Thought I'd post up my review of the Raptor after spending 1500 daily driven miles with it.
My background...I'm in the contracting business, and have had just about every brand of truck. The last 3 years though I have daily driven a Ram 1500 with 5.7 Hemi. They were 12 month leases, so I've had 3 separate Ram vehicles since the beginning of 2015. I'm a truck *****, I'm always looking for the best lease deals or values in the truck market. This year I needed a bigger write off, so I instead purchased a Raptor.
First off, I don't give a damn about any Dodge or Ram hate...the Rams I leased never had an ounce of trouble out of them, at least in the 20K miles I spent in each one. Since I drove the Ram last, its what I'm using to compare to my Raptor.
First out of the gate is the TT V-6 in the Raptor. Its grown on me for sure, and I've come to appreciate what it brings to the table. I'm probably not like most of the guys here in the fact my Raptor stays in "Normal" mode almost every day. I live in SC, so the roads are flat and I get plenty of performance in Normal mode.
Even though the exhaust note is enhanced that too has grown on me a bit. Its not as smooth sounding as our BMW 6 series Twin scroll Turbo 6 cylinder, but its not bad. I guess I would describe the Raptor sound as "unique".
However... I seriously don't understand the V6 as the only option in the Raptor. Gas mileage in my Raptor is not really any better than what I averaged in the Ram trucks I had, and there is a definite difference in everyday driving torque between the trucks. The Ram V8 was simply better in real world stop and go traffic. To me, the Raptor just lacks some oomph right off idle below 2500 rpms where most driving takes place.
Since torque is a perceived opinion...I'll let that go. Everyone will have an opinion one way or the other so no need to debate that.
Gas mileage for me from my end is easily compared since we use GPS and company fuel cards that help record mileage and fuel purchases. The Raptor is getting 14.8 avg while my Dodge with a 5.7 liter V8 avg'd around 14.6. This is not off the computers in the truck, these are off our fuel printouts. I just don't think 2 tenths of a mile better gas mileage warrants not having a V8 option for the Raptor and the hype Ford puts out concerning the V6 motors. Again just my opinion.
The 10 speed tranny has been really good in my truck. Its smooth, shifts are crisp, and there aren't any weird glitches I've run into with it. Overall I think its miles above the Ram 8 speed tranny.
Engine/transmission wise the V6 and the 10 speed transmission are a solid combination and works well with the truck, but you either like or hate the 6 cylinder IMO.
One place Ford needs to fix on the Raptor is the brake area. This truck simply doesn’t stop well IMO. To me, with all the bells and whistles the Raptor should have hi performance calipers up front at a minimum. The pedal is a bit soft and the brakes just seem to be inadequate for the truck.
Enough of that. Lets go to overall build quality and ergonomics.
I honestly thought after years of the commercials screaming "Quality is job One", "Built Ford Tough" blah blah that the Ford would be just about bulletproof. But, at least in my case, the Raptor exhibits as many little creaks and groans as my Ram did.
Little rattles here and there seem to be prevalent thruout the truck. Is it terrible? No of course not. Turn the radio up to 6 or 7 and theres not a sound in the truck that isnt masked. But ride around town in a silent cab and theres a few little rattles and noises I was frankly surprised to hear. Theres a small rattle in the dash. The rear end makes a very faint clunking noise when coming to a stop. Small rattling noises thruout the cab when going over rough patches of road are common.
Turn the radio up with good bass, and theres a small buzzing/rattle in the back door panel. Again, not what I expected in a 70K truck. A dealbreaker? No..its a truck.
The B&O has broken in a little bit, and does definitely sound better now. The Rams Alpine system was pretty damn good and I believe its subwoofer was a bit better tuned for the Ram interior then the Fords B&O sub is.
The new B&O systems ease and operability of the radio in general is lacking. In the Ram I loved the fact I could cycle thru all my saved presets from the steering wheel. The UConnect interface in general was just better looking and snappier. But, the Ram sucked ass at verbal commands and voice recognition. Sending nav addresses thru the UConnect system was almost painful at times.
Pairing up my phone also took forever in the Ram.
The Raptor is almost instant pairing my phone as soon as I start it up. Voice commands in the Raptor are simple and short, and I have not had an issue yet with the system understanding me. So for me, its a toss up overall on which system was "better". If Ford would let you cycle thru the presets from the steering wheel, and the display was a little less 1990's they'd have a near homerun on the audio portion of the truck IMO.
Overall, the thing that puts the Raptor over the top despite my perceived issues with it for me is the fact its distinctive and you don't pass 10 of them a day. I love the way it sits, and I love the way it drives. I love the styling and it gets a ton of attention wherever I take it.
I'd like to see Ford fix some of the little quirks in the radio portion of the truck and I'd like to see a few less little rattles but overall, I would buy another Raptor without hesitation.
My background...I'm in the contracting business, and have had just about every brand of truck. The last 3 years though I have daily driven a Ram 1500 with 5.7 Hemi. They were 12 month leases, so I've had 3 separate Ram vehicles since the beginning of 2015. I'm a truck *****, I'm always looking for the best lease deals or values in the truck market. This year I needed a bigger write off, so I instead purchased a Raptor.
First off, I don't give a damn about any Dodge or Ram hate...the Rams I leased never had an ounce of trouble out of them, at least in the 20K miles I spent in each one. Since I drove the Ram last, its what I'm using to compare to my Raptor.
First out of the gate is the TT V-6 in the Raptor. Its grown on me for sure, and I've come to appreciate what it brings to the table. I'm probably not like most of the guys here in the fact my Raptor stays in "Normal" mode almost every day. I live in SC, so the roads are flat and I get plenty of performance in Normal mode.
Even though the exhaust note is enhanced that too has grown on me a bit. Its not as smooth sounding as our BMW 6 series Twin scroll Turbo 6 cylinder, but its not bad. I guess I would describe the Raptor sound as "unique".
However... I seriously don't understand the V6 as the only option in the Raptor. Gas mileage in my Raptor is not really any better than what I averaged in the Ram trucks I had, and there is a definite difference in everyday driving torque between the trucks. The Ram V8 was simply better in real world stop and go traffic. To me, the Raptor just lacks some oomph right off idle below 2500 rpms where most driving takes place.
Since torque is a perceived opinion...I'll let that go. Everyone will have an opinion one way or the other so no need to debate that.
Gas mileage for me from my end is easily compared since we use GPS and company fuel cards that help record mileage and fuel purchases. The Raptor is getting 14.8 avg while my Dodge with a 5.7 liter V8 avg'd around 14.6. This is not off the computers in the truck, these are off our fuel printouts. I just don't think 2 tenths of a mile better gas mileage warrants not having a V8 option for the Raptor and the hype Ford puts out concerning the V6 motors. Again just my opinion.
The 10 speed tranny has been really good in my truck. Its smooth, shifts are crisp, and there aren't any weird glitches I've run into with it. Overall I think its miles above the Ram 8 speed tranny.
Engine/transmission wise the V6 and the 10 speed transmission are a solid combination and works well with the truck, but you either like or hate the 6 cylinder IMO.
One place Ford needs to fix on the Raptor is the brake area. This truck simply doesn’t stop well IMO. To me, with all the bells and whistles the Raptor should have hi performance calipers up front at a minimum. The pedal is a bit soft and the brakes just seem to be inadequate for the truck.
Enough of that. Lets go to overall build quality and ergonomics.
I honestly thought after years of the commercials screaming "Quality is job One", "Built Ford Tough" blah blah that the Ford would be just about bulletproof. But, at least in my case, the Raptor exhibits as many little creaks and groans as my Ram did.
Little rattles here and there seem to be prevalent thruout the truck. Is it terrible? No of course not. Turn the radio up to 6 or 7 and theres not a sound in the truck that isnt masked. But ride around town in a silent cab and theres a few little rattles and noises I was frankly surprised to hear. Theres a small rattle in the dash. The rear end makes a very faint clunking noise when coming to a stop. Small rattling noises thruout the cab when going over rough patches of road are common.
Turn the radio up with good bass, and theres a small buzzing/rattle in the back door panel. Again, not what I expected in a 70K truck. A dealbreaker? No..its a truck.
The B&O has broken in a little bit, and does definitely sound better now. The Rams Alpine system was pretty damn good and I believe its subwoofer was a bit better tuned for the Ram interior then the Fords B&O sub is.
The new B&O systems ease and operability of the radio in general is lacking. In the Ram I loved the fact I could cycle thru all my saved presets from the steering wheel. The UConnect interface in general was just better looking and snappier. But, the Ram sucked ass at verbal commands and voice recognition. Sending nav addresses thru the UConnect system was almost painful at times.
Pairing up my phone also took forever in the Ram.
The Raptor is almost instant pairing my phone as soon as I start it up. Voice commands in the Raptor are simple and short, and I have not had an issue yet with the system understanding me. So for me, its a toss up overall on which system was "better". If Ford would let you cycle thru the presets from the steering wheel, and the display was a little less 1990's they'd have a near homerun on the audio portion of the truck IMO.
Overall, the thing that puts the Raptor over the top despite my perceived issues with it for me is the fact its distinctive and you don't pass 10 of them a day. I love the way it sits, and I love the way it drives. I love the styling and it gets a ton of attention wherever I take it.
I'd like to see Ford fix some of the little quirks in the radio portion of the truck and I'd like to see a few less little rattles but overall, I would buy another Raptor without hesitation.
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