What we’re running at TG: hello Type R, bye CX-5, Nomad
Ford F-150 Raptor £70,000 est.
WE SAY: THIS WILL TEAR CHUNKS OUT OF UK SOIL
While a European-sized Ranger Raptor may come to the UK, Ford has no plans to sell the USmarket F-150 Raptor here. Yet independent dealers are importing them, so it’d be remiss of us, as dispensers of consumer advice, not to borrow one to check it’ll actually ft on British soil.
Who are we kidding? We couldn’t turn down the chance to arse around in perhaps the least po-faced car on sale. Even Raptors aren’t immune to downsizing, though, and the bombastic V8 has made way for a turbo V6. Before you get too upset, it’s pretty similar to the Ford GT’s V6, just in a meeker state of tune. This thing fings itself at the horizon in an utterly indecent manner.
The pungent aroma of hot brakes when you need to haul most of that speed of for a corner proves this doesn’t handle like a Cayenne Turbo. It’s a far looser, more wayward ‘car’ than that. Still, you’ll get used to the width quite quickly, as the Raptor is so blufy slab-sided.
The low-speed ride is very fdgety, and the Raptor needs speed – and commitment – to work properly. In fact, it begs it of you. Find some appropriately rough ground and it’s like nothing else, astonishing traction motivated by childish gobs of torque. There’s a Baja mode in the drive select dial that hints at how unstoppable the Raptor is of-road. Yet it’ll do grown-up stuf, too; it’s burly enough to tow a bungalow, while its standard 10spd auto ’box contributes to an eerily quiet m’way cruise. There are too many ratios to make paddle-pulling realistic, so leave it to its own devices and watch it pull eighth gear by 30mph.
And yes, it fts. Just. While it’s a complete bargain in the States – around £35,000 – you’ll pay much more by the time one’s been brought over here. Less than £70k if you’re happy sitting by the kerb, or as much as £90k if you want a RHD conversion. There’s very little that’s as brashly individual for the money, though. The Raptor is silly, but indulgently, gloriously so.