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Short Intro, Longer Ranger
I recently purchased a 2000 Ford Ranger Supercab 4x2. It has the 2.5 liter 4 and a 5-speed manual transmission. I previously coaxed 30 mpg from a friend's unmodified '96 base model (zero options, no radio, AC, nothing!) Ranger, so I'm hoping to mod my heavier, more optioned truck to reliably get at least 30 mpg.
As it is, the truck has a throttle glitch that revs the engine intermittently without any pedal input (It ran flawlessly for the duration of the test drive, of course!) and doubtless contributes to the disappointing 17.56 mpg I observed on its first tank. I'll get that sorted this coming week, but I'm also planning some aero mods, including wheels, body, and an aero cap. I already picked up a donor cap: a windowless unit from a longbed Chevy S-10 (the interstate retrieval of which likely hurt that first mpg count as well, come to think of it). It's off the truck right now for planning and to haul off the remains of all the trees I lost in this past week's nor'easter, but I'm actively sketching and brainstorming how to reconfigure it for my new ride. I've seen some great ideas on this site, and I'm looking forward to dipping deeper into the collective knowledge here.
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