Picked up the 21 late last night and figured I owe everyone some initial impressions since I've been using FRF as a support group these last few months.
Specs:
-2017: 802a/Tech/Moonroof/Forged Wheels
-2021: 801a/37 Performance/Power Tech/Moonroof
Positives:
-The 21 has true presence in person. The pictures don't translate. If you've ever seen the Mona Lisa in person... you've had the exact opposite experience.
-Exterior details are impressive. The new fenders, marker lights, heat extractors on front fenders, etc. are all much better integrated. The new headlights make me wonder if there was an issue with the old ones, that much brighter, even without the Rigids.
-Interior is a game changer, simply no comparison to the 17. I think the blue looks great and is actually much less noticeable than it appears in pictures. The materials are clearly higher quality and the multiple fabric textures and metal trim textures blend together really well. The screens are huge, crisp, respond quickly, and present a ton more information.
-Ride quality (on road) is much improved over the 17. I had my shocks rebuilt at 40k miles, but still comparing a non-live valve. That said, I was impressed, particularly considering the significant increase in tire size. Looking forward to testing off road soon.
-Driver assistance via the adaptive cruise and lane keeping was actually awesome and completely different than the 17. Not a high bar, but the 21 feels confident enough without BlueCruise to know that feature will also be a game changer. Lane keeping is so good that I was constantly warned to keep my hands on the wheel. My hands were on the wheel, but I needed to make so few corrections that the truck thought I was going hands free.
Mixed:
-Exhaust sound is much more aggressive and pretty cool at full throttle higher revs, but doesn't sound awesome just cruising around town. I may be using the quiet mode around town once someone does a performance test to see if there is any difference, which will be interesting.
-Power tailgate is fine, just not sure if really worth the complexity.
-I'll need some time before making a final opinion on the graphics. My 17 was debadged from day 1, so any Raptor logo is a big difference for me. I do know that the Raptor logo on the hood scoop is cheesy. It's a logo on a massive hood scoop on a massive truck. That screams Raptor enough.
-21 runs cooler than the 17, but the fans are loud at idle. Logical tradeoff.
Negatives:
-Speedo goes up to 140? Unless BFG is planning a high speed rated 37", the designers should have leveraged the flexibility of the digital dash to do something with the wasted space.
-Same shiny black plastic between the windows. I've never seen one without scratches, even untouched dealer delivery. There has to be a better options.
-The Rigid fog light covers are going to get traded for snacks at high schools around the country. They pop right off and have a Raptor logo, so they already have a new home in my glovebox.
Couple small things I appreciated -
-Hands free apple CarPlay. Yes, this is the way CarPlay was intended!
-Exterior temp displayed, even when using CarPlay. Someone at Ford must have been annoyed as I was with my 17.
-More powerful ventilated seats and rear seat vents seem more powerful as well.
