In 2011 the Ford Ranger got a sweet new design. Unfortunately, it also got discontinued in the United States. But now that we know the truck’s coming back in 2019, forbidden fruit will be tasted! Watch us take a quick spin in the 2016 Ford Ranger that visited California recently, and get an idea of what the truck’s been up to in its absence from America.
This particular 2016 Ranger is temporarily in California courtesy of the aftermarket association SEMA. SEMA has arranged for it to spend some time at Gibson Exhaust’s headquarters so that the company can mock-up and dyno test upgrade parts to sell in Australia, where the 2016 Ranger is readily available at Ford dealerships.
Other than the prototype Gibson exhaust, this Ranger is a stock basic XLT-spec work truck with a 3.2-liter inline five-cylinder diesel engine, four-wheel drive, six-speed automatic transmission and a full four-door crew cab.
Since the truck wasn’t street legal, we could only get a little taste of what it’s like to drive within Gibson’s industrial complex. Check out the video for our initial impressions, and read our first drive write-up to go a little more in-depth on what we noticed on the truck.