First Drive: 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor Runs And Jumps In The Desert

It’s been nearly 15 years since Ford launched the original F-150 Raptor as a mass-produced desert racing truck. In 2019, around about the same time that the midsize Ranger was finally returning to the North American market, Ford also added a Raptor version of that truck. Unfortunately, customers in Ford’s home market never had the option of buying that mini Raptor. Now with the debut of the sixth-generation Ranger, the Raptor version has finally arrived on our shores, joining the third-generation F-150 Raptor and the Bronco Raptor. We’ve now had a chance to sample the Ranger Raptor in the Utah desert but how does it stand up to its siblings?

Visually, the Ranger Raptor follows the pattern set by previous F-150 Raptors and also the Bronco Raptor. The black plastic grille features the word FORD in big bold letters that span the gap between the headlamps. In order to accommodate the modified heavy-duty suspension with its 3.5-inch wider track, the fenders have been flared out just like its siblings.

The suspension at both ends of the truck has been reworked to withstand the rigors of high-speed off-road use with significantly more travel, better geometry control and improved damping to withstand the rigors of that extended wheel motion. The front frame rails and rear shock mounts have been reinforced.

There are new aluminum upper and lower control arms at the front, and the solid rear axle adds a Watts link to better manage lateral movement of the axle. Beefier rear leaf springs are combined with damper mounts that have moved outboard on the rear. Damping at all four corners is handled by a set of 2.5-inch Fox Live-valve dampers that provide more consistent damping on long high-speed off-road runs.

All Raptors come from the factory on 33-inch diameter BF Goodrich K03 all-terrain tires on 17-inch alloy wheels and a bead-lock capable wheel is available as an option. The 285/70R17 tires provide plenty of sidewall for resilience over rough terrain and a full-size spare is mounted under the rear of the bed. Those taller tires and the revised suspension add up to 1.5-inches more ground clearance than a standard Ranger.

Any vehicle designed for this sort of use needs to be equipped with skid plates to protect the more sensitive components underneath. The Ranger Raptor has this armor under the front end, engine, transfer case and fuel tank.

Speaking of the engine, the Ranger Raptor gets the same 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6 as the Bronco Raptor, albeit with slightly less output at 405-hp and 430 lb-ft of torque. This is all paired up with the 10-speed automatic found in other Ford trucks.

Inside, the Raptor gets splashes of bright red on the vents, dashboard, seats and elsewhere. More heavily bolstered Ford Performance seats are fitted in front to keep the driver and passenger properly located.

We started are drive from the Ford Performance Racing School at Utah Motorsports Complex outside of Salt Lake City. From there we drove on-road to the Raptor Assault School in the Utah desert about a half-hour away. On road, the Raptor felt about as well behaved as the standard Ranger with good body control, and just a bit more road-noise from the all-terrain tires. The dual exhaust on the more powerful engine also gives the Raptor a bit more aggression than the 2.3-liter four.

At a curb weight of 5,325-lbs, the Raptor is about 910-lbs heavier than a regular four-wheel-drive Ranger and as a result, doesn’t actually feel noticeably quicker, especially when accelerating at higher speeds such as when doing a passing maneuver. Right off the line, the 4.27:1 final drive ratio does help it launch a bit quicker, but this is not the vehicle to be drag racing against a Cybertruck.

Where the Raptor does shine against the Cybertruck is when you leave the pavement. While the Tesla is equipped with custom Goodyear Wrangler Territory all-terrain rubber, the tread has been shaved by 4/32-inch compared to the standard version, this helps reduce rolling resistance and improve range, but as many videos have shown, off-road performance is actually pretty weak due to lack of grip.

We first took the Raptor around a handling course at Ford’s 240-acre training complex that featured a variety of corners and braking maneuvers. We got to do three consecutive laps in normal, off-road and baja modes to get a feel for how the truck’s characteristics changed. In each mode, the amount of slip allowed by the various electronic aids was increased. Baja mode was particularly fun, enabling us to drift the truck around corners and really carry some speed.

Once we got a feel for the Raptor on this relatively flat course, we moved over to the baja course. This longer course offered the opportunity for higher speeds, a wider array of corners, some terrain change and even a bit of jump at the end if we carried through enough speed. We got some initial training from one of the professional instructors at the Ranger Assault driving school including a warning to stay on the course and were then set loose for a pair of roughly 2-minute laps. Some overnight rain had packed the dirt down a bit for earlier runners, but those of us in the second group got a looser, siltier experience that was huge fun.

While the Raptor’s baja mode let us hang out the back end more than normal or off-road, it does still ultimately intervene when you reach its limits. Fortunately, those limits are high enough that you never really feel reigned in. In Baja mode, the Fox dampers do a great job of keeping the body relatively steady while allowing the wheels to follow the terrain for maximum grip.

Ford has had the F-150 Raptor Assault school at the same complex for several years and the new Ranger optimized version is designed to help new owners understand the capabilities of their trucks under the watchful eye of professional instructors for maximum safety. Every new Ranger Raptor will be entitled to a free one-day course at the school starting in June 2024.

Following our time on the Baja course we moved over to the jump area. The runup to the jump was enough to get to about 40 mph. After being instructed to release all the pedals as we passed the stakes at the peak of the jump and then to only hit the brakes once we landed and hit full compression on the suspension, we went at it. We were easily able to achieve several feet of air in the Raptor and the suspension did a great job of absorbing the energy of more than 2.5 tonnes of truck landing without ever feeling like it was in danger of collapsing. Each truck did multiple jumps in succession over multiple days without any sort of damage.

Finally, we took on some rock crawling. The Ranger Raptor features a 2-speed transfer case and lockable front and rear differentials, all of which we took advantage of over the test course. In off-road, rock crawl or baja modes, the forward and surround cameras can be kept on allowing the driver to see where the Ranger is relative to rocks and other hazards. This is particularly important when running over sharp rocks that can easily slice open a tire. The forward view also overlays the path of the tires even as they are steered on the live view so the driver can place the truck in the optimal path to safely traverse the trail.

The Ranger Raptor also has trail control assist which is kind of like adaptive cruise control for off-roading. The desired speed can be set in 1 mph increments up to about 8 mph so the driver can go feet off the pedals and just focus on placing the tires in the best path.

Overall, the 2024 Ranger Raptor is a very impressive off-road machine. For those that like the idea of the F-150 Raptor but find that it’s just too large for some of the locations they need to go, the Ranger is a much more manageable size and much easier to place on the trail. The lift and added mass mean the Raptor does give up about 430-lbs of payload (down to 1375-lbs) and nearly 2,000-lbs of towing capacity (down to 5,510-lbs) compared to other Rangers. But that is true for every extreme off-road variant of a truck or SUV.

At $57,065 including delivery, the Ranger Raptor is not inexpensive, but with the upcoming Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro, expected to be priced in the mid-60s, it actually seems pretty reasonable. Deliveries of the Ranger Raptor should start in the next few weeks and for those looking for a factory built desert running truck that isn’t insanely large, it’s absolutely worthy of a look.