Ford is making it clear that it wants to a leader in performance trucks not just off-road, but on-road. It first launched the little Maverick Lobo with some choice performance upgrades, and the more styling-focused F-150 Lobo not long after. Of course, there’s a hole in the line-up. The Ranger still doesn’t have a street-oriented performance model. At least, it doesn’t in the US. Over in Europe, Ford just revealed the Ranger MS-RT PHEV, and we’ll admit, we’re feeling jealous. It looks extremely cool, and we think Ford should fast-track plans to bring it Stateside as the third Lobo.
It’s Mostly A Design Package, Too, But A Sweet One
The Ford Ranger MS-RT was created by the MS-RT division at Ford. This division creates road cars with the help of M-Sport, the company that preps Ford’s rally and GT3 race cars. What it created is similar to the F-150 Lobo in the sense that it mostly consists of appearance parts. It has new front and rear bumpers with matching side skirts that visually lower the vehicle. It’s actually lowered by 1.6 inches, too, thanks to retuned suspension. The cab and the tailgate each get little spoilers, and MS-RT claims they do help with stability at high speeds. We’re not sure how many owners will really be able to test it or notice the difference, but they look sharp. Additionally, the 21-inch wheels sit farther apart from each other, necessitating fatter fenders. They add a total of 3.2 inches of overall width.
Inside, the MS-RT is pretty basic Ranger, but it does get some nice new leatherette upholstery with blue stitching. The stitching is matched by a 12 o’clock mark on the steering wheel. The seats and floor mats also feature illuminated MS-RT badges that light up with the doors open.
The Powertrain Is Unchanged, But Has Impressive Numbers
Although MS-RT didn’t modify the Ranger powertrain, it did at least make sure to pick one of the most potent ones in the Ranger line-up. The Ranger MS-RT uses the plug-in hybrid, which combines the 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder found in basic Rangers in the US and an electric motor. Horsepower isn’t shocking at 277, just 7 above the US-spec non-hybrid four-cylinder. Torque is, however, at 514 pound-feet. That’s even more twist than the V8-powered F-150 Lobo makes. Also, since it has an 11.8-kWh battery, Ford claims an all-electric range of around 25 miles. That would probably be less on US range testing, but it’s still nice to have a bit of electric range. Finally, despite the different suspension tuning, Ford says that the Ranger MS-RT still has the same towing capacity and payload capacity as the standard plug-in hybrid, which is around 7,700 pounds for towing and 2,200 for payload.
The sound of a great-looking, potentially fun-to-drive hybrid pickup truck sounds excellent to us, and it would fill an opening in Ford’s American line-up. In its current hybrid form, though, we wouldn’t count on it coming here. Ford doesn’t even sell the regular plug-in hybrid in the US, and it hasn’t shown any signs that it’s interested in doing so. With that said, we would still be interested in a trim like this for combustion Rangers. The regular four-cylinder is punchy and easily upgraded. Ford could even make a big splash and combine the MS-RT kit with the Raptor’s turbocharged 2.7-liter V6, which makes 315 hp and 400 lb-ft. So come on, Ford, ask MS-RT to let you put a Lobo name on the package and bring it to America, even if you have to drop the hybrid part.
