2024 Ranger Lariat new owner review: why I ditched my Tacoma Limited order

[OHTREMOR]

Well, after finally being able to test-drive the Tacoma Limited I had been waiting for for a year and a half, I immediately bought the Ranger Lariat instead!

Things I prefer about the Ranger

1. I find the V6 engine is way smoother. The Tacoma 4-cylinder puts out power, but I found it rough. I'd make the decision again on this one factor alone; the Ranger 2.7 is just so smooth

2. The Ranger cab seemed somehow less confining to me (and it's super quiet BTW)

3. I much prefer the vertical screen below the dash vs. the Tacoma novelty-sized horizontal screen sticking up out of the dash...

4. The Ranger has a dedicated button to turn off the autostop/start, and I didn't see one in the Tacoma (maybe because of the hybrid)

5. Didn't like all the chrome on the Tacoma Limited

Things I still like about the Tacoma Limited

1. All-time four-wheel drive. I wish Ranger offered this in the non-Raptor models, like they do in Australia (maybe diesel only?)

2. HUD. Not "important", just a nice-to-have

Some random observations on my new Ranger

- the V6: I drove the 2.3 and 2.7 back-to-back and would go for the 2.7 every time, for the extra smoothness and power and very reasonable option price

- Lariat vs. XLT: I could go either way on this, and bought the Lariat because it's what was available with the options I wanted. The deciding factor was when the dealer agreed to swap out the wheels for the XLT wheels

- FX4 package: I know some writers say the FX4 makes road driving harsher, but I could never see how that would make sense, and for me I'm happy to say it doesn't. I drove with and without FX4 back-to-back at the dealer, and there's no doubt in my mind that the FX4 made for a better on-road experience in terms of soaking up any bumps. Haven't tried off-road yet

- The transmission is smooth. During the test drive it sometimes seemed a bit clunky, but I'm happy to say this has gone away and there are zero issues in day-to-day driving. The truck has about 800 km on it now

- The adaptive cruise control is great & works flawlessly. The lane centering OTOH seems stupid in its insistence to keep both hands on the wheel, thereby defeating its own purpose of making your life easier. Hoping for a software update

- My gripes: (a) lack of all-time four-wheel drive, even as an option, (b) the stupid shifter in the Lariat - it's just a bad design all around in my view, (c) tailgate is pretty heavy going down and coming up, and (d) the billowing leather seats - I've read up on this seat issue now and conclude Ford does not yet have a fix for this. So I think I'll wait and monitor this and make a warranty claim perhaps later once I believe there's an actual fix. The cloth seats on the XLT don't seem to have this problem (they stay taut)

Overall, I think this is a great truck, a very competent vehicle, and I'm really happy I bought it!

Nice truck and awesome they switched out the wheels for you. Not a fan of the lariat wheels.
Drove a Colorado 4 cyl. Turbo for almost two years and owned a Ranger with the 2.3. No comparison to the V6 turbo in my lariat now. The Ford 2.3 is still quicker than the Chevy 2.7, but I would go for the V6 every time. Enjoy the truck, I’m loving mine.

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[Aardvark]

Thanks for all the feedback! It’s good to hear the tailgate thing is just my truck, so then I will go ahead and have that checked out.

Getting the XLT wheels was just a lucky break. I test-drove an XLT in the morning and went to have lunch to think it over - came back, and someone else is already buying the XLT, but that guy was happy to switch wheels with me so then the dealer just did it. Worked out well.

 

[Aardvark]

The wheel has no ability to sense weather you hands are on it or not. It uses force feedback. All it's looking for is the driver input force, you can do it with two fingers or a knee.

Basically, if you get too lazy and let the lane keep assist do all the steering, it will time out as it doesn't sense any driver input to turning the wheel (as one would trying to keep the truck on the road without lane keep assist).

Just give the wheel an ever so slight nudge left or right and it will shut up. At first, I thought my Raptor's lane keep assist was malfunctioning as I had both hands on the wheel and kept getting the warning until I realized it was just driver forced feedback that it was looking for.

There's no pressure sensors or capacitive sensors in the steering wheel; it all happens through the turning force sensing and I'm guessing it's actually sensing it down at the epas.

‘Thanks for that!

 

[Satex]

Odd comment. I have the damper and my tailgate doesn't drop hard or anything. Actually I feel like the damper works a bit too well and lets the tailgate down too slowly.

I got the Goldilocks version.

 

[Lion77]

Nice truck and awesome they switched out the wheels for you. Not a fan of the lariat wheels.
Drove a Colorado 4 cyl. Turbo for almost two years and owned a Ranger with the 2.3. No comparison to the V6 turbo in my lariat now. The Ford 2.3 is still quicker than the Chevy 2.7, but I would go for the V6 every time. Enjoy the truck, I’m loving mine.

That's kind of surprising since the TurboMax should be 310HP, but I keep seeing reviews say something similar, that's its not as fast as one would expect at that power level.

I'm wondering if its laggy on response so there's a lot of lag time before it actually puts out that power compared to the 2.3L and especially the V6's.

 

[Freedom Beast]

The mechanical shifter is also just the right height for arm to armrest and hand to shifter configuration comfort. Only need that one hand on the wheel, right? Also, my tailgate is smooth and not heavy at all. The assist works well.

 

[HighDesertRanger]

That's kind of surprising since the TurboMax should be 310HP, but I keep seeing reviews say something similar, that's its not as fast as one would expect at that power level.

I'm wondering if its laggy on response so there's a lot of lag time before it actually puts out that power compared to the 2.3L and especially the V6's.

The GM engine has a LOT of lag compared to the Ford motors.

 

[OHTREMOR]

That's kind of surprising since the TurboMax should be 310HP, but I keep seeing reviews say something similar, that's its not as fast as one would expect at that power level.

I'm wondering if its laggy on response so there's a lot of lag time before it actually puts out that power compared to the 2.3L and especially the V6's.

It’s a good engine but in my opinion it feels more like a small diseal engine. Good torque but it’s laggy and mine had a very annoying turbo whistle. I still feel there is no replacement for displacement and the 2 extra cylinders make a huge difference when going to a V6. On TFL truck they raced Andres Colorado against a Ranger with the 2.3 and the Ford won.

 

[Lion77]

Not to mention the 2.7L NANO puts out 400 lb-ft of torque / 315 hp vs. 317 lb-ft of torque / 278 hp. Towing on the regular ranger (non-Raptor) is also considerably higher at 7,500 lbs. vs. 6,400 lbs.

On top of that the 10R60 is going to provide on-tap power at any speed because having 7 forward gears the PCM can keep the engine right in the meat of the power or torque band (performance or towing) as needed.

While the 8 speeds in the Taco's is certainly a nice step up from the legacy 6 speed, I personally think the 10 speeds are the ideal for gas engines now that shift times are very quick, nearly rivaling that of dual clutch setups in high performance cars.

Torque converter automatics that shift fast with 10 gears is probably about as good as it gets!

 

[Lion77]

The GM engine has a LOT of lag compared to the Ford motors.

Never drove one, but I was thinking that, with such a long stroke, it can make torque but getting it to spool up is going to be a chore. There's more to acceleration that just HP and Torque numbers! Engine and transmission response time to varying inputs are also critical factors.

It sounds like the "diesel like" analogy is a good fit. For some it matters, for others it doesn't, but in terms of towing capacity, there's not much meaningful difference between the Colorado and the Ranger (200lbs) which is a paper tiger win for the Colorado.

I remember reading the Gen 1 ranger reviews from 2019 and as I was looking at them a few years back before the Gen 2's were even announced. They hated the cheap interior, but as far as work truck activities, nothing did it as well as the Ranger in its class (i.e., towing / hauling).

At that time, the short cab (lightest variant) was also the quickest in acceleration, I think it was around 6.7 sec 0-60 which is very respectable for a 4 cyl mid-sized truck (Colorado was still on the legacy V6 and the Tacos were still Gen 3 and slow as molasses).

 

[ChronciallyChronic]

The '24 Lariat I bought is a 4x2 and does not have a tow package installed, I do not plan to tow and have no interest in any kind of offroad adventures. With that framework, if you're just hauling in the bed, not doing any towing at all the 2.3L Eco is a great engine for the truck, anyone trying to say that it's underpowered is just behaving as an engine snob. Now, if you are towing or off roading I can agree the 2.7L is the better choice. The biggest take away is equip your truck for how you expect to use it. For me and my use (I wanted a truck, I wanted a Ranger and I wanted one just because), the 2.3L at 278 HP and 315 Torque provides for a very good experience. Another side benefit of the 2.3L, look under the hood, there is loads of space there making servicing very easy.

 

[Rangerjimm]

The 2024 2.3 was a good engine but the new 2025 2.3 is a completely different animal than the old one. The new twin scroll turbo and electric wastegate make it much quicker from a stop with virtually no lag. It is also very smooth idling for a 4 cyl.

 

[Aardvark]

In terms of engines, the Ranger 2.7 was just the smoothest experience, by far, of all the trucks I drove before making a decision.

When the new Tacoma came out, on paper it looked like the one I wanted, especially the Tacoma Limited due to all-time-four-wheel drive and the AVS suspension. While waiting for that truck, I test-drove a few GMC Canyons, in part because I thought (and still do) that it's the best-looking midsize truck out there. But over the course of my long year-and-a-half wait on the Tacoma wait-list, it seemed like reliability issues on the GMC kept creeping up, and as much as I did like that truck, I just couldn't do it. Smooth engine, though.

While waiting for the Tacoma Limited, I test-drove the Ranger in pretty much all configurations (2.3, 2.7, with FX4 and without). All versions of the Ranger were very smooth and impressive, none more so than the 2.7.

Just as I was in the middle of pulling the trigger on the Ranger purchase, my Tacoma Limited order finally came in and I finally had a chance to drive it. I found it unacceptable (for me) in terms of the engine. I mean, yes the power was there, but I found it rough at idle and rough in low-end operation. It was just a mile away from the smooth refinement of the Ranger 2.7. Meanwhile, some reliability issues on the Tacoma also seemed like they were creeping in, plus the Ranger got that best-midsize truck award.

So I happily picked the Ranger with the 2.7, and I think it's great.

I do wish it had the all-time four-wheel drive though.

 

[OHTREMOR]

Never drove one, but I was thinking that, with such a long stroke, it can make torque but getting it to spool up is going to be a chore. There's more to acceleration that just HP and Torque numbers! Engine and transmission response time to varying inputs are also critical factors.

It sounds like the "diesel like" analogy is a good fit. For some it matters, for others it doesn't, but in terms of towing capacity, there's not much meaningful difference between the Colorado and the Ranger (200lbs) which is a paper tiger win for the Colorado.

I remember reading the Gen 1 ranger reviews from 2019 and as I was looking at them a few years back before the Gen 2's were even announced. They hated the cheap interior, but as far as work truck activities, nothing did it as well as the Ranger in its class (i.e., towing / hauling).

At that time, the short cab (lightest variant) was also the quickest in acceleration, I think it was around 6.7 sec 0-60 which is very respectable for a 4 cyl mid-sized truck (Colorado was still on the legacy V6 and the Tacos were still Gen 3 and slow as molasses).

Yeah I had a 2018 Canyon with the V6 non turbo and preferred it to the GM 2.7 as well. I think Ford actually underestimates their power numbers some. As far as the 10 speed helping out that makes sense.

 

[Lion77]

I'm curious why you want all time 4WD? As far as I know, Ford is the only one offering 4x4, 4Auto (AWD) and 2WD, so just pick what you want on a given day / weather conditions. Now I do have a Raptor, so the suspension and tires make a huge difference and the traction in 2WD is impressive for a truck, I'm not sure how the non-raptor rangers are in 2WD.

This is my first truck personally, but I've driven larger F-150's and 250's, a 2008 2500 Silverado HD Diesel etc. and I do know that some of them had very low rear end traction with nothing in the bed / no trailer, so if I had to guess, it's for that reason.

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