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hey, i have been giving some thought to perhaps getting a ranger. i find i really do haul a lot of stuff that i keep having to ask people to do for me. can you give me stats on which would be the most fuel efficient....obviously a 5 speed, but what about engine? any info would be helpful........

thanks

Laurie, get one just like Wayne's and you should be good. :)

Laurie, get one just like Wayne's and you should be good. :)

guess i will have to wait until he gets back in town, world traveler than he is......

Could be wrong, but I think he has the 2.3l 4-banger with a stick.

Laurie, his is the '03 with 2.3L engine and a 5spd. He speaks of it here:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showpost.php?p=81771&postcount=36

thanks. nothing is for sure yet, but i am going to nose around a bit. i drive so little lately that i could probably do ok hypermiling a truck. or else get one in addition to the car, what with truck prices lately......i still have 3 more years of payments on the HCH that it would be nice to get out from under.....just thinking out loud here.

Well, based on the numbers I've seen Wayne pull out of his on short trips I don't think you could go wrong with one like his -- especially if you keep it off the highway.

I've also been keeping an eye out for an older truck -- if I could get one cheap enough it might be worth it for the few times I actually need one. Plus, pickups are excellent EV conversion candidates because of the suspension and amount of space under the bed for batteries. :D

yes, the small ones would be ok. there is a woman at the barn who has a ranger, and she's always hauling hay bales over to my place and helping me out. but i start to feel like a freeloader if i am always asking......a lot of times it's just that with my "bionic" knee i can't lift as much as i used to.....

a lot of times it's just that with my "bionic" knee i can't lift as much as i used to.....

Time for an upgrade? {NNN--NN-NNN--NNUH!!!}

The Ranger is a good choice, but you do have to be careful.

The Ranger has the best and worst FE in it's class, and it all depends on the engine/transmission combiniation.

The 2.3L/5sp manual is the best mileage in it's class. Step up to the V6 and it's the worst FE in it's class.

Part of it depends on how much you want to haul too. The Ranger is pretty limited there, but still sufficient for most people's uses.

Driven responsibly (pre-hypermiling techniques) mine ranged from 25 to 29 mpg (EPA of 29 highway, 26 combined) depending on the time of year (temps).

My last fillup was just shy of 30 mpg with some really cold temps and fairly rough winds.

Laurie,

I'd suggest getting a 2002 or later model. It has to be the 2.3L manual 4x2. Like Taliesin said, all other models are not good on gas. If you can't find a good Ranger, look for a Mazda B2300 which is mechanically identical (it's what I have). The one plus about the Mazda is if you get a newer one, it has a longer warranty (4yr/50,000mi vs. 3yr/36,000 miles for a Ranger).

Phil

thanks, guys. i am looking for something on the cheap.....i found a couple in the area i am going to at least take a look at.....i don't haul a lot, but it's really hard to put 2x4s into the HCH, or hay bales. unless i got really broke, i don't think it would be my main ride.......

http://stcloud.craigslist.org/cto/906562952.html

there are also some in minneapolis

If you just need it for light duty tasks, maybe you can get away with a hitch and small trailer? If you'd use it fairly often and you're tight on space, you could get a folding trailer from Harbor Freight. If you're not gonna use it often, rent a lil U-Haul trailer (or just rent a truck!). I'm not sure if Honda recommends it or not, but a hitch is made to fit your model: http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/CT11204HC.html?id=mWiKfI32

It is a good idea, but the way the hybrid works it would likely be hard on the battery.

honda does not recommend towing with the HCH.

or any other civic, for that matter. Can the car do it? Of course. Lawyers...

A little pickup is handy if, like me, you have livestock and heat with wood, but they aren't that great on ice or on gas. If all you really want the truck for is hauling hay one of these (http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/CT11437.html) and a utility trailer would probably be OK for you instead. If you want to haul dirty and heavy stuff like manure and fire wood I think the Ranger would be a better bet, but you might want (to rent?) something more FE for long highway drives. Get the 2.3 with the 5 speed for the best fuel efficiency.

A little pickup is handy if, like me, you have livestock and heat with wood, but they aren't that great on ice or on gas. If all you really want the truck for is hauling hay one of these (http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/CT11437.html) and a utility trailer would probably be OK for you instead. If you want to haul dirty and heavy stuff like manure and fire wood I think the Ranger would be a better bet, but you might want (to rent?) something more FE for long highway drives. Get the 2.3 with the 5 speed for the best fuel efficiency.

i actually had a trailer hitch on my last honda....hmm, the ex has it, i wonder if i can steal it off the car. for a while i had a very nice folding snowmobile type trailer. renting wouldn't work that well, since most of my stuff is kind of spur of the moment ideas.....or last week when a friend and i were hauling hay bales from the boarding barn to my barn, all of 2/10ths of a mile. or a get a hair brained idea and i run to fleet farm, and what i think i need won't fit in the car.......i am always building things or fixing stuff.

i do have livestock and heat with wood, but this year i was very lucky. the former tenants of the place i am in were tree trimmers. they left a HUGE pile of wood in the yard, i mean huge! my riding instructor's husband split and cut almost all of it, and we split it. her kids stacked it all for me in front of the house where i can easily reach it. there must be 5 cords out there.

ok, i will check out the trailer option......thanks for all the input. there is another one on craigslist for $800, but i don't expect it will be much of a truck, but for a work truck, i'm not fussy.

2.3L? Wow, I would go crazy with that small of an engine.

2.3L? Wow, I would go crazy with that small of an engine.

The power is similar to the 50's and 60's era F series pickups with straight or inline 6's--did you ever try one of those? Besides it's nice to have the extra space to work under the hood:).

Late to the thread... Laurie, you will get better FE with a 02 or newer Ranger that has the 2.3L Duratech engine... the cast iron monster 2.3Lin the 96 like TorqueNada are heavier, and so is the truck. TorqueNada just turned 150,000 last week, and still burns no oil.

I purchased a 96 Mazda B4000 4x4, 4.0/auto transmission last spring. I needed a 4x4 to ensure that I could make it to work. My job requires that I am there rain, snow, sleet, or hail. I would rather have had a 4 cylinder, but I could pass this one up for the price I got it for. I only drive it when hauling is required and pulling a trailer. I have pulled a box cargo trailer several hundred miles and get a little over 22 mpg pulling it. The Scangauge makes that possible. I took it one trip without and only got 17.5. With the Scangauge, it is consistently around 22 mpg.

60 psi in the 31/10.50-15's.

2.3L? Wow, I would go crazy with that small of an engine.

You should try 1.6L some day, then. ;)

I had a 79 Toyota Corolla with a 1200cc 4cyl with 4-spd manual trans that would completely kick TorqueNada's butt. That was a good little car...

You should try 1.6L some day, then. ;)

Or a 1.0L ;)

Showoff! :p

Well hey, you can still find Metros with a similar engine! ;)

2.3L? Wow, I would go crazy with that small of an engine.

I see you have a Wrangler, so I'm guessing you have the 4.0L. I've had several Jeeps (Wranglers and a CJ), 4.0L to 4.2L. None of those Jeeps felt any faster than my 2.3L, especially not the CJ!

Thinking of other cars I've had that are 2.3L or less, they're all faster than a 4.0L Jeep: 2.0L Talon TSI AWD, 1.8L Civic EX, 2.0L WRX.

I see you have a Wrangler, so I'm guessing you have the 4.0L. I've had several Jeeps (Wranglers and a CJ), 4.0L to 4.2L. None of those Jeeps felt any faster than my 2.3L, especially not the CJ!

Thinking of other cars I've had that are 2.3L or less, they're all faster than a 4.0L Jeep: 2.0L Talon TSI AWD, 1.8L Civic EX, 2.0L WRX.

A lot of that has to do with the fact that the TJ's weigh around 4000LBS. Pretty dang heavy for their size.