The 2025 Ford Ranger offers spirited performance and decent off-road ability even in its most basic form. It’s a 7 here. The Raptor would net another point for its all-around competence if rated separately.
Four-wheel drive is available. It’s a part-time system controlled via a knob on the center console. Ford offers a locking rear differential either as a line-item extra or with the FX4 package.
The Raptor is by far the most capable version. It has a taller suspension with Fox shocks at all four corners, plus 17-inch alloy wheels wearing all-terrain tires. It adds a locking front differential, too. These models manage to ride and handle the best of the pack thanks in part to rear coil springs rather than the leaf springs employed on all other trims. They lack the sports car-grade acceleration of the most powerful F-150 Raptors, but these mini-dinos are still plenty fun to drive.
How fast is the Ford Ranger?
The base 2.3-liter turbo-4 puts out 270 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque, which is more than sufficient for most light-duty needs. Aided by a responsive 10-speed automatic transmission, it’ll zip to 60 mph in around 7.0 seconds. A hint of turbo lag away from a stop can be exacerbated by the gearbox’s occasional confusion in sorting through the lowest two or three cogs, which makes it somewhat hard to move away from a stop smoothly.
We’ve yet to drive the available 2.7-liter turbo-4, which puts out 315 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. It’s optional on XLT and Lariat trims.
Rangers can tow up to 7,500 pounds (except for Raptors, which are rated for 5,510 pounds), but you’ll have to order the factory Trailer Tow Package to net that figure. That package includes a trailer hitch and a wiring harness. Upgraded versions of that package add a trailer brake controller and a system that lets you use a dial on the center console to back up a trailer as though you’re using a computer game. There’s also a tow/haul mode.
We recently towed about 5,000 pounds with a base Ranger XL and found it to be a confident hauler. Rangers offer a maximum payload rating of 1,805 pounds, though models with four-wheel drive are rated to lug about 90 pounds less.
Underneath, most versions of the Ranger have an independent front suspension and a leaf-sprung solid axle out back. This setup furnishes a firm but comfortable enough ride, even when the pickup bed is completely empty (though there is some rear bounding typical of pickups). While the electric power steering has little in the way of road feel, it’s direct and it centers itself nicely, which helps give the Ranger a somewhat nimble feel for a pickup truck.
