RangerBob1992
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@P. A. Schilke
Hi all, longtime Ranger enthusiast looking to learn as much as I can about the history of the SHO Ranger. I recently came upon all of the cool info that Phil S has to share on the topic, and I'm hoping he or anyone else can help. I'll try to keep it brief. I ran across some old articles about the SHO Ranger, and one article had a photo that caught my eye. In this photo, the air intake enters the runners at the front of the engine. I've never seen a picture of that. Does anyone know what caused the change from front to back?
Also, what's odd about that photo with the different intake is the absence of the Ranger GT decal on the windshield and the absence of the "SHO" emblem on the side. Makes me wonder if it's an early photo before it was officially finished and ready for the press.
Perhaps related to the apparent intake change, the September '89 Sport Truck article, one of the most in-depth I've seen on this truck, has this to say, "In a SHO Taurus, the V-6's powerband is one big sweet spot, giving silky acceleration right up to 7000 rpm. In the Ranger, the engine is a little balky below 2500 rpm, comes on like mad between 3000 and 5000 and starts to cough above the five-grand mark. The engineers aren't sure what's at foot yet, but they suspect either the induction or fuel systems. Once the engine is dialed in, the Ranger could be even faster." Maybe they tried a front-fed approach at first, when the first photos were taken, and had to go to back-fed when all of the other photos were taken, or the other way around?
Full disclosure, I've posted this topic on other forums elsewhere to see what kind of info I can come up with.
Thanks in advance,
Bob
Hi all, longtime Ranger enthusiast looking to learn as much as I can about the history of the SHO Ranger. I recently came upon all of the cool info that Phil S has to share on the topic, and I'm hoping he or anyone else can help. I'll try to keep it brief. I ran across some old articles about the SHO Ranger, and one article had a photo that caught my eye. In this photo, the air intake enters the runners at the front of the engine. I've never seen a picture of that. Does anyone know what caused the change from front to back?
Also, what's odd about that photo with the different intake is the absence of the Ranger GT decal on the windshield and the absence of the "SHO" emblem on the side. Makes me wonder if it's an early photo before it was officially finished and ready for the press.
Perhaps related to the apparent intake change, the September '89 Sport Truck article, one of the most in-depth I've seen on this truck, has this to say, "In a SHO Taurus, the V-6's powerband is one big sweet spot, giving silky acceleration right up to 7000 rpm. In the Ranger, the engine is a little balky below 2500 rpm, comes on like mad between 3000 and 5000 and starts to cough above the five-grand mark. The engineers aren't sure what's at foot yet, but they suspect either the induction or fuel systems. Once the engine is dialed in, the Ranger could be even faster." Maybe they tried a front-fed approach at first, when the first photos were taken, and had to go to back-fed when all of the other photos were taken, or the other way around?
Full disclosure, I've posted this topic on other forums elsewhere to see what kind of info I can come up with.
Thanks in advance,
Bob
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