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the Chevrolet S10 and GMC Sonoma, Ford's Ranger and its near twin, the Mazda B-Series
has graced the roads for many years now. But these two have benefited from a steadier
stream of updates, both cosmetically and mechanically, to keep them fresh and
competitive, even against newer entries such as the Nissan Frontier and larger
entries like the Dodge Dakota.
For starters, the base price of under $13K
is attractive, but don't expect many features for that money. Only when you get
up into the $17K-$20K range do you start getting standard goodies like cruise
control, premium cloth seats, CD players and power accessories. Under
the hood, a 135-hp 4-cylinder moves the base model along, albeit rather ubiquitously.
Higher trim levels have 154- and 207-horsepower V-6s under their beveled hoods;
each are available with an optional class-leading 5-speed automatic transmission. One
strike against the Ford/Mazda pair comes in the form of having no "traditional"
4-door variants. We put "traditional" in quotes since compact pickups
with four real doors are themselves a phenomenon of the new millennium, but noteworthy
is that these two trucks are the only ones in this group that don't offer so many
apertures. But extended models do come with rear-hinged mini-doors on both sides,
just aft of the front doors to make accessing the rear area that much easier.
Two center-facing jump seats fold down from the side to bring seating capacity
to five, technically, although wee ones only need apply for those in back.
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