2018 Ford Raptor: Pros and Cons

Matthew Guy / October 18, 2017

Buckle up: Off-Road.com has put together a quick-take of the pros and cons of Ford’s powerful pickup.

Unleashed on the truck-buying public with all the subtlety of a crashing airplane, the second-generation Ford Raptor is capable of pounding over desert dunes at 80 mph and picking its way over rocks before hitting the highway for a comfortable cruise home. In terms of split personalities, Jekyll and Hyde have nothing on this Blue Oval brute.

Pros

Long Suspension Travel

New 3-inch diameter FOX shocks are fitted at all four corners, offering a remarkable 13 inches of overall suspension travel in the front. At the rear, the articulation is even wilder, with the shocks yawning 13.9 inches, an increase of nearly two inches compared to the previous Raptor. Inside the shocks, special valves and an internal bypass progressively manage the shock’s forces, allowing drivers to experience both a good on-road ride and impressive trail performance in the Raptor. Clever girl.

READ MORE: 2017 Ford Raptor Review

Unique EcoBoost with Enormous Horsepower

Producing a dizzying 450 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque, the Raptor sends its power to all four wheels through a 10-speed automatic transmission. Enabling this mill to crank out all that power, Ford has installed aggressive turbo compressors, cast stainless steel manifolds, and oil-cooled pistons. These features were once strictly the domain of the most hardcore and specialized desert runners. Now, they’re available with a factory warranty.

Confidence in the Desert at Warp Speed

The Raptor’s body is widened like this author’s waistline after an evening at a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. This extra width allows for an extra six inches of stance, providing better off-road stability and allowing drivers to stick the landing while blasting dunes. It is not unusual for a Raptor to soar through atmosphere a distance sufficient to earn Air Miles. In the fabulously-named Baja Mode, the stability control loosens the reins and allows drivers to have some fun with the truck, kicking out the rear for controllable Clarkson-style powerslides.

Brutish Styling

Aggro stance, roided-out styling cues, and an in-yer-face grille all conspire to make this the most aggressive F-150 ever produced. During my drive of a Raptor in Colorado, I actually made a stop sign pregnant simply by driving past it. In fact, the Raptor is so manly it is equipped with a beard in the glovebox.

Superb 35-inch BFGoodrich Meats

The F-150 Raptor’s version of the KO2 tire was co-developed with Ford engineers and tuned specifically for the truck’s unique performance requirements. They’re so tough that Ford ran them on a Raptor competing in the Baja 1000 race, finishing the brutal event under the 36-hour time limit using only a single set of standard KO2 tires.

CONS

Its Payload Rating Stinks

Thanks to soft shocks tuned for desert running, the Raptor is incapable of carrying more than 1200lbs of payload. This means that if one tows an 8000lb trailer (the Raptor’s maximum), one will only have 400lbs left for people and gear, assuming an 800lb tongue weight. The Raptor is not alone in this deficiency. Ram’s macho Power Wagon, also tuned for off-road duty, suffers diminished towing capacity compared to the rest of its heavy-duty brethren.

Its Exhaust Note Sucks

The appeal of a particular exhaust note will always and forever remain strictly a subjective matter, but it is this author’s opinion that a hairy-chested V8 rumble sounds many leagues better than a V6 … even if that V6 makes 450 horsepower. The combination of induction noise and turbo whoosh cause a Raptor at full chat to sound like Marilyn Manson screaming obscenities into an vacuum cleaner hose.

It’s Wider than Wisconsin

All that extra width we mentioned earlier will play against drivers who are trying to pick their way through a tight rock crawling course. Wide open rocky trails pose little problem, but Raptor owners should know they’ll have a hard time following their buddy’s ZR2 if the Chevy needs to fold in its mirrors for clearance.