Speaker 1: If you're one of those people who paid a huge dealer markup on a Bronco, or maybe you just worked for Jeep. Well, I've got some bad news friends. This is the 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor. And it looks fierce as it turns out Ford's thrown in everything, but the a kitchen sink here, in fact, I might be wrong about that. There's probably one of those stainless jobs out back. Look, there's a ton to cover here. So [00:00:30] breathe deep and let's dig in. Let's get this outta the way right now. This isn't the kind of sorta upgraded model. The Bronco team hasn't just slapped on some new shocks, 37 S and wider flares on a wild track and headed for beers. Nope, they've left no stone unturned. So there's no stone. You can't climb over or maybe more precisely fly over. Let's start with the outside because it'll tell us a lot about what works underneath for one.
Speaker 1: This rig is seriously [00:01:00] wide. How wide well is chewing? Canned tobacco is 0.9 inches tall, and that represents the difference between a full size F-150 Raptor pickup and this truck that's right. It's barely any narrow word than it's. F-150 big brother yet. It's about 40 inches shorter overall, and it's nearly as tall. That means that this Bronco looks almost cartoonishly for portion in the best possible way. Like a Tonka truck that's come to life. Ford says track widths [00:01:30] are up by over eight and a half inches versus a base Bronco. And you'll find 37 inch BF Goodrich K2 S at all four corners mounted on eight and a half inch wide, 17 inch speed lock, capable wheels, parks, and bigger, full airs over those pumped up kicks to keep things nice and legal. And you're looking at a truck that's 85.7 inches wide with the mirrors folded that is 9.8 inches wider than a base Bronco and nearly a foot wider than a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.
Speaker 1: As you can see the Raptor [00:02:00] towers over me, sorry, pedestrians it's 77 point inches tall about two and a half inches taller than a wild track. The tallest Bronco that you can currently buy, and it's fewer than three inches shorter than an F-150 Raptor. That height difference is all tires and suspension. New control arms help deliver 13 inches of travel up front and 14 inches out back that 60% more front travel and 40% more rear travel than a base Bronco. I'd tell you [00:02:30] how that compares to the best the Wrangler can do. But Jeep officials decline to share numbers with me, huh? That said what we don't have here yet. Our arrival departure and breakover angles. So we're gonna have to sit tight. Raptor suspension is totally different with new shut act towers control, arms and bigger Fox internal bypass adaptive dampers. These guys are 3.1 inches around and the rear ones.
Speaker 1: Well, they get remote reservoirs for better thermal management. The steering system gets upgraded as well [00:03:00] with larger tie rod ends and a new rock housing. That's similar to that of the F-150 Raptor. Plus there's loads of underbody plates to keep it all safe. Now more than rock crawling. This thing is designed to go pounding through the desert at highway speed for hours at a time, just like Ford's ultra four rigs. And it's Dr. Turnkey customer race truck. So only upgrading the suspension in the steering will that just wouldn't do Ford is gone and added frame level reinforcement. And unlike other Broncos, the Raptor [00:03:30] gets a crossbar that bridges the B pillars together, as well as reinforcement to the C pillar. The trade off will be a less open feeling when the hard top is off, but the, the upshot is torsional rigidity is increased by over 50%.
Speaker 1: And I'm here to tell you that the regular Bronco felt plenty stout right about now, you're probably wondering if this thing is powered by a small nuclear reactor. Not exactly. Now, if you've been hoping for a V8, well, it ain't happening friends. The Raptor use a version [00:04:00] of Ford's three liter eco boosts, twin turbo, V6, not the three, five outta the F-150 Raptor that was previously rumored. Sadly Ford is not releasing any performance numbers just yet. Other than to say that they're aiming for 400 horses, that shouldn't be too hard considering that's exactly the power output of this engine in Ford's explores St and, and the Lincoln aviator. If anything, Ford will probably tune this SUV's power delivery to be even SN. That seems especially likely since this truck gets a switchable multi-mode [00:04:30] exhaust with lower restriction and awake, the neighbor's Baha mode, just like the F-150 Raptor, those other SUVs.
Speaker 1: I mentioned make 415 pound feet of by the way. My bet is that the blue oval will push for a higher number, especially since they've upgraded the inter cooling and air induction. Plus there's a muscular new hood made out of sheet mold compound that offers additional venting, no surprise Ford select shift, 10 speed. Automatic is mandatory, but you do get these neat magnesium paddle shifters, [00:05:00] which fixes one of my biggest gripes about other Bronco models that annoyingly cheap plus minus rocker on the gear shift lever, all the rotating bits that get power to the ground have been upgraded as well. There are beefier drive shafts and Outback. There's a semi floating Dana 50 Avantech with a 235 millimeter ring gear and a Dana 44 up front with upgraded half shafts and a 210 millimeter ring gear, a heavier duty clutch and transfer case are part of the package, including a 67.7 to one crawl ratio [00:05:30] between those drive line updates and the stouter structure.
Speaker 1: The Raptor can tow up to 4,500 pounds, which goes a long way toward addressing one of my other gripes about the Bronco. That's a thousand additional pounds of capacity. Plus there's a new tow hall mode to make the most out of it. Fortunately, larger brakes, broad from the F-150 Raptor should help you, whether you're maxing out that tow rating or just channeling your inner VGI Jr. As you'd expect you get a full arsenal of electronic trickery with no fewer than seven goat modes, [00:06:00] including a revised Baja mode for wide open shenanigans. You also get trail control, which is offroad, cruise control trail, one pedal driving and trail turn assist on these buttons up here. And those should be extra helpful when negotiating winding narrow passages consider how wide this truck actually is. The cabin upgrades are pretty much what you'd expect. You'll find more supportive Raptor, specific seats, CLA and Marine grain vinyl, along with washable, rubberized floors and coat orange accents all [00:06:30] over the place mixed in with a few carbon fiber accents, an optional premium trim like this truck includes seats TriMed and leather and fo Sue, along with a wrap D you can even opt for orange seatbelts and all Raptors, will they come with a 12 inch touchscreen running sync four and 360 degree camera coverage.
Speaker 1: Plus you can splurge on the Luxe pack with Bino audio and adaptive cruise. Okay. So what are the downsides? Well, aside from not having full of performance specs and pricing information, [00:07:00] not a whole lot Ford seems to have thought about just about everything and this Raptor looks seriously impressive. Okay. So this truck is not going to sound as good as it would've with a V8 and undoubtedly, it's still gonna be apprehensively thirsty vehicle because the standard Bronco is already a heavy drinker. Remember this thing has gotta be a lot heavier, and the only way it could be less aerodynamic is with a middle finger hood ornament. The bigger issue that might just be [00:07:30] the Raptor's kryptonite is also what gives this SUV. Its superpowers it's size, especially it's width. This Raptor is big enough that it opiate home in all environments, including tight trails and tight city streets or garages. Now that's especially true. Since the Raptor will only be sold as a four door. And that last part, well, it bums me out because I'm partial to the two door. Now, as long as this vehicle has decent range between Phillips, I don't think the target audience is gonna care one way or the other. They're just gonna want to get the, our trucks when they [00:08:00] arrive in dealers this summer and get out into the wilderness as soon as possible.
