RE: Ford F-150 Raptor SuperCrew: Driven

RE: Ford F-150 Raptor SuperCrew: Driven

Tuesday 5th September 2017

Ford F-150 Raptor SuperCrew: Driven

Produced by the same team that gave us the Focus RS and Ford GT, this mega-truck is the guiltiest of guilty pleasures



Employ rational criteria, and the Ford F-150 Raptor is one of the most flawed performance vehicles on the planet.

Before anyone starts chucking pixels, let me make clear I didn't drive it in any of the environments it has been specifically engineered to master. It had to cope with one muddy field and one gravel track, but apart from that the 500 miles we spent together in Michigan were all on paved roads. So no desert, snow or 15-foot berms to demonstrate its well documented ability to catch Monster Jam air and land without smashing its suspension through its bodywork.

But everyday stuff quickly proves more of a challenge. All-terrain BF Goodrich rubber struggles to find traction for 450hp and 510lb ft, especially in the default rear-drive mode. The back tyres squeal under even moderately enthusiastic departures from stop signs and junctions. Lateral grip is little better; while the Raptor steers accurately the limits are as low as they are tall and even on the smoothest tarmac the ride never settles down, making it feel like there's a localised earth tremor in the load bed.

Yet the fact almost all the official photographs we're using to illustrate this story show the Raptor at play in the wilderness show how unimportant Ford think all this 'real world' stuff is.

The car Mike drove. But he didn't jump it, so...
The car Mike drove. But he didn't jump it, so...
And Uncle Henry's right. Despite flaws you could fly helicopter tours over, I absolutely love it.

Action!
Emotional appeal definitely comes from the darker side of the brain, the Raptor maxing out every guilty pleasure receptor going. It looks more like a movie prop than a production vehicle, especially in the menacing black the full-sized Supercrew four-door version I drove was finished in. This is the sort of rig Hollywood gives to the baddest bad guy, the one who doesn't get killed until the very end of an action flick. Presence is off-the-scale, from the shouty all-caps 'FORD' grille to the wheelarch cladding that gives the Raptor a track six inches wider than the already substantial regular F-150. Get close enough to peer into the arches and the jacked-up suspension is very much on show, the star detail being the separate reservoir Fox Racing dampers.

The interior is as manly as John Wayne wrestling a bear in a brewery. The Raptor shares the standard F-150's slab-sided dashboard design but adds grippier seats, a modest amount of go-faster bling and about half an acre of leather to help lift the ambience of the regular grey and black plastics, and to justify a price tag that starts north of $50,000. Against which, and the massive width of the dashboard, the dinky display screen running the same Sync III infotainment you'd find in a British spec Fiesta seems positively incongruous.

What Ford wants you to do with your SuperCrew
What Ford wants you to do with your SuperCrew
Egoboost
While the previous Raptor ran a 6.2-litre iron block V8 that could trace its lineage to the dawn of internal combustion in under three moves, this one has been switched to a Ecoboost twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6; it's the same base engine that sits at the back of the Ford GT and which, in more proletarian form, powers the upper reaches of Ford's U.S. lineup. Power heads through a ten speed automatic gearbox to a switchable all-wheel drive system that gives the choice, via a rotary controller, between two-wheel drive, automatic four-wheel drive, centre diff locked four-wheel drive and then low-range four. There's also a dynamic control switch on the steering wheel, which gives the option of a Sport setting as well as several off-road modes for different types of terrain, and also a button for three different power steering modes - Normal, Sport and Comfort - just like in the Mustang.

While 450hp might sound like a plentiful sufficiency, the other side of the Raptor's power-to-weight ratio has an elephant sitting on it. Bear in mind that this generation F-150 has been switched to weight-saving aluminium construction, but it still tips the scale at 2.6 tonnes wearing just its socks. So while this monster truck is certainly fast, it never feels anything other than very big and very heavy.

Well now here's an idea...
Well now here's an idea...
Charging rhino
Acceleration is impressive, but comes with the sense of gathering momentum you get with a heavily laden jet on take-off. There's almost none of the front-end lift that the claimed 13 inches of suspension travel had me expecting, the Raptor sitting flat even under full throttle. U.S. magazines have run 0-60mph times in the low-5s, more than a second inside the official number, but from the driver's seat it genuinely feels quicker than that, such is the unlikeliness of experiencing such longitudinal G-forces from such a lofty perch.

The 10-speed gearbox is the powertrain's weak link, and proof that nothing really needs so many ratios. Changes are lazy and there are pauses that can be measured in spoken "Mississippis" when you press the throttle into kickdown territory. Sport mode doesn't improve matters to any noticeable degree, although it introduces a jarring bump into upshifts for no obvious reason. The manual mode is equally sluggish, the 'box seems incapable of delivering more than one downshift at a time, and you have to pause between each one. In short, it's a waste of the nice-feeling metal paddles behind the steering wheel.

Well you're not buying it for the cabin, are you?
Well you're not buying it for the cabin, are you?
Lateral grip is limited, to put it mildly, with those wilderness-spec tyres having the bite of toothless hamsters. The steering is accurate and even gives some feel, but the messages are consistently about how little adhesion there is to call on. The sort of corner that would be dispatched without lifting in a rental Camry wearing long-life rubber requires a substantial brake application. The mantra is slow-in, not much-quicker out, especially in two-wheel drive mode when even modest throttle applications have the stability control light flashing as the turbos spool up. In tighter and looser stuff it's embarrassingly easy to engender some truly spectacular understeer.

Yet you don't need to be attempting an off-road rally to start appreciating the suspension's bump-eating abilities. While the Raptor's ride never settles under everyday use, adding speed or bigger loadings gives it an iron-fisted purpose that makes it seemingly impervious to rougher surfaces, bumps and even some of rural Michigan's UK-rivalling potholes. I ended up sad that this part of America doesn't do speed bumps; I'd be prepared to bet the Raptor wouldn't even notice them.

Big, silly, a bit bonkers and quite brilliant
Big, silly, a bit bonkers and quite brilliant
America, hell yeah!
But while the Raptor's credentials as a performance vehicle are suspect, never underestimate just how useful a sizeable pick-up can be. The Supercrew cab means four adult-sized seats in addition to a rear load bed that would put any UK-spec pick up to shame. Although less than the regular F-150, it can still tow 2.7 tons without breaking sweat; I doubt it would knock the 0-60 time that badly, either. Even fuel economy isn't as bad as you're likely expecting: after 500 miles the trip computer reported 17mpg U.S. - 20.4 mpg in British - which doesn't seem outrageous for a petrol-powered truck the size of a barn with 450hp.

Like all big American stuff, the Raptor would both look and feel utterly preposterous in the UK. But I'm very glad there's still a place in the world for it, and if I was looking for one production vehicle to drive into the zombie apocalypse it would probably be this one.


FORD F-150 RAPTOR SUPERCREW
Engine:
3,596cc V6, twin-turbocharged
Transmission: 10-speed auto, selectable four-wheel drive.
Power (hp): 450@5,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 510@3500rpm
0-60mph: 6.1sec (manufacturer claim)
Top speed: 107mph (limited)
Weight: 2,630kg (manufacturer figure)
MPG: 21.6 (US Highway)
CO2: Lots
Price: $53,140 ($64,800 as tested)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author
Discussion

irocfan

Original Poster:

40,153 posts

189 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
hideously flawed, too big, tonka toy looks and I love it! The issue for me is the lack of an 8 - not for performance purposes, it's plenty fast enough already. The 8 would just add a decent sound-track

Beefmeister

16,482 posts

229 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
irocfan said:
hideously flawed, too big, tonka toy looks and I love it! The issue for me is the lack of an 8 - not for performance purposes, it's plenty fast enough already. The 8 would just add a decent sound-track
The sound track on these is pretty epic, like an F-Type V6S, a real raspy snarl to it. But yes, totally agree a V8 would still sound better!

hondansx

4,562 posts

224 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
Love it. They nailed the childhood tonka toy desire for me!

bertberr

42 posts

169 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
Agreed. Pointless IMO without the burble of a big yank V8. You'd have to REALLY love the noise of a errr... turbo V6... to put up with all the other failings (when used in UK) particularly size and real world mpg barely into double figures. Love the look of it though, have an F150 Raptor body on my HPI Blitz...

700BHP

456 posts

79 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
A friend has the V8 in black with light bars etc. Sounds absolutely terrific. It really is an incredible thing. Utterly uncalled for or needed but I crave it. It's quite perplexing.

steveb8189

473 posts

190 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
A 10 speed auto with a low range too.. Imagine doing 30mph and maxing out 10th gear!

donkmeister

7,998 posts

99 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
bertberr said:
real world mpg barely into double figures.
20.4mpg was from the 500 mile road test, so is real world mpg biggrin

20.4mpg sounds pretty decent for anything with 450bhp.

GroundEffect

13,819 posts

155 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
Driven one. Hilariously brilliant.

Giving it a full beans launch is like a rollercoaster.


lee_erm

1,091 posts

192 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
I'll take a Velocipator. 600bhp just about suffices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iSftD0j2zY#action...


David87

6,648 posts

211 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
Would absolutely love one. With lots of money, one of the first things I'd buy.

JamesyBoy75

115 posts

156 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
back in 2002, a much younger me, found himself working an assignment in Detroit for 6 months. One of the cars that I enjoyed was a common or garden F150, with the 5.4 litre (should that be liter) Triton V8, a friend of mine lived up near Cass lake and so we took it up there broke into a motocross track at night, gave it merry hell! one of my best experiences in a car. I was pretty impressed with both the truck and the engine, on the way back into Detroit I spent a few miles drag racing away from lights against a corvette, now the truck didn't win, but it held it's own.

streetoutlaw

19 posts

79 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
Looks a lot nicer in the extended cab over the crew cab. I'm sure an aftermarket tune can fix the transmission. The 1st Gen raptors can be found for $23k used now.

huckster6

245 posts

216 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
irocfan said:
hideously flawed, too big, tonka toy looks and I love it! The issue for me is the lack of an 8 - not for performance purposes, it's plenty fast enough already. The 8 would just add a decent sound-track
Do there be custum opshuns for steer-horns up frunt, gun lockers, gun mounts an' button for smoke generator to make alt-left liberels mad as hell?
Have a good day, y'all.

Richard-390a0

2,224 posts

90 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
huckster6 said:
Do there be custum opshuns for steer-horns up frunt, gun lockers, gun mounts an' button for smoke generator to make alt-left liberels mad as hell?
Have a good day, y'all.
& a confederate flag for the roof perhaps yeehaw! biggrin

RDMcG

19,096 posts

206 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
On my list

AdeTuono

7,240 posts

226 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
I've had my (previous generation) Raptor for well over 3 years now, and absolutely love it. Covered 40,000 flawless miles. Has the 6.2 V8 on LPG, but don't think I've ever achieved better than 15mpg. I can't think of any other (truck-type vehicle) that I'd swap it for.

Maybe a mint 7.3 PS F350 duallie...

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
huckster6 said:
Do there be custum opshuns for steer-horns up frunt, gun lockers, gun mounts an' button for smoke generator to make alt-left liberels mad as hell?
Have a good day, y'all.
Obviously. You some kind of queer boy?


The Moose

22,821 posts

208 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
Beefmeister said:
irocfan said:
hideously flawed, too big, tonka toy looks and I love it! The issue for me is the lack of an 8 - not for performance purposes, it's plenty fast enough already. The 8 would just add a decent sound-track
The sound track on these is pretty epic, like an F-Type V6S, a real raspy snarl to it. But yes, totally agree a V8 would still sound better!
I wasn't impressed with the sound track when in one a couple of weeks ago.

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
700BHP said:
A friend has the V8 in black with light bars etc. Sounds absolutely terrific. It really is an incredible thing.
Mount two dirt bikes in the back and drive at a conspicuously slow speed -- back and forth -- in front of the offices of The Guardian. hehe



JamesyBoy75 said:
back in 2002, a much younger me, found himself working an assignment in Detroit for 6 months. One of the cars that I enjoyed was a common or garden F150, with the 5.4 litre (should that be liter) Triton V8, a friend of mine lived up near Cass lake and so we took it up there broke into a motocross track at night, gave it merry hell! one of my best experiences in a car. I was pretty impressed with both the truck and the engine, on the way back into Detroit I spent a few miles drag racing away from lights against a corvette, now the truck didn't win, but it held it's own.
Great story. As with food or music, motoring in another culture can be a mind-expanding experience and the stuff of life-long memories. coffee




ZX10R NIN

27,494 posts

124 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
I love the V8 ones of these.