat smaller when compared to a full size F-150.

Interesting the RPMs the trucks were doing up that hill. I do find the Ranger to be a very quiet ride on the road.

And I just got back from a 600+ mile trip towing a 5x8 UHaul trailer over a bunch of passes (taking some furniture to my daughter in her new house). I would guess the load was only 2000 pounds or so, but WOW - it did AWESOME! It hardly felt like I was towing anything except for the occasional bounce of the trailer. As far as power goes, it didn't even break a sweat. The tow mode engine braking worked awesome coming down hills. Just one more reason I love this truck!

 

[NOVA_Ranger]

She was closed in and engines make noise. Tesla convertible maybe?

 

[rdm3671]

I have my music up too loud to notice any other sounds.

 

[mike]

Well last weekend we took a Ranger for a test drive. We chose the XLT. I liked the Lariat, but leather seats get hot without the cooled seats and that option is not offered. The wife didn't like two major items. 1) She felt closed in. That could be easily explained by the fact that we are driving an F-150. 2) She thought the engine was entirely too loud. Our current truck I very quiet.

My questions to anybody who might know are: Is the Lariat Ranger quieter than the XLT? Is Ford contemplating putting cooled seats in the 2020 Lariat?

As @RedlandRanger said, it must be the mechanical fan noise she doesn't like. My Lariat always does when I get going from a stop and doesn't every stop doing that but it always lets up fairly quick after the truck is in 3rd or 4th gear. I've gotten used to it, like the inconsistent brakes and like those brakes I'll never come to appreciate it. It does seem louder on the road that my Dad's F150. I get more road noise from the tires and some other outside noise but I'm used to now as well. Just turn the radio up a little louder. As far as closed-in, if that's an issue, stick with the F150. I can't say it's tight but I can say the cab (on all of the mid-size offerings) is exactly the right size for me.

 

[Rick - Saber]

My earlier reference to the TFL Truck tow challenge up the Ike Gauntlet for those not familiar. This info is gathered from their website and videos. It is a tough challenge the guys do on I-70 in Colorado out in the Rocky Mountains. They use an 8 mile stretch that has a 2000 ft elevation change through a max 7% incline to 11,158 ft above sea level. The engines are definitely wanting some oxygen by the time they pull a load up the hill at the Eisenhower Tunnel. Turbo trucks have the advantage here. They do their best to maintain the speed limit of 60 MPH up the hill with wide open throttle if necessary and 50 MPH down the hill. They let the speed going down get up to 60 MPH before they tap the brakes to bring it down to 50 again. Testing how the transmission handles the downhill load.

The Ranger did really well for this test. If they had used the gear select to lock out the upper gears on the downhill run it would have scored higher. They want to use the trucks in their default modes. They did use Tow Haul mode. I am a little biased since I have a Ranger now but I think it is the only one of the midsized trucks that did not seem to struggle at all pulling the load up the hill. They did not have to have the throttle wide open for the Ranger to run up the hill like they did on some of the others. The Ranger also got the best fuel mileage for midsize doing this test as well.

@RedlandRanger this might address your question about the RPM's the trucks were doing. Or for any others if they were wondering why the rev's were as high as they are in the test. Glad to hear your towing went well. Gives me confidence mine will as well when I get around to towing.

 

[RedlandRanger]

@RedlandRanger this might address your question about the RPM's the trucks were doing. Or for any others if they were wondering why the rev's were as high as they are in the test. Glad to hear your towing went well. Gives me confidence mine will as well when I get around to towing.

I knew what the test was, I watched the video a few months ago. I was just commenting on how much lower the RPMs on the Ranger were - it shows the truck wasn't struggling nearly as much as the others were (which were almost redlining).

After towing that UHaul this weekend over a bunch of mountain passes, I can see why it did so well. I was amazed at how little effort it took to pull that trailer up some pretty good hills. I think the only thing that killed the mileage was the boxy trailer. But I still managed about 15 MPG which I think is pretty good. Putting that in perspective, my old Ranger would have only gotten a couple MPG better with NO trailer attached!

 

[1depd]

Thank you all for your replies. Some brought up good points. I do normally drive with the radio up a bit louder than what most would call acceptable, so engine noise doesn't bother me. Besides that I'm a fan of 60's muscle so to say their engines are quiet is a definite mis-characterization. We were going for a second look probably today. I'll check to see if the Lariat is quieter than the XLT.

As far as the leather seat A/C both the wife and I are heat intolerant (medical conditions made worse by heat) so we need as much air circulation as possible. Cloth seats breath naturally, while leather does not. I didn't think it was that big of a deal until we drove to her mother's house in our truck, that has them, then switched to her mom's car that doesn't. There was a big difference in comfort level. I know nobody will know the exact answer as to A/C seats, but if there are rumors that could be entertaining. With the F-150's, the order book seems to be "leaked" several weeks to a couple months before the official book is released. I know the 2019's just hit the floor a couple months ago, but the 2020's should be going on sale within the next 4-5 months, so I was hoping it had been leaked. On sale in 4 months means orders should start in about 3, with the official order book coming out in another 2 months or so. Often in those books it also will tell if an option not currently available, but will be during the mid-year.

Nothing can be done about the closed in feeling going from an F-150 to the Ranger. I think it is her way of shooting down the Ranger. She is pushing for an Explorer. The issue with that is we would have to buy a Limited (she found the XLT seats uncomfortable). That makes it a $50k car, even with x-plan. She was told that is not an option. As some have pointed out parking the F-150 in the area we live is rough. We live out a bit, but to do anything requires going in to a large, populated area. The parking spots are made for compact cars so the big truck barely fits into two spots, but fills those spots line to line. We are better off taking four spots. If there isn't a pull through parking that means we have to back in. That is kind of tough with the bigger vehicle.

 

[Formula Indy]

Well last weekend we took a Ranger for a test drive. We chose the XLT. I liked the Lariat, but leather seats get hot without the cooled seats and that option is not offered. The wife didn't like two major items. 1) She felt closed in. That could be easily explained by the fact that we are driving an F-150. 2) She thought the engine was entirely too loud. Our current truck I very quiet.

My questions to anybody who might know are: Is the Lariat Ranger quieter than the XLT? Is Ford contemplating putting cooled seats in the 2020 Lariat?

My wife said no to the Ranger on the first test drive over that fan noise too. Once I figured out that was the issue, we did another longer test dirve and she was ok with it.

I know this truck is quieter than my Grand Cherokee at highway speeds.

You may want to try the stone interior. I think lighter colors make the cab seem larger. My wife thinks the Ranger is as roomy up front as her Flex.

 

[rangerdanger]

Thank you all for your replies. Some brought up good points. I do normally drive with the radio up a bit louder than what most would call acceptable, so engine noise doesn't bother me. Besides that I'm a fan of 60's muscle so to say their engines are quiet is a definite mis-characterization. We were going for a second look probably today. I'll check to see if the Lariat is quieter than the XLT.

As far as the leather seat A/C both the wife and I are heat intolerant (medical conditions made worse by heat) so we need as much air circulation as possible. Cloth seats breath naturally, while leather does not. I didn't think it was that big of a deal until we drove to her mother's house in our truck, that has them, then switched to her mom's car that doesn't. There was a big difference in comfort level. I know nobody will know the exact answer as to A/C seats, but if there are rumors that could be entertaining. With the F-150's, the order book seems to be "leaked" several weeks to a couple months before the official book is released. I know the 2019's just hit the floor a couple months ago, but the 2020's should be going on sale within the next 4-5 months, so I was hoping it had been leaked. On sale in 4 months means orders should start in about 3, with the official order book coming out in another 2 months or so. Often in those books it also will tell if an option not currently available, but will be during the mid-year.

Nothing can be done about the closed in feeling going from an F-150 to the Ranger. I think it is her way of shooting down the Ranger. She is pushing for an Explorer. The issue with that is we would have to buy a Limited (she found the XLT seats uncomfortable). That makes it a $50k car, even with x-plan. She was told that is not an option. As some have pointed out parking the F-150 in the area we live is rough. We live out a bit, but to do anything requires going in to a large, populated area. The parking spots are made for compact cars so the big truck barely fits into two spots, but fills those spots line to line. We are better off taking four spots. If there isn't a pull through parking that means we have to back in. That is kind of tough with the bigger vehicle.

To get the cloth seats you need to get a XLT, not a Lariat. There are no cooling seats in any Ranger trim, and it's unlikely to be added in this current generation.

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