Raptor visuals start with its tall and wide stance color choices range from appliance white to metallic orange with slash graphics, the latter being optional.
Street performance is just adequate with the 5.4, and hard cornering is a mushy roll onto the very quiet BFGoodrich tires, but by any measure the Raptor does all expected and then some on the street. The street ride is surprisingly taut, with only boat-like body roll as the inevitable result of the tall ride height and long-travel suspension.
Like all SVT products, the Raptor retains real-world utility with a 1020-lb. A ripping exhaust note makes tearing out of sand washes the fulfillment of Trophy Truck dreams, however. Likewise, the 4wd picks its way through the rocks and grabs in the mud, although at three tons the Raptor doesn't make like a pontoon boat on gooey ground. Tail-hanging action is rewarded but a safety net remains should enthusiasm overstep physics. And instead of having the stability control electronics ruin a good time, SVT gives you an off or mute button for them. rear - begs to run over rough terrain, with plush action in whoops or over gnarly square-edged stuff. Dirt-bike-like suspension travel - 11.2 in. Internal-bypass shock absorbers from Fox Racing along with SVT's unique, 7-in.-wider-than-stock suspension are simply unprecedented in a pickup. curb weight demands all the muscle available, especially on the street.īut on the loose stuff it all comes right. It's not that the 5.4 is a dud, it's that the Raptor's earth-trembling 5863-lb. A leap forward in chassis sophistication, the Raptor shames all previous OEM attempts at a dirt-sport truck.īuilt strictly as an extended cab, short-bed, 4-wheel drive pickup, the Raptor is powered by 320-bhp 5.4-liter V-8, with a more desirable, all-new 400-bhp 6.2-liter sohc V-8 available in early 2010. Ford SVT's new pre-runner pickup sells on looks, but its reputation comes from what's inside the wheel wells.