All-New Ford Ranger Makes Room For More Space

[russellw]

May 20 2011

• Ranger boasts exceptionally good front head room
• The Double Cab has maximum interior space without compromising the cargo box volume
• Engineers optimised every millimetre of Ranger's dimensions and came up with innovative solutions to provide more interior space

As more and more customers use their pickup to haul not only cargo but also people, the all-new Ford Ranger delivers more cabin room where it matters.

Boasting exceptionally good front head room as well as rear leg room and knee clearance in the Double Cab, Ford's global pickup gives customers maximum interior space without compromising the substantial cargo box volume.
Engineers put in a lot of effort into keeping the vehicle short but the occupant space large by fully utilising every millimetre of Ranger's dimensions. They also came up with innovative solutions to make sure there's no wasted space.
At the start of the Ranger program, the engineers were given targets for the pickup's interior, overall length and the box length.
"We weren't quite sure how to get all of them to add up. It was like making 2+2 = 3," quipped David Stanley, package supervisor, Product Development, Ford Australia.
In the end they found a way to optimise the clearance between the rear seat, the box and the body structure. They slimmed down the back of the seats and headrests, while ensuring the same level of comfort. They also used clever shapes in the sheet metal, by utilising smaller sections instead of one large section. This meant they could make the body structure thinner without compromising on the vehicle integrity.
Likewise, to achieve front head room of 1022mm, the engineers squeezed the clearance between the headliner and the sheet metal to the absolute minimum.
"It should be big enough to do its job and no more," Stanley said. "We try to account for every millimetre and during Ranger's development, we'd often find a few millimetres here and a few millimetres there which we would pare down to push out the interior as much as possible."
As a result, Ranger's front leg, shoulder and hip room are ultra-competitive while the overall roominess in the front is set to rival some leading competitors.
Zooming in on the back seat
With Ranger increasingly being a work-and-family vehicle, the engineers have paid special attention to the rear seats. While the second row in the Super Cab is very spacious, it's the rear seats in the Double Cab that truly shine.
Shifting away from the one-door-fits-all approach, Ranger now has a two-door strategy. The Regular Cab and Super Cab share one long front door, while the Double Cab has a separate shorter front door. Moving the B-pillar forward in the Double Cab has done Ranger a whole world of good.
The Double Cab delivers rear leg room of 902mm and knee clearance of 39mm. This translates into three adults fitting easily in the second row while two six-footers can comfortably sit one behind the other. The rear ingress and egress are also among the best in the segment.
Moreover, the rear glass is bigger which not only helps the driver’s vision but also gives the second-row occupants a more spacious feeling, due to the greater amount of light that comes in. The perception of roominess is further enhanced by the B-pillar being further away from the eye. To open up the interior even more, engineers went down to the details and optimised the pillar size, pillar trim and the blackout on the glass, squeezing them as small as possible.
Still, it wasn't enough to whittle down every last millimetre. The engineers made sure the seat back angle was optimised. Some competitors make the rear seats very vertical to improve leg room and knee room but second-row occupants might just end up slouching into the available knee room.
"We wanted Ranger to be better than an ordinary pickup. We wanted it to have the comfort levels of an SUV," Stanley said. "So we looked at the hip angle, back angle and torso angle to make sure we've got it right."

[Polyal]

Are the really "official" pics?

It might have more room but it still looks cramped, granted they are all the same.

[SM1DY]

The rear bench seat looks a bit tacky, I'm guessing that's one of the base models?

[Iggypoppin']

That last pic, the dog looks stoned...

[4VCLEVO]

Any one notice Its left hand drive. It does look like a base model. There looks to be more room in the back than others I've seen.

[NC1183]

Anyone happen to read the article and realize that its the Space Cab model, it looks to me to have more room then the PJ/K model.

[|Nate]

Sorry, I just had to:


But in all seriousness, I hope that's the base model as the back bench seats look very uncomfortable, but promising with higher up models.

[Road_Warrior]

It's a mule. You can tell by the big red 'emergency stop' button mounted to the console.

[XR Martin]

You guys do realise its just the extra cab version? Rear seats are really only designed for short trips.
Look at the Hilux for example.

[naddis01]

Why do they bother putting 'seats' in the space cab versions?

[russellw]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Are the really "official" pics?

Of course they aren't - I really have little else to do with my time than create fake photos complete with odd looking dogs and Left Hand drive vehicles for the more critical members here to pick holes in.

They are what came with the media release so if you really have an issue with the quality of the pictures, the state of mind the dog is in (or out) of or why they even bother then take it up with them.

Russ

[mr smith]

Originally Posted by naddis01

Why do they bother putting 'seats' in the space cab versions?

They come in handy. I drive a space cab and 90% of the time it has bags, shopping etc behind the seats, but for the odd trip home with an extra passenger they do the job. You wouldnt go from Melb to Syd with someone in there but much better than getting your mate to squeeze in behind the seats of a BA.

[Resurrection]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

It's a mule. You can tell by the big red 'emergency stop' button mounted to the console.

And some of the plastic parts do not have the grain finish.

[Polyal]

Just a simple question Russ, they look amateurish at best, not quite a release I would expect from a global product but there you go. I understand they are pushing the family friendly envelope but still, someone might aswell be giving the guy in the background some rabbit ears.

[Rastus]

Would be perfect for carting the kids around to something local. Additionally you'd have a longer tray back Vs what you'd have on the true twin/crew cab. Weigh up the options, and what you use it for the most I guess.

[GT]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Just a simple question Russ, they look amateurish at best, not quite a release I would expect from a global product but there you go. I understand they are pushing the family friendly envelope but still, someone might aswell be giving the guy in the background some rabbit ears.

I understood what you meant but sometimes things come across, "not quite right" and the way it was worded was probably not quite what you meant either. Bit of a case of "don't shoot the messenger". Photos were very amateurish and I am surprised they didn't make some effort. I reckon they had the press release and then suddenly realised they had no photos so did something equivalent to a Google search.

Cheers
Gaela

[Polyal]

Yeah sorry, it did come across perhaps in a "sharp" manner. I guess its getting annoying Ford not going all out for these types of things.

To me every little thing that is done, said, communicated etc from a business reflects that business. Now I agree these are just some harmless pics thrown out to show how much space there is, and thats fine, but to me it looks like something someone on this forum snapped up. Actually you just have to look at the photography section of this site to see members here would do far better.

[stevz]

Yeah I don't know what they were thinking with those pics. To call them amateurish would be an insult to an amateur.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Woulda made more sence to put 2 kids in the back and mum in the front then 2 largish dogs.

Hopefully they retail these lower end cars at a reasonable price, e.g 34 kay ish! Toyotas are rediculously expensive for what they are.

[Polyal]

And those pesky Hiluxs are everywhere!

Ive been traveling past some road works for the past couple of weeks, and honestly, 95% of the cars are Hilux's, I saw one Ranger and Rodeo. worst still this is a council that has the Ford PG in its area!

Getting some of that pie will be huge, councils/govs must buy a mammoth amount of these.

[Wretched]

I do look forward to the Ranger as I believe and hope it will take on the Hilux but these pictures released by Ford are a little unprofessional and look rushed.

Couple of issues, the dogs are unnecessary, using a clearly well used pre prod car for a media release is a little silly and the location/camera angles really don't do much.

[TheInterceptor]

Originally Posted by Polyal

And those pesky Hiluxs are everywhere!

Ive been traveling past some road works for the past couple of weeks, and honestly, 95% of the cars are Hilux's, I saw one Ranger and Rodeo. worst still this is a council that has the Ford PG in its area!

Getting some of that pie will be huge, councils/govs must buy a mammoth amount of these.

Hey! Even my family agree's the PG sharts all over the family BF!

Unless your on about a different PG.

As for Hilux's, unbeleiveably astronomically overpriced....

[snappy]

Originally Posted by naddis01

Why do they bother putting 'seats' in the space cab versions?

Somthing soft for the rifle to sit on

[1TUFFUTE]

ill tell you why the dogs is a bad idea...i have big ridgebacks and bull arabs and those in the pic made me staraight away think it was small...cus they arent big dogs....and im sure im not the only aussie with 50kg pluss dogs..lol

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by TheInterceptor

Hey! Even my family agree's the PG sharts all over the family BF!

Unless your on about a different PG.

As for Hilux's, unbeleiveably astronomically overpriced....

PG = Proving Ground..hehe

I think its the Ballarine shire or something, outskirts of Geelong.

[Jim Goose]

Will they allow suicide doors on both sides in Australia?
I recall once something about not being allowed on the drivers side due to safety reasons and would only be allowed on the passenger side?

[Jim Goose]

Disregard took at look at the Mazda RX8 and it has them on both sides....

[TheInterceptor]

Originally Posted by Polyal

PG = Proving Ground..hehe

I think its the Ballarine shire or something, outskirts of Geelong.

Aha massive stuff up on that one

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by TheInterceptor

Hey! Even my family agree's the PG sharts all over the family BF!

Unless your on about a different PG.

As for Hilux's, unbeleiveably astronomically overpriced....

Is there any reason why the family BF deserves to be "sharted" on? Just curious

[TheInterceptor]

Originally Posted by fairlaneman

Is there any reason why the family BF deserves to be "sharted" on? Just curious

Ah i didnt say it deserves to be sharted on (only said that as the word ***** is not allowed). It doesnt deserve it, it's a nice car dont get me wrong.
But my whole family loves my new ute. From the comfy seats to the colour to the way it drives, as a whole they all like it way better than the BF.