2019 Ford Ranger's Combined MPG Matches Colorado/Canyon Duramax Numbers

Gorehamj · December 11, 2018

John Goreham
Contributing Writer, GM-Trucks.com
12-11-2018

Ford's media launch for the all-new 2019 Ranger is presently underway. One tidbit that Ford let out today is that the Ranger will have a 22 MPG Combined rating in 4X4 and 23 MPG combined in RWD versions. Those numbers are the same as the Colorado and Canyon Duramax diesels'.

Normally, comparing a gasoline-powered vehicle to a similar one with a diesel engine is meaningless. Diesels are really good at two things; creating torque at low RPMs and having a high miles per gallon rating (of diesel fuel). The Ranger is a bit different. Like the new Chevy 2.7-Liter turbo gas engine, the Ranger's 2.3-liter "EcoBoost" turbocharged gasoline engine also develops outstanding torque at low RPMs. The Ranger is rated at 310 lb-ft of torque. Ford has not yet provided a curve for it and we will update our readers when they do. Expect a low RPM peak and a flat plateau over the entire normal operating speed range of the engine.

Diesel is presently selling at 22% more per gallon than regular unleaded according to AAA's daily national average posting. It will be interesting to see how the Ranger pulls trailers. It may well have a similar pulling ability to the Duramax equipped midsize trucks from GM, but offer much quicker acceleration coupled with a lower cost for fuel.

rkj__ · December 11, 2018

Add that to a fairly long list of things that Ford did right on the Ranger.

Grumpy Bear · December 11, 2018

John's got the oar out stirring the pot I see. Must be bored.....again....

newdude · December 11, 2018

Ah but the real world won't match the 2.8 Duramax. I'm 24mpg (winter) and 28-30mpg(spring/summer/fall) per tank average. 26mpg in the life of the truck at 26,600 miles.

Grumpy Bear · December 12, 2018

21 hours ago, newdude said:

Ah but the real world won't match the 2.8 Duramax. I'm 24mpg (winter) and 28-30mpg(spring/summer/fall) per tank average. 26mpg in the life of the truck at 26,600 miles.

Just talked me out of the Colorado.

Lifetime average all seasons for Pepper is 27.1 mpg over 83,000 miles. Fuel is cheaper too. Yes, you more than likely don't drive like I do, granted. I would love to see the LV3 motor offered with the six speed in a RC Colorado with the same tune as the WT 1500's. That's an upper 30's mpg combination with a killer power to weight.

newdude · December 12, 2018

26 minutes ago, Grumpy Bear said:

Just talked me out of the Colorado.

Lifetime average all seasons for Pepper is 27.1 mpg over 83,000 miles. Fuel is cheaper too. Yes, you more than likely don't drive like I do, granted. I would love to see the LV3 motor offered with the six speed in a RC Colorado with the same tune as the WT 1500's. That's an upper 30's mpg combination with a killer power to weight.

27.1 is quite good. What are your driving habits like to have done so well? Most of the 4.3 trucks I've seen at work are much lower than that.

I could get better, but as you state, driving habits vary, hence mileage will vary. My winter numbers drop and hurt my average because I spend some bit of warm up time every day. Summer counteracts it. My trip to work is 32 miles round trip. More than half of it is 55mph highway, but the other portion is 55mph with some lighted intersections. Those can take a hit on the stop/go between the lights.

I've done some good trip runs with this thing and driving well above the speed limit on those trips. Rochester to Toronto and back, I averaged 30mpg that trip, however it was mostly at 70-80mph (NYS thruway, plus QEW which is a damn raceway), but in that trip, there was an hour and a half of bumper to bumper traffic, which killed what I could have really gotten. My Watkins Glen run got me 33mpg on that trip, and there are some decent hills here and there. Again, some traffic (race day) and speeds were 60-70mph.

Edited December 12, 2018 by newdude

Grumpy Bear · December 12, 2018

55 mph. Easy throttle. Treat city like the plague. Cherry pick my situations. Like I don't go to town if the need is there in rush hour. Pick my route. Lots of secondary routes. WAZE works pretty good. I'm retired so I don't have many 'have to" situations. IF the engine is on, the truck is moving. Work with nature instead of against it. If I have three days to do a thing I pick the one my weather app shows is the least windy. Travel at night sometimes after hours and in lighter winds. I've done some work on heat management. Truck is bit lower. Watch time pressures like a hawk. Intense maintenance. Lighter syn. fluids. A zillion little things that I've learned to do second nature. I let others drive theirs and I dive mine. It's not my job to run 15 over the limit because some joker got up 20 minutes late for work. Pepper never gets run in the snow an salt so winter miles are disproportionate low to most others experience. I have a salt car for that.

It's not a competition nor a race track. It is my hobby. That all said I have enough experience with her to know I can run 70 mph and still be quite a bit over the national average. She will still get over 23 mph at 55 mph into a 20-30 mph headwind.