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Finally, you can feel at home in the Ranger.

For the first time since it introduced its compact pickup in the 1983 model year, Ford has responded to customer pleas and will this fall unveil a larger, roomier, more comfortable Ranger, one with a 3.6-inch longer wheelbase and 3 more inches of cabin room.

There’s an added benefit, especially for tall motorists, who now can move the seat back another inch to put themselves farther from the steering column and pedals.

For ’98, Ford addressed the petty and not so petty annoyances of Ranger, the industry’s top-selling compact pickup.

Ford was under the impression that a truck was supposed to act like a truck, until it looked at what was happening with sport-utility vehicles.

What Ford found was that SUV owners wanted a four-wheel-drive, all-season hauler that could climb hills, plow through snow and nudge aside sand while emphasizing riding and handling on the open road and offering all of a family sedan’s amenities.

We tested a variety of ’98 Rangers at a media preview here, from 4x2s to 4x4s in regular and supercab versions. Lots of fine-tuning, most of it for the better.

For ’98 Ranger also has undergone minor cosmetic surgery. The front end was revised to give it a bolder appearance, which means Ford also has been paying attention to Dodge and the favorable consumer reaction to the macho front-end treatments on the Dakota and Ram pickups.

The regular cab version got the stretch– wheelbase extended 3.6 inches, to 111.5 inches, and cabin enlarged three inches. The super- or extended-cab versions keep their old dimensions–125.4-inch wheelbase and 210.4-inch overall length.

You won’t believe how good it feels to be able to move the driver’s seat back and stretch the legs and tilt the seat back without hitting the rear wall.

As long as Ford provided more cabin room, it gave occupants more comfort as well and stuffed some more foam padding into the bucket seats. The longer you sit, the more you’ll appreciate the softer seat. In the past, the longer you sat on Ranger seats, the more they felt like wrought iron.

The frame was stiffened to reduce the road harshness and the racket coming into the cabin. An aluminum hood was added–10 pounds lighter than steel in order to make raising it less of a chore. It also has been sloped slightly lower for better down-the-road visibility.

You’ll still experience some noise with the base 4-cylinder engine and automatic at initial acceleration, but the commotion dies down at cruising speed. Very little racket with the 3-liter V-6, almost none with the 4-liter V-6. The 5-speed manual and 5-speed automatic transmissions (only with the 4-liter V-6) are smooth. The fuel-economy rating on the 4x4s, whether 5-speed manual or 5-speed automatic, is 16 m.p.g. city/20 m.p.g. highway. With 4x2s, the manual holds an edge of 18/23 to 17/21 fo r the automatic.

Twin I-beam suspension has given way to a short- and long-arm front suspension using coil springs on 4×2 models and torsion bars on 4×4 models to improve ride and handling. Power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering replaces the recirculating ball to provide better response to wheel input, and a slightly larger standard 14-inch p205/75R14 tire replaces the p195/75R14 to complement the more precise steering system on the4x2 models. On 4x4s, the standard tire is a 15-inch p215/75R15.

The choice for optimum ride is an optional 15-inch tire–p225s on 4x2s and p235s on 4x4s.

In traipsing around the countryside here, the Ranger 4×4 XLT supercab was a little skittish on an oil-coated, hard-packed dirt road. That brought to mind that rear-wheel anti-lock brakes are standard, but four-wheel ABS is a $500 option. To Ford’s credit, ABS had been a $650 option, so the much-needed added braking control is within $150 easier reach.

The base enginei a 2.5-liter version of ’97’s 2.3-liter 4. Horsepower has been increased 6 percent, to 117, and torque by 10 percent, to 149 foot-pounds at 4500 r.p.m. The optional 3-liter, 145-h.p. V-6 got a 14 percent boost in torque, to 185 foot-pounds from 162, at 3750 r.p.m.

The increased torque means quicker off-the-line movement and less strain to pull a full load.

The optional 4-liter V-6, the workhorse and the choice for 4×4 fans, delivers 158 h.p. and 223 foot pounds of torque.

A pleasant change with Ranger 4x4s is the addition of Pulse Vacuum Hublock (PVH), which lets you shift on the fly from two- to four-wheel-drive and back again.

The system isn’t as sophisticated as the 4WD Control Trac offered in the Ford Explorer, in which you turn a dial in the dash to “4WD” and the vehicle operates in 2WD until it detects wheel slippage and then automatically engages 4WD without the driver touching the dial again.

With PVH, to engage 4WD you must turn the dial to 4WD. If you leave the dial in 4WD, the system doesn’t revert to 2WD when the road is clear and dry.

PVH is better than Ranger’s ’97 system, which required that once in 4WD, you had to stop and back up 10 feet to disengage 4WD and get back into 2WD.

There are a variety of refinements in the ’98 Ranger, such as standard dual air bags with lower deployment speed and a passenger-side cutoff switch to deactivate the bag when a child or child seat is there; a parking brake that releases without going “clunk”; concealed storage trays behind the seat in regular cabs, a rear tray with dual cupholders and CD or cassette holders in supercabs; an up-and-down crank to stow/access the spare tire; two tow hooks upfront, one in the rear on 4x4s; and a battery-saver feature that automatically shuts off interior lights if left on for 45 minutes after the ignition is turned off.

A couple of gripes, however, one being that Ford didn’t knock itself out in distinguishing the 4×4 from the 4×2, using only plastic wheel lip moldings, fog lamps and mudflaps to set the 4×4 apart. The 4×4 needs to advertise extra boldness, especially when you want to resell it.

And, sure, Control Trac would add to the cost, but it would be a nice option.

Plus, Ranger’s rival, the Chevrolet S-10 pickup, finally offers dual air bags for ’98, ending Ford’s advantage there. And Ford let S-10 boast of another advantage–an optional side access door on extended-cab models to allow you to pile kids or groceries into the rear seat without having to fumble with the front seat.

The Ranger simply shouldn’t be without that access door, but it will be until the 1999 model year, when Ranger offers four doors, two regular, two access.

Ranger will focus on price for ’98. The 4×2 Rangers have gone up, but the 4x4s have been reduced by about $1,000from ’97.

The price spread between 4×2 and 4×4 traditionally makes those wanting a 4×4 settle fo r a 4×2.

For ’98, Ford wants to sell 30 percent of Rangers in 4×4 configuration, up from 14percent in ’97. The way to encourage 4×4 sales, Ford figures, is to trim the 4×2 spread and discount options.

Buy a ’98 4×4 and for $195 you can add an off-road package of body-colored front/rear bumpers and grille, fog lamps, 16-inch all-terrain tires, polished aluminum wheels and off-road shocks.

Or, buy a 4×4 supercab and you get the Flareside decor package with Flareside box, compact-disc player and fog lamps for $735.

Or buy a 4×4 XLT and get an XLT group of aluminum wheels, larger 15-inch tires, slide-open rear window, cassette player and paint stripe, a $640 value, for free.

Or, buy a 4×4 and take the $2,745 luxury group package of air conditioning, speed control, tilt wheel, tachometer, remote keyless entry, CD player, power windows/mirrors/door locks, for$1,650.

There are discounted option packages for 4x2s. Whether 4×2 or 4×4, the powe -equipment group with power windows, mirrors, and door locks an $810 value, has been discounted $275, to $535.

>> 1998 Ford Ranger Supercab XLT Wheelbase: 125.7 inches Length: 201.7 inches Engine: 4-liter, 158-h.p. V-6 Transmission: 5-speed manual EPA mileage: 18 m.p.g. city/23 m.p.g. highway Base price: $18,780 Price as tested: $20,715. Includes $500 for four-wheel ABS; $535 for power windows/mirrors/door locks; and $900 for 4-liter V-6. Add $510 for freight. Pluses: Revised styling. Longer wheelbase in regular-cab models for smoother ride. Increased cabin room, including an extra inch in seat travel for long-legged occupants. Added foam padding for more comfortable seats. Dual air bags standard with cutoff switch for passenger bag. More powerful base engine. Can now dial up 4WD on the fly. Price reduction on 4×4 models of $1,070 for ’98. Minuses: Could use more distinction between 4×2 and 4×4 models than mudflaps, gray wheel-lip moldings. and tow hooks. >>