JP7
Likes Canadian Mudbaths
Well I finally got a chance to take a break and put some miles on the new Raptor today - 450 to be exact (yes, I haven't changed the setting from 'English' as miles and Fahrenheit make more sense to me than kilometers and Celsius).
First impressions driving it off the lot on Monday were "damn, this thing is quiet!" and I also noticed it didn't seem to have the same "throw you in your seat" acceleration through most gears. Granted, I waited until after I had 200 miles to get close to 5500rpm - but still, I remember my 2010 being a lot more responsive. That, and I beat on her a lot toward the end...
In reading the "Exhaust - What do you want?" thread - I see there was a 12hp gain with their setup which was comparable to the exhaust I had built for my 2010. That might explain a bit of the difference, and I'm heading in next Friday to replace the exhaust.
The new front camera works well - both today when I was in a tight spot on an impassible mountain trail crossing, and playing in the driveway. I now have a good feel for distance with the marker bars shown on the screen. I found each bar is approximately a 2 foot distance (green to yellow to red). And my garage door can attest to that...
The Torsen front diff works a lot better than the 2010 and a noticeable improvement in crawling traction was evident in several conditions. From the manuals, I was expecting much more of a fight with the steering - but it really isn't much different. I was able to crawl up a remnant snowbank in the driveway without tearing up the muddy grass (yeah, I used the rear locker to help - but its snow, and the situation would have been embarrassing to get stuck in.)
The new instrument cluster is alright - Speedo and Tach don't have that 'retro' feel anymore, but the driver controls features in the center are awesome. Easily navigable and cover a lot of useful information in a few clicks - it makes the user feel more aware of vehicle function. I leave it in the 2nd Offroad menu so I can see the driveline in operation, and the inclinometer - I had it at 15 degrees sideways in the snowbank pic.
(I recall there was a 'pucker factor' thread some time ago and I look forward to challenging what's posted up there!)
Drive-wise - I find this truck is a lot tighter than my 2010. Understandable I guess, as I had pretty much put the old truck through its paces with on and off road miles (does air time count
?). But I did over 200 miles of loose slippery gravel roads today and was rarely able to go over 60mph because things were going sideways fast.
Granted - it wasn't always a two lane road, and I did cross the foothill mountains a few times, but the firmness of the suspension didn't give me the same comfort feeling for sliding around corners ass-first like my old truck. I chalk that up to being new, me getting used to it, and me not wanting to scrape it up on the first road tour!
I met my match with one mountain crossing that had snow and 4" of mud as a road - since I was alone, I said f-ck it and turned around. True to form, I did get her a bit dirty on the way...
In summary, the new Raptor is better with all the added features, and once the driver gets used to it - it's still a thrill a minute. I couldn't make the TX run this year, but am getting geared for next years run already and will know my trucks limits by then, or find new ones
First impressions driving it off the lot on Monday were "damn, this thing is quiet!" and I also noticed it didn't seem to have the same "throw you in your seat" acceleration through most gears. Granted, I waited until after I had 200 miles to get close to 5500rpm - but still, I remember my 2010 being a lot more responsive. That, and I beat on her a lot toward the end...
In reading the "Exhaust - What do you want?" thread - I see there was a 12hp gain with their setup which was comparable to the exhaust I had built for my 2010. That might explain a bit of the difference, and I'm heading in next Friday to replace the exhaust.
The new front camera works well - both today when I was in a tight spot on an impassible mountain trail crossing, and playing in the driveway. I now have a good feel for distance with the marker bars shown on the screen. I found each bar is approximately a 2 foot distance (green to yellow to red). And my garage door can attest to that...
The Torsen front diff works a lot better than the 2010 and a noticeable improvement in crawling traction was evident in several conditions. From the manuals, I was expecting much more of a fight with the steering - but it really isn't much different. I was able to crawl up a remnant snowbank in the driveway without tearing up the muddy grass (yeah, I used the rear locker to help - but its snow, and the situation would have been embarrassing to get stuck in.)
The new instrument cluster is alright - Speedo and Tach don't have that 'retro' feel anymore, but the driver controls features in the center are awesome. Easily navigable and cover a lot of useful information in a few clicks - it makes the user feel more aware of vehicle function. I leave it in the 2nd Offroad menu so I can see the driveline in operation, and the inclinometer - I had it at 15 degrees sideways in the snowbank pic.
(I recall there was a 'pucker factor' thread some time ago and I look forward to challenging what's posted up there!)
Drive-wise - I find this truck is a lot tighter than my 2010. Understandable I guess, as I had pretty much put the old truck through its paces with on and off road miles (does air time count
?). But I did over 200 miles of loose slippery gravel roads today and was rarely able to go over 60mph because things were going sideways fast.
Granted - it wasn't always a two lane road, and I did cross the foothill mountains a few times, but the firmness of the suspension didn't give me the same comfort feeling for sliding around corners ass-first like my old truck. I chalk that up to being new, me getting used to it, and me not wanting to scrape it up on the first road tour!
I met my match with one mountain crossing that had snow and 4" of mud as a road - since I was alone, I said f-ck it and turned around. True to form, I did get her a bit dirty on the way...
In summary, the new Raptor is better with all the added features, and once the driver gets used to it - it's still a thrill a minute. I couldn't make the TX run this year, but am getting geared for next years run already and will know my trucks limits by then, or find new ones
