By Casey Williams
MyCarData

(December 3, 2023) I had plans for the Thanksgiving holiday.  After watching The Parade, we’d drive sixty miles to my parents’ and enjoy some turkey.  We planned to catch the new Priscilla movie, do a little shopping, and drop off a box of books for donation downtown.  There would be no pulling RVs, tackling mountain trails, nor out-running exotic sports cars.  And yet, when I checked the schedule, my ride would do all of that and then some.  Yep, I’m chasing fat bird in a Ford F-150 Raptor…R.

Now, understand what is this thing.  Some evil little engineers and designers took a Ford F-150 Super Crew pickup, jacked it up to run Baja, and stuck a ferocious engine behind its custom black grille with FORD stamped across.  Cast aluminum running boards, 17” black wheels with deep all-terrain tires, black hood extractor, and skid plates beneath signify this is no normal Ford pickup.  There’s no missing the RAPTOR graphics on the rear haunches either.  Momma’s gonna love this monstrosity in her driveway.

It's a heave-ho to get inside, but once there, pure comfort.  Big thick sueded seats grip you during extreme off-roading, but are also plush with heat and ventilation up front and heat in back.  A thick heated leather-wrapped steering wheel soothes weary hands.  Flatscreen gauges and a massive 12” infotainment screen are crisp and clear, but the screen is surprisingly cumbersome when connecting devices and finding satellite radio stations.  Wireless charging and thumping B&O audio make up for it, though I’d also love a head-up display.

I’ve driven the Raptor before and really liked its 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 that delivers a potent 450 horsepower and 510 lb.-ft. of torque.  But…, I kept reading and really lost myself.  The R bumps that up to a 5.2-liter supercharged V8 delivering – oh yes – 700 horsepower and 640 lb.-ft. of torque!  In a pickup.  With four-wheel-drive and a 10-speed automatic transmission.  I can’t wait to drive it, but am giving thanks I don’t have to feed it given 10/15-MPG city/highway.

Since my 9-year-old daughter is home from school, we do a trial run to drop the books.  It took the two of us to lift them onto the rear floor given the truck’s height, but it was not challenged by the load.  The Raptor feels a little wide on city streets, and finding a parallel parking spot wasn’t easy, but with tight steering, cameras, and sensors, it’s not especially difficult to maneuver.  The terrain management system and Trail Control with one-pedal driving would aid tight maneuvers where no coffee shops exist.

It’s much happier on open highway to my parents’ where the big V8 settles down and no longer rattles my neighborhood through booming dual exhausts.  The same fat tires, independent rear suspension, and FOX racing Shox with active live valve technology that that slay open desert provide an incredibly comfortable ride.  The electronic throttle tames the supercharged engine so thoroughly that it’s only when I step down to pass that Hell’s fury erupts and the truck bolts towards the horizon.

I’m not sure I’d want the Raptor as my daily driver, but it fulfilled our holiday mission with aplomb.  It was comfortable, easy to drive, and ferociously fast.  Ford could touch up some of the tech idiosyncrasies, but it’s an amazingly capable truck that isn’t a chore to use.  It’s a bit pricey, though.  Base Raptors start at $76,775, but our R came to — take a swig of oxygen — $109,740!