2 things I hate about Ford Rangers,
1.) THEY EAT BRAKES! The things were designed for fleet use where they came equiped with dinky little 14 inch rims, that limits the size of the disc brake rotor they can stick under there and if you're hard on brakes you'll really feel it with the Ranger. My major bitch is that through 3 redesigns now they have yet to just say "screw the 14 inch wheel" and put a 15 on there standard while upping the rotor size as well, besides how many freaking offroad tires can you find for a 14 inch wheel? The answer to that is like 2 or 3.
2.) Ford wiring and electronics seems to SUCK. I've had two Rangers and they both went buggy doing things like having the windshield wipers turn on unexpectedly and just continue to go until you shut your vehicle off and restart, I have no windshield wiper fluid in my truck as it's happened so much it drained the tank. I've also had bizarre throttle response that I think is primarily the fault of the engine management computer sytem. On a whole it's not all that bad but just annoying.
1 thing I can recommend with the Ranger
Definitely get the 4.0, it is more of a torque engine where it develops it's power down low around 1800-2k RPM while the 3.0 puts it's peak torque up about 500-600RPMs higher than what the 4.0 puts it out at. Also, the 4.0 comes in two flavors and I'm not sure if the overhead cam motor is in the Ranger yet or not but the difference between both of the inblock cam V6s will net about 185ft/lbs for the 3.0 and about 220ft/lbs for the 4.0. More torque is better, by all means go for it. Want to conserve gas? Stick it in overdrive and cruise at 75mph doing 2.2k rpm.
With regards to the stick versus the automatic, all I've ever had is the 5 speed. With a 4.0 I'm not sure if you can even get it with a 5 speed still. I'm a bit hard on the 5spd so my tranmission is likely going to let loose around 85k miles, that's where my last truck dropped it's transmission and I expect something similar from this one.
I had a friend with his 2.3 Ranger and an automatic drop a couple transmissions, he was rough as HELL on the thing though and I wouldn't expect any normal person to have much trouble with the automatic.
I also love the extended cabs. Great for throwing your guns in the back when you head out shooting, ammo in the truck bed and guns in the back of the cab. It's also better for taller people as you don't feel like you're sealed in a sardine can death trap, I think visibility is better too.
Old truck was a 91 four banger and I grew to have the biggest engine envy of my entire life with that truck, no guts was it's running theme for the entire time I owned it.
New truck is a 95 3.0 V6.
My dad's got a 99 3.0, it's that fuel system you mentioned and I do notice it's a bit noisier but not too bad. Thing that drove me nuts is that in my dad's truck they dropped the option of a tachometer, seemed kinda dumb but ohwell. You don't need it for shifting but the console looks naked without it and it's nice to look down and see what your running at when you're cruising.
With the 4.0, if you ever choose to do so, there are quite a few engine mods out there to help you really gain some power with the things. :)