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For the next two months, The Citizen has been "owners" of the Ford's Ranger Raptor. Images: Charl Bosch
As the Blue Oval had probably expected, the Ford Ranger Raptor has been a sales phenomenon since the first generation’s global debut in 2018.
Despite facing criticism for installing its halo Ranger with the standard 2.0-litre Panther bi-turbodiesel engine without any power or torque uptakes, the brashest model ever made became a massive hit for Ford for incorporating elements from the F-150 Raptor.
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While lacking the obvious punch of its sibling, its off-road capability, trick suspension, and grin-inducing Baja mode have now been passed on to markets where the F-150 isn’t marketed because it is a left-hand-drive-only product.
Being a world model, the opposite applies to the Ranger and while the original’s success has since led to the Bronco Raptor that rides on the same T6.2 platform, before this, producing the second generation Raptor probably rated as an easy task.
Again, the global T6.2 performance model as the Bronco Raptor, like the F-150 Raptor, remains exclusive to left-hand-drive nations, the new Ranger Raptor not only had to improve dynamically, but also on the power font.
Although initial speculation pointed to a detuned version of the F-150’s Raptor twin-turbo 3.5 EcoBoost V6 or even a V8, the eventual option was the twin-turbo 3.0 EcoBoost V6 instead of the smallest mill, the single turbo 2.7, used in the North American Ranger and Bronco.
Ironically, this resulted in the same backlash as the diesel for the petrol’s propensity to consume unleaded faster than the Mustang’s 5.0-litre Coyote V8.
Yet, the new Ranger Raptor has been a runaway success, and while imported from Thailand rather than being assembled alongside the standard Ranger at the Silverton Plant outside Pretoria, the opportunity to get behind the wheel for a longer period than the usual seven days came as an opportunity too good to pass.
Unlike the majority of our long-termers, the time spent with the Raptor as the replacement for our now departed Ranger 3.0 V6 Platinum only spans two months. However, since its arrival at the end of February, it has made an immediate impact.
Having already made its mark as the fastest bakkie Road Test Editor Mark Jones has ever tested at Gerotek, the shortened stint with the Conqueror Grey Raptor won’t involve any high-speed testing.
Instead, mundane tasks such as the everyday commute and being forced to stand aside for other test vehicles have been the norm so far. However, it will get the opportunity to stretch its legs and utilise its Fox Racing suspension, dampers and Baja mode on a pending road trip.
Being assigned as its minder and having never driven it before despite prolonged spells with the old Raptor, getting behind the wheel has been an eye-opening experience.
Besides the noise and fury with which the twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 shrugs its claimed 2 460 kg mass off, the Raptor has behaved itself as, apart from the daily grind, it has made trips to and from the Zwartkops Racetrack to attend the annual Passion for Speed, as well as transporting a pair of display cabinets to its “caretaker’s” humble abode.
Unsurprisingly, it hasn’t been perfect. Besides the 12.4-inch instrument cluster taking some time to get used to as it differs from all of the Rangers The Citizen has ever driven, the sheer size of the Raptor requires careful manoeuvring in tight spaces.
That being said, the 360-degree surround-view camera system offsets this. While the BF Goodrich K02 all-terrain tyres are susceptible to some road noise, general refinement is praiseworthy and not too audible from the inside.
At the other end of the scale, the part leather and Alcantara heated and electric seats with Code Orange inserts are massively supportive, and the multi-function steering wheel, with its Code Orange 12’o clock marking, is grippy and resplendent, with a series of physical buttons, one of which is marked R.
As part of the Terrain Management system, seven modes feature; Normal, Slippery, Sport, Sand, Mud/Ruts, Rock Crawl only available when switched to low range, and Baja.
For the moment, only Normal has been used, though the heavier Sport setting as been selected for the steering and the exhaust switched to Normal rather than Quiet.
As expected, the Ranger Raptor’s penchant for trips to the pumps has been relentless, even with careful driving.
Having arrived with 25.4 L/100 km showing, the indicated average consumption has dropped to 17.5 L/100 km, with full top-up often resulting in a distance-to-empty readout of 450 km.
Given its weight, the pair of turbochargers, off-road hardware, and 292kW/583Nm fed to all four wheels through the General Motors co-developed 10-speed automatic gearbox, the recorded figure of below 20 litres per 100 km can be seen as commendable.
At the same time, the drive has largely gone to the rear wheels despite the same 4A setting as the Wildtrak and Wildtrak X that sends power to all four wheels without requiring high-range four-wheel-drive (4L) activation.
Prepared as we were to live with the Ranger Raptor’s foibles, it has still been a delicate one as using to its full potential has so far been negated.
However, with its return home looming, the second and final month promises to rectify this as it makes the trip out of Gauteng and onto the open road.
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