The Ford Ranger is available exclusively
with a 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine in the United States. Since the
company decided to eschew a V6, it’s less powerful than competitors such as the
Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Jeep Gladiator, Nissan Frontier and Toyota
Tacoma.
However, Ford Performance is fixing that
as they’ve introduced a new performance calibration for the pickup. Created
after “countless hours of dyno testing and real time ‘seat-of-the-pants’
drive-ability evaluation,” the package includes a high-flow K&N air filter
as well as a Pro Cal 4 tool which is used to install the calibration via the
OBD 2 port.
Once installed, the calibration enables
the engine to produce an additional 45 hp and 81 Nm of torque. This means the truck could theoretically have 315 hp and 501 Nm of torque, however the gains come at lower revs.
Regardless, the upgrade also includes an optimized shift schedule for the
ten-speed automatic transmission. Ford says it will deliver crisper and more
precise shifts.
The upgrade costs US$ 825 which isn’t bad
considering it includes the Pro Cal 4 tool which normally sells for US$ 450 by
itself. The upgrade also comes with a 3 year / 36,000 mile warranty as long as
it’s installed by a Ford dealer or an ASE/Red Seal certified technician.
Speaking of performance calibrations, Ford Performance also launched one for
the 2018-2020 Mustang GT. It delivers an extra 19 hp at 6,500
rpm and 57 Nm at 2,000 rpm. It’s similar to the Ranger upgrade, but it
costs US$ 1,275 and includes a performance throttle body as well as an adapter.
