Speaker 1: It is a hot one today. People we are in the desert outside of Las Vegas, but it's not just the temperature. That's hot. It's this Ford F-150 wrapped. It's America's third generation badass. It's got an all new suspension, 37 inch tires, lots of new technology. And I can't wait to drive it. Plus [00:00:30] my skin is crisping. Let's get inside, crank that AC and go jump some stuff.
Speaker 1: So I talked about the new suspension, the 37, and the fact that this has a lot more tech, but their new Raptor has to do two things. First off. It's gotta sound a hell of a lot better. And secondly, the interior needs to be stepping up to the quality of the Ram. Now we've already seen from the new F-150 that the interior is much better and you can get just about everything that you can get in that vehicle, in [00:01:00] this one. But here it's a little bit more are special. You get some contrasting stitching, you get these Ricardo seats that are optional, that are really nice, but what sets this vehicle apart from its predecessor, honestly, is the stuff that you can get in every F-150. And that's the 12 inch infotainment screen and the 12 inch cluster. There's a lot more technology at play here.
Speaker 1: And in general, a lot of better feeling, better looking plastics, things that bring a and on par with the Ram. That's really, really important because this truck, you might not expect it, but is a fantastic daily driver. They're super comfortable [00:01:30] on the road and the 30 sevens. Well, they don't ruin that at all. It's a very, very comfortable ride. Yes, the fuel economy, isn't very good. You get 15 miles per gallon, city, 16 miles per gallon, highway 15 in mixed use. And you're probably gonna struggle to get that some of the time, because this is just so much fun to drive that you're gonna be dipping into that three, five all the time. But as I said, this is actually a really capable daily driver. And a lot of that comes down to the fact that the interior now is a place that you wanna spend time. That's right. I said three, five. This [00:02:00] is the same twin turbo EcoBoost V6. Once again, tune deliver 450 horsepower and 510 pound feet of torque as before it's made it to a 10 speed, automatic with paddle shifters. I know a lot of you out there had your heart set on a V8, but the truth is this is lighter and you never really want for power. What the Raptor has been wanting for up until now, at least is a beef of your sound.
Speaker 1: They've reworked the exhaust completely. And there's a switchable mode here that you [00:02:30] can amp up the sound quality all the way up to Baja mode, which is for off-road use only. And I'm sure each and every one of you law abiding Raptor owners out there are only gonna use that when you're off the pavement. What's nice is that you can thumb through these different modes and bring it up to Baja. And it's quite a bit louder inside, but it really, really comes to life outside. This thing, doesn't sound like a V8 and I'm not gonna kid you and tell you that it does, but it's a lot throatier than it was. And it, it really sounds good outside. [00:03:00] Now, if you really gotta have that V8 and frankly, I don't blame you. There is a Raptor in your future. It's called the R we don't know a whole lot about it just yet. We do know that it's supposed to come with the GT five hundreds V8. So it's probably gonna sound a hell of a lot better in boast, upwards of 700 horsepower.
Speaker 1: You probably noticed that I jumped right into the drive and didn't dwell on the 2021 Raptors new appearance. That's because as good as it looks, it's very similar to what came before it. [00:03:30] You might not even notice the new grill, the longer length daytime running lamps, let alone details like the integrated fog lamps and optional off-road driving lights from rigid. This Raptors looks are said to be inspired by the Lockheed Martin F 22 fighter plane, including the front fender vents, grill slots and blackout hood insert this particular truck's graphics package draws its inspiration from topographical maps, but you don't have to go for it if it's not your thing. So we've established that the Raptor is better to live with and better on the road, but let's [00:04:00] be honest, the Raptor, it's not about what it does on the pavement. It's about what it does when you get off into the rough stuff. So let's go get a little dusty.
Speaker 1: Now. I wasn't kidding about how hot it gets out in the Mojave. It gets so hot that Ford actually rallied us at 4:00 AM the next morning to make sure that we got in as much offroading as pot possible before the afternoons oven like temps of 110 degrees or so we arrived at do mountain dunes, another hour away in California, and it was still pitch black. [00:04:30] We got started right away though, adding dune flags and putting on our helmets and Hans devices to ensure that we didn't injure our next flopping around, you know, like one of those inflatable used car, lot tube guys. We also are down our tires and cranked our drive mode, selectors to Baja, setting the truck up in four high and priming the steering suspension exhaust and the electronic safety minds for max fun in the sandbox. The sunrise was killer, but soon enough it was go time and we had to hit the dunes. [00:05:00] And the name of the game out here is momentum. Keep your speed up, do whatever you can to stay off the brakes. And for God's sake, have a little fun. We are in Baja mode, come on now, but you can definitely dig [00:05:30] in and get bogged down. You wanna keep your thumbs outta the spokes because if you happen to get any kickback, you're gonna need new thumb.
Speaker 1: I wish you all could see how beautiful it is out here, how vast the views are and mountains off in the distance and how good it feels, sliding things around underneath you like this.
Speaker 1: Now, to be honest [00:06:00] in the soft stuff, this new Raptor doesn't feel terribly different from the old one out here in the great wide open. You're not trying out new features like trail turn assist, which locks the inside rear wheel for tighter turning radiuses in narrow passages or even one pedal drive mode, which is more of a rock crawling thing. I can't wait to try either of the is out though. These are 37 inch K two S which are my colleague Emmy hall, the desert racer. Those are her favorite tire. As far as I'm aware, we're gonna line up here and let's get a little bit of speed here. We got 52. [00:06:30] Let's get some air. There we go. So I think the five link is good up, Hey, the biggest dividends in the whoops, which we're supposed to go to after this, but honestly I hope I get another run, cuz this is a lot of fun and I could probably go even a little bit faster than I did over that.
Speaker 1: That jump back there could maybe use a little bit more seat bolstering in these corners here, but the sand's so soft. It's not like you're pulling high GS, [00:07:00] like you would on a racetrack in a sports car. So it's really not so bad. The Raptors extra long travel suspension and additional ground clearance really help you feel like you can jump with impunity. I kept going back over the same ridges and adding speed in five mile an hour chunks because with the 24 inch rear coil Springs and the larger NextGen Fox live valve shocks paired with 13 inches of ground clearance up front and upwards of 14 out back. Well, there's a ton of capability and bandwidth here. Sand is harder than you think though. So the new wider front skid [00:07:30] plate was still very much appreciated. So how hard did I party? Well, a little too hard as it turns out on a rally style dune course with the tires, it all the way down to 15 PSI, I cornered too sharply and the outside front tire rolled over on its sidewall causing me to lose a bead and deflate the tire.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure we would've been just fine. Had Ford sent me out on the course with one of the other Raptors equipped with an optional bead lock wheel, but live and learn. And Hey bonus Ford handed me the key to a velocity Lou Raptor and sent [00:08:00] me back out there before I headed to the whoops in my original code red truck with a new tire. So we're rolling up here to the whoops, which should be the biggest test of this new Raptor SU rear suspension. There's a five link setup, which is much more sophisticated than the leaf Springs you'll find on any other F-150. This leaf spring basically allows you to locate at the suspension up and down. Doesn't really do a whole lot for an AFT and side to side, which in whoops is what you need. All right. So we don't want to bury the axle so we don't [00:08:30] start off at full throtle Buttle we get up to full throtle very quickly, like right about here.
Speaker 1: We're gonna shake around a whole bunch initially. Then you notice things start to smooth out the faster we get bouncing around like crazy person, about 45 right now, 50 55, 60 and straightening out 65 for [00:09:00] months, 65 70, smooth it out fast is easy. And then back down five links. Y'all they're pretty cool. Now you probably heard a lot rattling back there. That was our camera gear. A few more runs like that could have turned our code orange Raptor into a code brow moment for the road Shore's accountants. And speaking of expensive, the new Raptor is that last year's truck had a base price of just over 55 K delivered. And [00:09:30] this new one is over $10,000 more nearly 66,000 bucks. And that is just for starters. Ford did get rid of the less expensive Supercab model since only 4% of shoppers bought that. And there is a lot more content for 2021, but that's a big price increase.
Speaker 1: In fact, I think it puts this Ford uncomfortably close to the 700, two horsepower Ram 1500 TRX with its big old V8 that model's starts at 72 grand. If you can find one, is the Raptor worth it? [00:10:00] Yes, but it's not the relative value. It once was out here is fit for neither man nor beast, but a Raptor. Yeah, Raptors got it covered the new rear suspension, the five link and the bigger tires really make short work of the roofs out here and the sand Washe, it's an impressive, impressive truck, but maybe best of all, it's better to live with because it's got a much nicer interior and better tech. Oh, and as for that sound, yes. The new model sounds a lot better than last year. It's a lot throatier especially [00:10:30] in Baja mode. Does it sound like a V8? Well, no, not exactly, but a V8 is coming and I'm ready for it. I'm really impressed. And I wanna spend way more time with this vehicle than I have today, but to be honest with you, it's freaking hot. Let's go inside and have an iced tea.
