Ford’s muscular F-150 Raptor is a formidable machine, fast off the road and able to rumble, whether or not on pavement or off. However for many who suppose it’s nonetheless too tame, particularly compared with the likes of the Ram 1500 TRX, Ford has an alternative choice for you, and it’s unleashed a real beast within the type of the 2023 F-150 Raptor R.

Carl Widmann, Ford’s head of efficiency operations, does a masterful job of summing up the most recent entry into the F-150 line-up: “When clients expertise Raptor R within the desert and past, it would make the hairs on the again of their necks arise — and so they’ll love each second of it.”

Right here’s what I discovered After spending every week behind the wheel of this excessive machine.

Overview

What Ford is billing because the “final” Raptor is designed to tackle just about something you may throw at it, from severe path crawling to abandon racing, in addition to the drag strip.

Borrowing the “Predator” V-8 from the Mustang Shelby GT500, it’s exhausting to think about needing any extra energy than you get right here. However Raptor R is about extra than simply uncooked muscle. Ford engineers have give you a surprisingly holistic bundle. Its lively suspension retains you underneath management whenever you’re flying down a Baja path. However the system retains your fillings from flying out whereas touring down the freeway — one thing I rapidly got here to understand on Michigan’s potholed roads.

The general look is menacing, however there’s a refinement to the Raptor R that you just probably wouldn’t anticipate in such an excessive machine. Whereas it’s not more likely to be the only real car in your life, this truck might handle every part from weekend adventures to day by day commutes and even a weekend theater outing.

Exterior

That is one large beast, stretching 232.6 inches, nose-to-tail, with a 145.4-inch wheelbase. The 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R has a width of 87 inches and a top of 80.6 inches. It additionally boasts a 13.1-inch trip top, with knobby 37-inch off-road tires including to its imposing look.

To accommodate the large V-8 underneath the hood, Raptor R adopts bigger air intakes and a big energy bulge on the hood. The menacing look is enhanced by the blackout grille and outsized black wheel flares.

Round again, you’ll discover hefty 3-inch twin exhaust pipes. Distinctive “R” badges full the look.

Whereas designed for adventurers, the R picks up on among the exterior options you discover on different F-Collection fashions, such because the multi-functional tailgate with its built-in rulers. It provides options you may discover particularly useful whenever you’ve strayed removed from civilization, together with mattress lights and 120-volt energy retailers within the mattress.

Inside

The R bundle places an emphasis on performance, nevertheless it additionally provides some distinctively luxurious touches, resembling Alcantara suede material, carbon fiber accents and contrast-colored stitching — in sharp distinction to the extra plebian Ram 1500 TRX.

The Raptor R carries over options from extra typical variations of the F-150, together with the pickup’s foldaway gearshift lever. When it retracts into the middle console it creates a big workspace good for taking notes or opening up a laptop computer pc or pill.

Distinctive leather-trimmed sport seats have been developed for Ford by Recaro. They’re comfy but supportive sufficient to maintain you from bouncing all around the cabin when rock crawling or racing alongside the Baja desert.

Ford has put aside loads of house for storage, together with two separate gloveboxes, in addition to a number of cupholders and a big bin underneath the middle armrest.

Powertrain

The center of this beast is a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 punching out 700 horsepower and 640 pound-feet of torque. The present, 2022 Ford F-150 Raptor depends on a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 that manages an in any other case spectacular 450 hp and 510 lb-ft. This marks the primary time a Raptor has been supplied with a V-8 since 2014.

The brand new “R” outguns each different F-150 mannequin within the pony column — although it does falls quick in relation to torque. The all-electric Lightning manages as much as 580 hp and 775 lb-ft of torque.

For those who’re solely taking part in by numbers, Raptor R falls ever so barely wanting the 701 hp and 650 lb-ft that Ram’s brawny TRX weighs in with, however the Ford truck clocks higher numbers when you slam pedal to metallic. Ram claims a 4.5-second 0-60 launch, and a 12.9-second quarter-mile dash, although actual world checks usually beat these figures. Raptor R, nonetheless, shaves a number of tenths off the road and routinely crosses the quarter-mile lure within the low 12-second vary.

The engine, by the way, was lifted from the Mustang Shelby GT500, however has been custom-made for off-road conditions. Which means revised pulleys, upgraded exhaust manifolds, a deeper oil pan and enhanced cooling. A wider air consumption will increase airflow quantity by 66%, in the meantime. Improved filtration additionally retains the engine from sucking up mud. There’s additionally a modified twin exhaust system with a real pass-through muffler and lively valving to regulate the exhaust word.

The ten-speed computerized transmission additionally has been upgraded to deal with the more durable atmosphere it would face. One good element: extra-long magnesium paddle shifters that make it straightforward to function, even when jouncing down a Baja course, balls to the wall. Energy is then fed to all 4 wheels by means of a beefed up switch case.

As with the sooner F-150 Raptor, you may management engine, chassis and different settings by selecting any of an assortment of driver modes — together with the brand new Baja possibility. There’s additionally a customizable “R” mode button the steering wheel.

Security and Expertise

The 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R’s most necessary expertise is used to ship energy and dealing with. That features the four-stage lively exhaust system, and the Fox Dwell Valve suspension. All key methods, in flip, might be dialed in to greatest meet highway situations and driver demand utilizing the truck’s driver mode selector.

There are a number of options that make it simpler to deal with off-road adventures, together with Path Flip which makes use of the within brake to assist the truck pirouette round a decent nook, and One-Pedal Mode which lets you speed up and decelerate just by modulating the throttle.

The R will get an assortment of superior driver help methods, resembling ahead collision warning with emergency autobraking. However you gained’t be capable of get the automaker’s hands-free BlueCruise system.

Twin video screens deal with each the gauge cluster and infotainment system, the latter 12-inch show powered by the most recent Ford Sync expertise and including wi-fi Apple CarPlay. There’s additionally an audiophile-grade Bang & Olufsen audio system.

Drive Impressions

I bought a sneak peek on the 2023 F-150 Raptor R throughout a time out within the mountainous badlands west of Palm Springs with the Raptor R model of the Ford Bronco. It got here blasting out of the desert just like the Tasmanian Satan in a Looney Tunes cartoon, enveloped in a swirl of desert mud. I used to be hooked to check out what Ford officers described as “an adrenaline-fueled thrill trip.”

It clearly lived as much as that expectation, taking up each impediment I threw at it, from high-speed launches to a little bit of rock-crawling. But what was equally spectacular concerning the huge truck was how surprisingly straightforward it was to handle, throughout much less aggressive driving. The Fox Dwell Valve suspension is a very spectacular system, in a position to stand as much as desert path jumps, then clean issues out whenever you’re touring down the freeway. That’s all of the extra placing when you think about Raptor R has a 13.1-inch floor clearance and rides on knobby, 37-inch off-road rubber.

That mentioned, this truck actually is designed for on-the-edge driving conditions. And it’s bought loads of options that may assist even an beginner use it like a professional. That begins with the rotary Driver Mode selector which helps you to select the most effective setting for quite a lot of completely different highway situations, from snow to rock crawling to Baja racing.

Regardless of its measurement and mass, the Raptor R is surprisingly maneuverable, Change on the Path Flip system and it brakes the within rear wheel to allow you to flip like a subcompact. And the One-Pedal Drive system works considerably like what you discover in at this time’s newest battery-electric automobiles. It takes extra acquainted options like Hill Descent and Hill Climb methods a step additional. Flip it on and you may speed up or decelerate just by modulating the throttle. No want to leap forwards and backwards from throttle to brake.

You possibly can even tone down that roar of an exhaust word by switching to Quiet Mode. I’ve a sense my neighbors appreciated that after I needed to head out simply earlier than dawn one morning.

2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R 4×4 Tremendous Crew Specs

Wrap Up

With the launch of the F-150 Raptor R, Ford comes as shut as legally potential to placing a Baja racer in your driveway. And it’s not a one-note truck. The massive rig is greater than prepared for desert racing, however it would deal with severe off-road trails, in addition to your native freeway.

The timing appears to be excellent. An increasing number of American motorists at the moment are demanding merchandise that, let’s face it, come near ludicrous extremes. There’s the Ram 1500 TRX, and Normal Motors has weighed in with each its GMC and Chevrolet division, the bow-tie model lately upping the ante with the Bison improve for its already beefy ZR2 mannequin.

After driving all three, it need to say I used to be mightily impressed by what Ford delivered. The F-150 Raptor R is up for simply something you may think about placing it by means of, wanting pushing it off a cliff.

That mentioned, you’ll pay handsomely for all these options and capabilities. Our 2023 mannequin got here in at $109,740 together with choices, taxes and supply charges. And in the event you’re nonetheless frightened about your gasoline invoice, you may not need to learn on. The truck slurps fuel insatiably, the EPA ranking it at 10 mpg round city, 15 on the freeway.

For those who’ve bought the deep pockets and the will for a no-limits pickup, nonetheless, the 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R clearly deserves your consideration.

2023 Genesis Electrified G80 AWD ­— Continuously Requested Questions

Q&A

Q: How a lot does the 2023 F-150 Raptor R value?

A: The F-150 Raptor R has a base MSRP of $109,145 as of January 2023, although new car costs have been rising continuously over the previous 12 months. And that’s earlier than supply charges.

Q: When can I buy the 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R?

A: The truck is now obtainable at Ford dealerships within the U.S. and Canada — although demand has been sturdy and you’ll have to go searching or place an advance order.

Q: How briskly is the brand new Raptor R?

A: The 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R will hit 60 in lower than 4 seconds, making it the faster-ever manufacturing F-Collection. It’s run quarter miles in round 12 seconds and has an electronically restricted high pace of 114 mph.

Supply: www.thedetroitbureau.com