Production of the Ranger is slated to end in 2011, but that won’t stop Ford from adding key new safety features to its compact pickup. Ford will add electronic stability control and side airbags as standard equipment on all 2010 Rangers.
“We’re bringing the Ranger up to the standards we have with other Ford vehicles,” said Steve Kozak, Ford’s chief engineer of safety systems. “It will use the same roll stability control as the and seat-mounted side airbags that are very similar to what we offer in the Mustang.”
The Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Hummer H3T and Toyota Tacoma are the only small trucks that offer stability control standard, but they don’t have roll prevention systems, as the Ranger does.
“In addition to a yaw sensor [used to determine if a truck is experiencing understeer or oversteer] we also have a roll sensor,” Kozak said. “The combination of both allows us to do a much better job calculating changes in the vehicle to differentially brake the truck to keep it under control.”
If the Ranger senses a rollover is about to occur, it has a four-channel antilock braking system to brake individual wheels and can cut engine throttle to try to bring the vehicle back into an upright attitude.
Front passengers will get side airbags that help protect the head and chest from injury.
“They’re expected to improve our NHTSA and IIHS side-impact ratings,” Kozak said.
The current Ford Ranger has a four-star (out of five) side-impact rating for the driver from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and carries an overall Marginal rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Other standard Ranger safety features are four-wheel antilock brakes and driver- and front-passenger airbags. Ford’s front-passenger sensing system helps ensure airbags are not deployed on the passenger side when small children are detected.
The 2010 Ford Ranger goes on sale this summer.
