Every Photo You Need to See of the 2019 Ford Ranger Pickup

Remember that time you left a couple hundred thousand chips on the table and walked away? Wait. Maybe that's not exactly how it went. You walked away, but then the chips started to procreate, and when you checked back in, there were a couple hundred thousand there for the taking? Ford is hoping that the latter situation is what's going on in the mid-size-pickup class right now, and all signs point to this being an ideal time to relaunch the Ranger.

Ford has been out of the mid-size-truck game in the U.S. since 2011, which incidentally is the same year as the launch of the global Ranger that underpins this new truck and has been sold elsewhere in the world since.

But this new North American Ranger has been thoroughly updated and improved for duty here. Think of the global Ranger as the truck a kid makes out of Play-Doh and the U.S.-market Ranger as the result when a professional designer uses his tool kit to style a clay buck.

As long as buyers are okay with a turbo four-cylinder, that is.

That latter figure is every bit as big as the F-150's number. Ford also says it revised its sheetmetal stampings to tighten up panel gaps on American trucks compared to those for overseas markets, although we could see daylight around the tailgate when viewing it in the rearview mirror.

No eye-opening towing figure starts with a wimpy engine. The Ranger takes a different approach than its cross-town rivals, which offer gas four- and six-cylinder engines and a diesel four plus the choice of manual or automatic transmissions.

As long as buyers are okay with a turbo four-cylinder, that is.

Gear ratios remain the same in the Ranger as they are in the F-150, with the only difference being a smaller bellhousing on the Ranger's transmission to accommodate its smaller torque converter.

As long as buyers are okay with a turbo four-cylinder, that is.

As such, the Ranger's four feels plenty powerful, with the 10-speed swapping through ratios quickly and smoothly. But with seventh being a direct 1.00:1 and three overdrives, acceleration was clearly not the top priority.

Ford had some hauling and towing exercises set up for us for this first drive, but another journalist wiped out a fender on the bigger trailer, so all we could sample was the Ranger with a pair of Jet Skis behind it. They presented no challenge.

Style is where the mid-size truck market has an edge on the full-size. From the Ridgeline to the butch Tacoma, the spectrum is much broader here.

The Ranger toes what many of us consider to be the best line between tough and chic, with the high-riding look of the Taco and the Colorado ZR2 providing a surprisingly handsome home for Ford's hexagonal grille.

In turns, the body rolls a touch, then takes a set that it maintains without any unsettling wobble.

Not only does the Ranger offer the usual complement of on-road safety systems-lane-departure warning and assist, blind-spot monitors with trailer coverage, automated emergency braking-but it has a full array of off-road assistants as well.

Ford's crawl control uses an electronically controlled hydraulic pump to hammer away at the ABS circuits to maintain speed on off-road downhill runs.

It helps that the Ranger rides well. There's a fair bit of dive and squat under braking and acceleration, but that's to be expected with a vehicle lofted so high over its axles.

Inside, lower-trim trucks suffer from uninspired black plastics, but the top trims get upgraded to richer pieces.

Four-wheel drive adds about 250 pounds and slightly increased busyness from the front end, but the ride remains civil.

Two-wheel-drive Rangers have 8.4 inches of ground clearance, while the 4x4s gain half an inch, for 8.9.

Both configurations offer electronically locking rear differentials, while the front remains open in 4x4s.

The Ranger gets multiple off-road settings in its Terrain Management system.

With a normal setting; one for grass, gravel, and snow; another for mud and ruts; and a sand setting, the system adjusts ABS, stability, and traction-control settings as well as throttle and transmission mapping.