The Ranger has far more horsepower than the 2.8 so it will go faster. The thing is, if not drag racing up that hill to Eisenhower Tunnel (a trip I have made many times) and driving like a normal person, the 2.8 does it with ease. The 2.8 has lots of torque and steadfastly holds it's speed on that hill. A friend who owns an old Ford F250 with the 7.3 diesel in it was riding with me and noted that my Canyon is a "hill climbing machine".
Even though it is slower in TFL's Ike test, I bet the 2.8 uses less than half the fuel of the strung out Ranger or 3.6 for that matter clearing that hill.
The biggest problem I find on that hill is other cars. They get in my way

The 2.8 has lots of torque and maintains speed, but once some dumbass (almost inevitably in a Subaru) cuts me off and slows me down, there is not a lot of horsepower to get the lost speed back. That is why one does not cut in front of hill climbing Semis. They need to hold onto every MPH and may run your silly ass over...
The Ranger and the Colorado both had trailers connected
The Ranger held the speed limit and stayed at or below 4K
The Colorado didn’t come anywhere near the speed limit at wide open throttle.
Not shiiting on the Colorado.
Just the facts.
The little 2.3 kicked its asssss big time.
I expected a diesel to do much better.
Also
the 3.6 did the run at the speed limit but was at RED LINE all the way up.
thats not acceptable to me. No one in there right mind would do that to there truck. Hold it at red line for 8 minutes, that’s crazy.
Just one of the reasons I don’t like the 3.6. No low end torque.
GM has cyl deactivation on the 2.7. That is a total waste of time and adds complexity that isn’t needed.
I been trying to find out more info on Fords 2.3 turbo.
I know they had serious issues with the head gaskets with there open deck block design. Not sure if that issue was fixed.
Ford is famous for some of the stupidest design flaws I have ever seen.
But then if you look close at the 2.7 turbo and the 3.0 diesel, GM may take top spot for dumb designs.
Not sure if it’s a race to make there service departments rich or bankrupt the company from lack of sales.
You can’t produce crap today and get away with it. The internet is a big game changer when it comes to getting info out in a hurry. Produce a stupid design that cost your customers and you will suffer the consequences.
Cost of ownership will win this race. Better find another way to keep the service department busy or your company will not survive...........
Rob