teased a Hellcat concept of its 1500 pickup<\/a>. The Raptor sells a healthy 15,000-plus units a year while further cementing Ford\u2019s reputation for licking any kid on the block (see Fiesta ST, Mustang GT350, Ford GT).<\/p>\nAt first glance I thought Raptor 2.0 was a mild evolution of the original. Wrong.<\/p>\n
Sure, signature details are there: Wicked, intake-rippled hood. Blacked-out fascia boldly stamped \u201cFORD\u201d \u2014 which translates to \u201cGETOUTTAMYWAY\u201d when read in a rear-view mirror. Swollen fenders over a wider, six-inch track. You\u2019ll know it by the details \u2014 twin, three-inch tailpipes snugged under the rear bumper (for better rear attack angle) and menacing, LED headlights that glow red at a full moon.<\/p>\n
These minor cosmetic changes mask a major overhaul.<\/p>\n
Like the F-Series, Raptor body panels are all-aluminum (plus exclusive lightweight composite front fenders to resist shrub scratches), which is particularly advantageous to lowering Raptor\u2019s center of gravity. Dig deeper and you\u2019ll find an all-new power-train with a 450-horse, twin-turbo V-6 mated to an industry-first 10-speed tranny. Custom Fox shocks, surrounded by a fortress of suspension upgrades, anchor the four corners. All this is attached to 17-inch forged wheels rolled up in rubber the size of The Rock\u2019s biceps.<\/p>\n
Bleed the big gummies to 20 pounds and you can go rock-crawling, thanks to a new, rear e-locker that turns Raptor into a mountain goat. A three-ton, seven-foot-wide mountain goat. Admittedly, not the best application of this truck. Chase a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (or goat) into a narrow canyon and you might get stuck.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll want the e-locker only to get over whatever mountain lies between you and a high-speed off-road course. Once there, Raptor\u2019s terrain-chewing athleticism is breathtaking.<\/p>\n
Like a sort of off-road Porsche Turbo supercar (at a third of the price), the Raptor comes weaponized with six drive modes ranging from NORMAL to MUD\/SAND to BAJA\/ROCK CRAWL. In BAJA mode with Ford drivetrain engineer Seth Goslowski playing right-seat rally spotter, I assaulted the landscape.<\/p>\n
Pity the landscape.<\/p>\n
Seth, an amateur racer, compares off-roading to speed-boat racing. Power is gold, brakes irrelevant, chassis stiffness paramount. On the flat stuff I rocketed along between 80-100 mph \u2014 the stiffened chassis enabling astonishing speeds for a projectile this size. Then the shocks \u2014 with 13-inches of travel \u2014 took over in a raging sea of moguls. Call them sand waves.<\/p>\n
One moment I was hard in the turbos to power out of a wave trough, the next I was completely airborne over a crest. WHUMP! The beast would hit another trough, sand splashing its bow. Then \u2014 WAAUUUUGHH! \u2014 back in the throttle over the next mogul at 50 mph.<\/p>\n
Try this in anything but a Raptor and your internal organs would turn to jelly. But the F-150\u2019s cockpit is remarkably removed from the violence outside. Quiet. Superb SYNC 3 system \u2014 \u201cSeth, tune to Wagner\u2019s \u2018Ride of Valkyries\u2019 while I destroy Borrego\u201d \u2014 leather-wrapped, orange-trimmed seats so comfortable I might have been racing in my living room Barcalounger.<\/p>\n
Moguls turned to ess-curved, dry creek beds carved by seasonal monsoons. Light on the brakes to prevent plowing, I drifted the Raptor across a thorny apex \u2014 \u201cBig dip here,\u201d Seth warned \u2014 then hard on the throttle under opposite lock on exit. Four wheels churning like giant screws. A sand-cigarette boat.<\/p>\n
The 10-speed\u2019s agility also reminded of the Porsche and its effortless, dual-clutch 8-speed. Though not as lightning quick as the German\u2019s box, the 10-speed never interfered in the truck\u2019s high-stress maneuvering, always picking the right gear.<\/p>\n
After my 11\/2-hour drive, Seth and I simply rolled back on asphalt and headed back to Borrego Springs with the Ford as poised in domesticity as it is voracious in its natural habitat.<\/p>\n
The only drawback to owning a Raptor in Michigan is finding a sandbox to play in. Silver Lake State Park below Traverse City is sandy fun, but hardly big enough to hold the beast. Logging trails in the UP are further afield. America\u2019s West is Raptor habitat. California. Texas Raptor Run<\/a>. Or my personal recommendation: Ford\u2019s Raptor customer academy in Utah<\/a> (coming in 2017).<\/p>\nSure, Raptor looks awesome sitting in your company parking spot. But like keeping a 40-foot speedboat in your backyard, this truck won\u2019t be happy unless you turn it loose in the open.<\/p>\n
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/p>\n
2017 Ford F-150 Raptor<\/strong><\/p>\nspecifications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n\n\nVEHICLE TYPE<\/strong><\/td>\n| FRONT-ENGINE, FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE, FIVE-PASSENGER PICKUP<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPower plant<\/strong><\/td>\n| 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nTransmission<\/strong><\/td>\n| 10-speed automatic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nWeight<\/strong><\/td>\n| 5,518 pounds (SuperCab as tested)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPrice<\/strong><\/td>\n| $51,310 ($68,655 as tested)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPower<\/strong><\/td>\n| 450 horsepower, 510 pound-feet torque<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nPerformance<\/strong><\/td>\n| Zero-60: 5.2 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed: 107 mph<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nFuel economy<\/strong><\/td>\n| EPA 15 city\/18 highway\/16 combined<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n report card<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \n\n\nPOWER<\/strong><\/td>\n| OFF-ROAD WARRIOR, ON-ROAD GENTLEMAN; COMFORTABLE SEATS<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \nLows<\/strong><\/td>\n| Nearest playground is in, um, Utah<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Overall:<\/strong>\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Buy a Ford Focus RS, Corvette Grand Sport or Porsche 911 Turbo, and you\u2019ll want to take it to the nearest track playground to explore its capabilities. Probably something like Grattan Raceway\u2019s 2-mile roller coaster, where you can test the limits of the RS\u2019s torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive, or rocket the 911 to more than 130 mph […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19746"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19747,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19746\/revisions\/19747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} | | | | | | | | | | | |
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