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Just to add, the higher the performance of a built engine the quicker it will drop power with use. All out performance engines like those used in top fuel dragsters are rebuilt between races.
For those of us who like a little more out of our daily drivers the task is finding the right balance of performance with the equipment we have. A newer engine that has the standard bolt-ons of a cold-air intake, over-sized MAF, headers w/cat-back, electric fans, and computer tune will be able to reliably pull more out of an engine than someone who starts these mods on an engine with 100k on the clock.
I will always take the devil's advocate side on doing performance upgrades on older vehicles. I have 40 years of hot rodding experience and I have thrown lots of money away hot rodding older engine components. Any type of add on forced induction will grenade an older engine in short order (super-charge, turbo, or nitrous). Save your money and build a motor from the ground up to support something like that and don't forget upgrading the transmission and third member as well.
Things that can be done besides the regular maintenance are things like; top end/fuel system cleaning/de-carbonizing, reducing the parasitic drain from accessories, and opening up the air in and air out of the motor. The Ranger has a very good airbox design that will support more airflow than a built 4.0 requires.
____________________
Tony
NE ATL
'04 XLT regular cab 3.slo stepside
Semi retirement