Soooooo. I corrected the paint and applied CQuartz to an Avalanche Grey Raptor over the weekend. Absolutely beautiful color. Here is my sort of unbiased opinion. FYI before I start I'm 50/50 would buy. The owner is law enforcement of the federal type so I was asked not to post any photos since we did the work at his house.
Looks
Having owned a 14' Gen 1 I was pretty biased towards the Gen 1 as there was no possible way to confuse a Raptor with the standard F150. The fenders were a lot more round on the Gen 1 which helped it really stand out against the regular F150. I'm not a huge fan of the grille on the Gen 2 but from every angle the truck looks fantastic. The beadlock wheels look better on the Gen 2 in my opinion even though they look like a set of ****** **** Cepek wheels for some reason. I have a seen a few Gen 2s in person but actually getting to put my hands on one on Saturday really made me start to fall in love with the look. I don't think it stands out against the regular F150 as much as the Gen 1 did as the fenders are more vertical and the entire truck just seems more squared off at every angle but the truck looks damn good. There is no argument there.
Power
Meh. There is definitely more power or at least the feeling of more power when you jump in the throttle but the truck has more horsepower and has lost some weight as well as has a 10 speed automatic now. The 10 speed definitely keeps the truck in the power and you can pretty much stand in it from any speed and have power which is nice but the transmission is half retarded half of the time. I did notice what most would probably perceive as turbo lag but I think it is just the transmission being retarded and the ecm limiting how much power you have right when you bury the throttle. Not surprising. On my older diesel trucks you could turn down "torque management" and that was the difference between blowing the tires off at the stop light or having the power roll on smoothly. I have a feeling its similar on the 17' Raptor.
The truck feels quick. Really quick to be honest and it pulled on my 485hp Scat Pack Charger for a bit of the bottom until I could get out of 2nd where I wouldn't just blow the tires off and then I very quickly caught and pulled on the truck hard and left. There is a pretty noticeable difference between my Gen 1 and the Gen 2 for sure. More HP, more gears to keep the truck in the sweet spot in more situations and putting the truck on a diet definitely help.
Ride
Incredible. The on road ride is night and day to my Gen 1. Sharp bumps like expansion joints, potholes, Prius' aren't even noticeable. Very impressed. I will say though that the truck seems to have a bit more sway and the handling isn't as confidence inspiring as my Gen 1. It just seems to have a lot more give to it and I could see that getting someone doing some spirited driving into a ****** situation. The on road ride is a huge improvement though. No more popping sound in the front end either. I was cringing over some small bumps at first waiting to hear the same popping sound like a lot of the Gen 1's had including mine but it was completely silent.
Exhaust...............
Horrible. It sounds a bit better than what I thought and what I had heard in videos but no. Just no. My comments last year comparing it to a Honda Accord with exhaust are spot on. I really don't imagine there will be much improvement from the aftermarket either as the factory system already sounds pretty clean and is drone free. Aftermarket systems are just going to get louder in my opinion and with that will come ****** sounds like we have heard with some of the YouTube videos. I actually think if someone could quiet the factory system down just a bit I think it would improve the perceived sound substantially. The truck isn't overly loud now by any means but I think quieting it down just a bit would make it sound a bit better and not so v6 raspy. Less exhaust noise and a bit more turbo noise and the truck might not sound too bad.
Overall I am impressed. Better ride, more power and the interior seems a bit more refined if it matters. I will say though that I don't like how everything in the interior seems made even cheaper than the Gen 1. I don't know if that is part of the weight reduction BS or what but the materials seem lighter made. I don't think you can go wrong buying a Gen 2 to be honest. It won't have that V8 sound.. YET. And the engine is overly complicated and will most likely be a weekpoint due to the over complexity but its a pretty sweet truck and I am definitely on the fence. I have been looking at getting another truck finally and I am between a TRD Pro Tundra and a new Raptor. I miss my 14' Raptor daily and regret selling it but I just don't know if I can take the plunge on a v6. A twin turbo v6 at that. If the guys that buy these trucks to actually use can beat on them in the desert and not blow them up then I may give it a go. Overall though I am impressed. And Avalanche grey is by far one of my favorite colors on the market right now. Looked white until I parked my car next to it. I have no idea how it can look like oxford white until you have a white car next to it but it definitely does. Truck had about 300 miles on it so no real fuel economy data to report and I only drove it for about 30 minutes around Thousand Oaks.
I'm going to wait until the 18MY is available and see what has changed and see what deals can be had. Its not worth paying over MSRP in my opinion and I certainly wouldn't be paying over MSRP with the 18 order banks opening up in just a few months. I am interested to see how the trucks hold up long term. I think the transmission and the engine will be the weak points but everything else seems to be an improvement for sure.
Looks
Having owned a 14' Gen 1 I was pretty biased towards the Gen 1 as there was no possible way to confuse a Raptor with the standard F150. The fenders were a lot more round on the Gen 1 which helped it really stand out against the regular F150. I'm not a huge fan of the grille on the Gen 2 but from every angle the truck looks fantastic. The beadlock wheels look better on the Gen 2 in my opinion even though they look like a set of ****** **** Cepek wheels for some reason. I have a seen a few Gen 2s in person but actually getting to put my hands on one on Saturday really made me start to fall in love with the look. I don't think it stands out against the regular F150 as much as the Gen 1 did as the fenders are more vertical and the entire truck just seems more squared off at every angle but the truck looks damn good. There is no argument there.
Power
Meh. There is definitely more power or at least the feeling of more power when you jump in the throttle but the truck has more horsepower and has lost some weight as well as has a 10 speed automatic now. The 10 speed definitely keeps the truck in the power and you can pretty much stand in it from any speed and have power which is nice but the transmission is half retarded half of the time. I did notice what most would probably perceive as turbo lag but I think it is just the transmission being retarded and the ecm limiting how much power you have right when you bury the throttle. Not surprising. On my older diesel trucks you could turn down "torque management" and that was the difference between blowing the tires off at the stop light or having the power roll on smoothly. I have a feeling its similar on the 17' Raptor.
The truck feels quick. Really quick to be honest and it pulled on my 485hp Scat Pack Charger for a bit of the bottom until I could get out of 2nd where I wouldn't just blow the tires off and then I very quickly caught and pulled on the truck hard and left. There is a pretty noticeable difference between my Gen 1 and the Gen 2 for sure. More HP, more gears to keep the truck in the sweet spot in more situations and putting the truck on a diet definitely help.
Ride
Incredible. The on road ride is night and day to my Gen 1. Sharp bumps like expansion joints, potholes, Prius' aren't even noticeable. Very impressed. I will say though that the truck seems to have a bit more sway and the handling isn't as confidence inspiring as my Gen 1. It just seems to have a lot more give to it and I could see that getting someone doing some spirited driving into a ****** situation. The on road ride is a huge improvement though. No more popping sound in the front end either. I was cringing over some small bumps at first waiting to hear the same popping sound like a lot of the Gen 1's had including mine but it was completely silent.
Exhaust...............
Horrible. It sounds a bit better than what I thought and what I had heard in videos but no. Just no. My comments last year comparing it to a Honda Accord with exhaust are spot on. I really don't imagine there will be much improvement from the aftermarket either as the factory system already sounds pretty clean and is drone free. Aftermarket systems are just going to get louder in my opinion and with that will come ****** sounds like we have heard with some of the YouTube videos. I actually think if someone could quiet the factory system down just a bit I think it would improve the perceived sound substantially. The truck isn't overly loud now by any means but I think quieting it down just a bit would make it sound a bit better and not so v6 raspy. Less exhaust noise and a bit more turbo noise and the truck might not sound too bad.
Overall I am impressed. Better ride, more power and the interior seems a bit more refined if it matters. I will say though that I don't like how everything in the interior seems made even cheaper than the Gen 1. I don't know if that is part of the weight reduction BS or what but the materials seem lighter made. I don't think you can go wrong buying a Gen 2 to be honest. It won't have that V8 sound.. YET. And the engine is overly complicated and will most likely be a weekpoint due to the over complexity but its a pretty sweet truck and I am definitely on the fence. I have been looking at getting another truck finally and I am between a TRD Pro Tundra and a new Raptor. I miss my 14' Raptor daily and regret selling it but I just don't know if I can take the plunge on a v6. A twin turbo v6 at that. If the guys that buy these trucks to actually use can beat on them in the desert and not blow them up then I may give it a go. Overall though I am impressed. And Avalanche grey is by far one of my favorite colors on the market right now. Looked white until I parked my car next to it. I have no idea how it can look like oxford white until you have a white car next to it but it definitely does. Truck had about 300 miles on it so no real fuel economy data to report and I only drove it for about 30 minutes around Thousand Oaks.
I'm going to wait until the 18MY is available and see what has changed and see what deals can be had. Its not worth paying over MSRP in my opinion and I certainly wouldn't be paying over MSRP with the 18 order banks opening up in just a few months. I am interested to see how the trucks hold up long term. I think the transmission and the engine will be the weak points but everything else seems to be an improvement for sure.
