Ford Ranger is North American Truck of the YearFord Ranger is North American Truck of the Year

The jury says it is the best mid-size truck, but is a mid-size truck really the best choice for pickup drivers?

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

January 20, 2025

4 Min Read
2024 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4.
2024 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4.Ford Motor Co.

At a Glance

  • The Ranger is equipped with a turbocharged 2.3-liter EcoBoost I-4 engine rated at 270 horsepower and 310 lb.-ft. of torque.
  • Rear-seat storage and passenger space sets it apart from rival mid-size trucks.
  • The mid-level XLT's bottom line is $45,709.

Ford’s redesigned mid-size Ranger pickup is a perennial best-seller and the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury has named it 2024 North American Truck of the Year. The other finalists were the Toyota Tacoma mid-size pickup and the Ram 1500 full-size truck.

The voting guidelines for the jury (I’m a member) are to consider a candidate’s qualities only against those of other vehicles in its class, so this wasn’t a comparison of two mid-size trucks to a full-size truck, it is a comparison of them against each other and the others in their class, while the Ram was considered against its existing rivals like the Ford F-150.

The jury decided the Ranger is best this year, and one clear advantage in my test truck compared to the Tacoma reviewed a few months ago is the utility of the truck’s back seat. The Ranger’s back seat is snug, as is typical among mid-size trucks, but it is at least useable.

The Tacoma’s back seat has a uselessly small amount of legroom when the front seats are in a comfortable position for fully grown adults. The Ranger’s handy storage space beneath the rear seat bottom cushion.

Design News covered the new Ranger’s specifications when it was introduced, but as a reminder, power comes from a turbocharged 2.3-liter EcoBoost I-4 engine rated at 270 horsepower and 310 lb.-ft. It drives through a 10-speed automatic transmission whose shifter is a console-mounted lever rather than the previous rotary dial.

Related:2025 North American Car/Truck/Utility of the Year Winners!

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It is a traditional PRNDL shifter that slides through discrete positions for each gear, which is preferable to the spring-loaded return-to-center joystick-style shifter that can leave the driver unsure of which gear is selected. Those also involve the motion of pushing the shift lever forward to select Reverse rather than pulling it back, which introduces a needless risk of drivers accidentally going the opposite direction they intend.

The tested mid-level Ranger XLT is one level above the base XL and shows its relative position with its fabric seats and lack of amenities like heated seats and steering wheel. I like fabric seats, so I don’t consider that a shortcoming in any way, but I didn’t care for the drab all-black interior appointments. But available seat and steering wheel heat as a reasonably priced standalone option would be appreciated.

The standalone options that were installed were the well-worth-it $95 exterior keypad for unlocking the doors and the $495 spray-in bedliner, which is also a good value. The locking differential, which costs $420, is a great insurance policy for not getting stuck in the sand or snow.

Related:Ford Ranger Is Back on Patrol in the Mid-Size Truck Market

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But the value of the $2,305 tow package plus tech package is more debatable, along with that of the $945 equipment group. The Ranger’s numbers, and the Tacoma’s too, just don’t make a lot of sense. The truck’s bottom line is $45,709 as a fabric-seat almost-base truck, which seems like a lot for a less-than-full-size truck.

The EPA rates the four-wheel-drive Ranger at 20 mpg in city driving and 24 mpg on the highway, but unsurprisingly, my test truck was in the upper teens in around-town driving whose work included picking up a load of mulch from the dump, which is about six miles away. So the fuel economy numbers, like the price tag, are pretty similar to those of a full-size vehicle.

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The Ranger’s 128.7-inch wheelbase is longer than that of a short-bed F-150. In combination with the new Ranger’s additional 2.5 inches of width, any hoped-for benefit in terms of the ability to park it as a daily driver is nonexistent.

So, there are surely specific situations where the Ranger’s price and specifications make it preferable to an F-150, but for the majority of truck buyers, it seems like the benefits in terms of having real, useable cab space make the move up to the full-size truck worthwhile. While the jury may not have compared the Ranger to full-size pickups, customers should definitely do so.

Related:2024 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro Brings New Tech

About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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