First drive review: Ford Ranger Raptor

Saturday, 10 September 2022

• FORD RANGER RAPTOR

• Price range: $89,990 (Estimated Clean Car fee: $5125)

• Powertrains: 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 with 292kW/583Nm, 11.5L/100km and 262g/km CO2 (WLTP),10-speed automatic transmission, AWD.

• Body style: Double cab ute.

• On sale: Now.

In the days of increasing awareness of the impact our choices make on the planet we live on, it may seem ill-advised to release a high-performance ute with almost double the power of the one it replaces. But, man, the Ford Ranger Raptor is so damn good…

Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?

When Ford first released a Raptor version of the Ranger ute it staggered everyone by just how good it was – its ride and handling on-road simply blew every other ute off the road, where it embarrassed them even more with its simply storming performance.

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**

But there were still whinges that it didn’t have a powerful enough engine, despite the then-new 157kW 2.0-litre biturbo four-cylinder diesel being the most powerful engine in the Ranger line up, and exclusive to the Raptor. Well, to begin with, at least.

But even though the first-gen Raptor was a huge success for Ford, the company still listened to the criticisms and now the new Raptor pumps out almost twice the power from its 3.0-litre turbo V6 – that’s 292kW to you – and has also stepped up its game in pretty much every other area as well.

While the new Ranger, and by extension, the Raptor, uses the same T6 platform as the previous ute, extensive tweaks differentiate it even further from its bog-standard Ranger brethren. While the front wheels have been moved forward by 50mm and the rear suspension moved outboard of the chassis rails on the Ranger chassis, the Raptor goes further with extra reinforcing for the c-pillar, different shock mounts and high-strength steel bash plates to protect the bits underneath.

The undisputed rock star feature of the last-gen Raptor were its truly awesome dampers that were designed exclusively for the Raptor (both F-150 and Ranger) by Fox Racing Shox and packed a 46.6mm piston front and rear that featured an internal bypass with a number of distinct 'zones' that progressively managed shock forces and made it an absolute champ both on and off the road at any speed.

But Ford and Fox decided to up things even further this time around by going for ‘live-valve technology’ that monitors driver and vehicle inputs 500 times a second, making adjustments to the damping in real-time. The system is linked to the Raptor’s seven selectable drive modes, and has been developed to provide better on-road comfort and off-road ride quality at all speeds.

And boy, does it work well…

Where did you drive it?

At a winery. No, really.

Ford Australia created a high-speed off-road track for us to thrash the Raptor over in the grounds of the Sirromet Wines winery in Mount Cotton, just out of Brisbane, as well as a lower-speed, more challenging off-road track and a tiny bit of road driving thrown in for good measure.

We hit the high-speed off-road loop first, but in a last-gen Raptor, for both a sighting lap and comparison purposes. The old Raptor remains a deeply impressive machine, with that utterly superb Fox Racing suspension making it an absolute blast to throw around the rugged course. But while it is still a deeply impressive thing, what comes next simply blows it away…

What strikes you first about the new Raptor is the sheer presence it has compared to the old car. It’s actually not much bigger, but the squarer styling and bolder grille make the old one look a little shy and retiring in comparison.Then you fire it up and nail the throttle and all that is forgotten anyway.

Everything happens much faster in a car with double the power of the previous one, and the Raptor is no exception, belting off the line with some serious aggression and a wonderfully angry V6 roar (when you drop it into ‘Baja’ mode, that is, and the Raptor gently reminds you is not for road use, without adding “unless you REALLY want to be an antisocial jerk”…).

And, yes, the suspension is even more spectacular than before. Going full-throttle across a very bumpy, cut-up mud/gravel track is pretty much exactly what the Raptor was designed for, and there is simply no need to slow down for anything this side of a wall. Everything else, the Raptor simply smashed over it and keeps going. Quickly.

Did I mention it was fast? I may have once or twice, but it serves to mention it again, as the Raptor’s twin-turbo V6 petrol engine is a truly delightful thing that is simply bristling with power and torque. It is also ridiculously refined and docile when you don’t need all that mad power, making it perfectly happy to doddle around town when you go to scrape the mud off in the local car wash after a day of fun.

And you don’t have to worry about 292kW of power meaning a light switch throttle off-road either, as the drive modes do a superb job of tempering the power delivery in off-road modes, while sharpening it up nicely for on-road driving.

Which is where that suspension also shines, with a refined and comfortable ride, as well as some remarkably sharp handling on offer as well.

While our road driving was short, the Raptor impressed with its ride comfort and precise, accurate steering, while a cheeky little moment dropping the permanent AWD system into 2H at a roundabout quickly proved that it will happily soothe that bogan-y itch that has gone unscratched in Ford ute fans since the days of the Falcon XR8 and XR6 Turbo. I will say no more on that matter, however…

What stands out the most?

It sounds a cop-out to say this, but there really isn’t one feature of the Raptor that stands out – the whole package is so convincingly excellent that every time you think the angry engine is the highlight, the ride will blow you away and change your mind.

Then the sharp and precise on-road handling will make you giggle like an excited child. Then the off-road ability will slap you in the face and yell “Remember me? I’m awesome too!”. It just keeps giving…

But it really is those spectacular Fox Racing shocks that are the heroes here – the almost supernatural ability the Raptor portrays both on and off the road simply shouldn’t be possible. But is.

Why would I buy it?

Because it is simply immense fun to drive either on or off-road. It has most of the practicality of a normal ute (like the last model, towing and load capacity are down on the standard Ranger, at 2500kg and 750kg respectively), the superior off-road ability of a serious 4x4 and, seemingly in direct contrast to that, the handling and performance of a sports car on the road.

Why wouldn’t I buy it?

Because you actually need a ute for work and those lower load and towing capacities just won’t do. Or the whole idea of utes horrify you in every way, be it their sheer size or impact on the environment. An aggressively fast one that pumps out 262g/km of CO2 sure isn’t going to make you feel any better about them…

Then, of course, there is the Clean Car elephant in the room – you will pay the full-whack $5175 penalty on the $89,990 asking price for the Raptor, taking it perilously close to breaking the magical $100,000 mark, particularly if you want to throw a few options at it as well…