A Raptor caught me by surprise – in a good way.
When Ford invited me to Winter Safe School with Team O’Neil in Dalton, New Hampshire, reps said Ford would loan me a vehicle for the 225-mile trip north.
I was psyched about the chance to improve my winter driving skills with instructors who also teach competitive rally driving. I was surprised and excited when I learned about a week before the trip that the loaner was a Ranger Raptor. Ford’s Raptor models are performance vehicles configured with power, drivetrains, suspension, and brakes to travel fast and handle on and off-road terrain.
The Ranger is Ford’s popular mid-size pickup truck. The Ranger Raptor variant is muscled and firmed up and has special long-travel suspension bits that reportedly make it a joyful desert racer. The 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor is a 4WD vehicle with a SuperCrew cab and a 5-foot bed.
The Ranger Raptor isn’t as bad-ass as the full-size model, but that was OK. With only two days with Polaris RZR side-by-side UTVs in the Mojave Desert, my desert driving skills are minimal. Besides, we weren’t headed for the desert. We were going to the New Hampshire mountains in the snow, and I was eager to see what the mid-sized Raptor could do.
Why Ford built the Ranger Raptor
Ford’s decision path to building the Ranger Raptor is easy to follow. Ford’s F-series pickup trucks have been the best-selling trucks in America since 1977 and the best-selling vehicle of all types since 1982, according to Ford Motor Company data. The original Ford Ranger was a compact pickup introduced in 1983 and sold in the U.S. until 2012, after which it continued to be sold internationally.
The U.S. demand for trucks was so great that Ford re-introduced the Ranger as a midsize pickup for U.S. sales in 2019. Other likely factors were the F-150’s growth in size and the continued sale of the Chevy Colorado midsize pickup when Ford only had the F-Series trucks.
The Ford F-150 Raptor off-road performance variant has been in Ford’s lineup since 2010. In 2024, Ford included a Raptor variant of the Ranger to appeal to buyers who want off-road capabilities in a smaller format.
Raptorizing a Ranger
The Ranger Raptor’s potent twin-turbocharged V-6 engine produces 405 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 430 lb-ft of torque at 3,500 rpm. The Raptor has a 10-speed automatic transmission.
Four buttons on the center console (2H, 4H, 4L, and 4A) switch between rear-wheel drive and three four-wheel-drive settings: High, Low, and Automatic. Locking front and rear differentials help maintain traction when one wheel slips or is lifted off the ground on uneven terrain. The Raptor has a generous 10.7 inches of ground clearance.
The Ranger Raptor’s desert-friendly long-travel suspension includes 2.5-inch FOX Live-Valve racing shocks front and rear plus a Watts link rear suspension. The truck has four-channel antilock brakes and Ford’s AdvanTrac electronic stability control.
All-terrain BF Goodrich Mud and Snow tires left plenty of room in the wheel wells for larger tires if desired. The standard tires handled every condition I drove in on my way to and from Team O’Neil’s 583-acre outdoor automotive classroom in the mountains of northern New Hampshire.
The Ranger Raptor has a leather interior and abundant styling cues to remind you that you’re in a Raptor performance vehicle.
A 12-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12-inch center stack infotainment and vehicle setup display could provide lots of information about the Raptor’s operational and driver assistance systems. However, once I figured out how to use the navigation system so I wouldn’t get lost in the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, I didn’t have the time, need, or inclination to explore all the digital goodies.
The nav system and maps were extremely easy to use and follow, and that’s all I cared about. I was grateful for the manual controls for the HVAC system and audio level.
In-town and highway driving
I drove the Ranger Raptor while running some errands in town to make sure I could adjust the mirrors and be ready to travel north. I was happy it fit in regular parking spots and was relatively easy to maneuver around parking lots. The engine was noticeably loud in lower gears, but the digitally controlled sound mellowed out after the transmission upshifted a couple of times. After two days, I seldom noticed the sound.
I’m fussy about adjusting mirrors, seating, and the steering wheel before a trip. I’m happy to report that it was simple to do so in the Raptor without recourse to the included owner’s manual.
I spent most of the trip driving on Interstate 91 from northern Connecticut to northern Vermont. Prior to the trip, we had had frequent snow storms, and the roads were clear, but the temperatures were below freezing with a moderate wind most of the time.
I didn’t use cruise control, but it was no challenge to maintain a steady speed. I generally drove within 10 mph of the highway’s 65 to 70 mph speed limit. I-91 in Vermont traverses one mountain after another, and the Raptor never felt strained.
On the occasions when I stopped for a short break or needed to pass a clump of laboring traveling trucks, the power to rejoin traffic or get by the slow-pokes was near instant. And it was also easy to control.
The Ranger Raptor’s power felt very linear. Knowing it was a high-power truck with more torque than horsepower, I was extra careful at first with acceleration. Turbochargers are a fine way to get more power from engines, but I’ve driven cars where the extra power boost comes on in a rush. Not so with the Raptor. Most of the credit goes to Ford’s anti-lag technology in the automatic transmission. Regardless of how they do it, the Ranger Raptor is a fast car that is easy to drive.
Driving sideways, on purpose, with Team O’Neil
Four current Ford Performance Vehicles lineup were on hand for the Team O’Neil Winter Safe School. As you can see in the photos above and below, we learned and practiced in the Explorer ST, Mustang Mach-E Rally, Bronco Raptor, and the Ranger Raptor.
During the classroom and primarily in-car training, we drove the four cars in a constantly changing mix of snow, sleet, and icy rain, so the weather was perfect for our purposes.
We practiced our winter driving skills on a skid pad, a slalom, and a portion of the slalom course set up for accident avoidance training. The four Fords had different driving characteristics, and we drove them with and without traction and stability controls.
How the Ranger Raptor fared in winter driving
I enjoyed driving all four Fords, but the Ranger Raptor was the easiest to control. Perhaps that was due in part to familiarity. To get to the Team 0’Neil training area, we drove miles on icy, snow-covered mountain roads. I also noted that when the lead instructor chose one of the four to drive himself, he tended to take the Ranger Raptor most often.
The Ranger Raptor had to go back
I left Team O’Neil and New Hampshire in the mid-afternoon for the four-hour drive back to Connecticut. The ride home was uneventful, a testament to the Raptor’s ability to take a moderate beating from a dozen drivers purposefully pushing it. The transition from repeated power slides, slalom runs, and accident avoidance emergency braking tests to lawful highway driving didn’t phase the truck.
By the end of the trip home, I was particularly pleased with the Ranger Raptor’s bolstered performance seats. Performance seats can tax your hamstrings, as they sacrifice long-range comfort for lateral support during hard cornering. Hours of highway driving in less than ideal weather weren’t a strain, and much of the credit goes to the Raptor’s seats.
When the Ford fleet crew retrieved the Ranger Raptor the next day, they told me it would be cleaned up and sent back out because it was one of their most in-demand test models. I can see why.
The Ranger Raptor is ready for work, play, and everyday transportation. I didn’t drive it in the desert, so I can’t speak to what may be its highest and best use. However, the Raner Raptor was a pleasure to drive on the highway and in town and an absolute blast to drive sideways on ice, snow, slush, mud, and gravel.
