On June 5th, 2010, I bought a 2010 Ford SVT Raptor 6.2L from Galpin Auto Sports. This wasn’t just on a whim, as I had been lusting after this truck since we borrowed one from Ford to drive on the 2009 Bullrun Rally. On that trip, we learned that, not only does the Raptor have more off-road capability than nearly every other car currently in production, but also it makes a fantastic daily driver, with levels of comfort, storage space, technology, and luxury that are on par with some of today’s best luxury cars. When we decided we needed a daily driver and camera vehicle for The Smoking Tire, the Raptor seemed like the only logical decision. Of course, I waited for the 6.2L engine to arrive, since you can’t make that extra 100hp in the aftermarket for less money than the $3,000 upgrade from Ford. 9 weeks and 3,500 miles later, here’s what we’ve learned about the best sport truck money can buy.
As we continue to use the Raptor for its intended purpose, shuttling our crew and all our gear to shoots, it becomes immediately apparent how good this truck is. Even without the Super Crew configuration, we can fit 5 people in the truck in total comfort, while using the bed for the gear. Or, if need be, we can fit all of our gear into the back seat of the truck, if we need to lock it up safely. The seats are supremely comfortable for any distance, and so far, I’ve spent up to 8 hours a day in the drivers seat of the truck. Remember, this is 3,500 miles in 9 weeks, 3 of which the truck didn’t even leave the driveway, while we were on Bullrun.
The multimedia interface is the best in the business, hands down. It has tons of useful features that I actually use, such as the fuel price finder and live weather map, and nothing superfluous that I don’t need. I was never a fan of voice-activated systems before, but a few days with SYNC, especially when paired with the screen, and I do pretty much everything by voice commands now. It can even understand me at freeway speeds with the windows down. The only downside to the system is that twice so far, it has sent me down dirt roads that don’t seem to lead anywhere. Maybe the truck is trying to tell me something.
My Raptor is no pavement queen. Although yes, in daily duty it doesn’t leave the streets of Los Angeles, we made a point to get it dirty early and see what it can really do. So Autoblog.com photographer Drew Phillips, along with 2 friends, accompanied me out to El Mirage for a little shakedown session and photoshoot. Everything the 5.4 Raptor did in the dirt, this truck does better. With 4×4 mode engaged, and the differential locked, we easily hit 95 mph on a dirt/gravel trail, on the first pass. This truck truly is the Nissan GTR of off-roading; it’s almost too easy. Leave the diff locked and go back into 2WD, and drifting corners is an absolute breeze, totally predictable. Even with 4 people in the car, and the air conditioning on, radio blasting, and the outside temperature approaching 105 degrees, I beat the snot out of it on the trails for an hour. It never missed a beat.
One of the problems with the 5.4 Raptor was that, with its relative lack of power, the transmission would often hunt for gears, and kick down a gear at the smallest throttle inputs. It wasn’t a deal breaker, but it wasn’t ideal either. The 6.2L version has much more power, and the transmission has been re-calibrated to allow for some in-gear acceleration before it kicks down. With 411 hp and 440 lb/ft of torque, in daily driving, the truck never has to downshift to keep up. By switching on “Off-Road Mode” in the dirt, the entire powerband of the truck is shifted higher, so instead of making big torque down low like a street truck, it makes big power up high like a race truck. Amazing what software can do with an engine, even a naturally aspirated, relatively low-tech V8.
The Raptor comes pre-wired with four Auxiliary switches on the center console just forward of the shifter, and I wanted to hook up something, anything to one of them, just so I would have something else to play with. So we hardwired the Valentine One to Aux4. It works, and I now feel cool flipping the switch.
People have asked me a few times how I plan to upgrade my Raptor, since I have a bad habit of turning every car I own into a race car. The answer is, I don’t plan on upgrading this truck at all. I really think SVT has done a really good job with it, and with my 100,000 mile Bumper-to-Bumper warranty and 100,000 mile maintenance plan included, I can use the truck for its designed purpose without having to worry about voiding my warranty because I had to have that extra 20 horsepower. It doesn’t need it, and I like being covered. I do plan on driving this truck for 100,000 miles at least, and I already have one obnoxiously loud sports car.
I do have a couple of gripes, albeit minimal ones. Why is the driver’s window the only automatic one? When I put down the windows, it’s almost always the front 2 windows together, and there’s no point in having just one automatic window. For almost $50,000, I expect at least both fronts to be automatic. In fact, if anyone knows of a software upgrade for this, please let me know. Also, because both Tom and I drive the car regularly, and he’s much smaller than I am, I wish the driver’s seat had a memory function. It’s full power, of course, but considering how different our settings are it would be a nice treat to not have to reset everything all the time. ** I’m an ass. It does have seat memory, and I’m just a dumbass for not seeing the buttons. Thanks, Jamal. ** Of course, the fuel economy is positively terrible. I’m not at all surprised by this, and if you care about that sort of thing, you shouldn’t be buying a Raptor anyway, but it’s noticeably worse than the 5.4 model. Over those 3,500 miles, I’m averaging 11.6 mpg. For reference, my old H1 Hummer would get 13 (on diesel). Nevertheless, the tank is at least big enough that we can go 340 miles per tank on the highway.
Speaking of highway driving, when you’re on the freeway, you have to pay constant attention to your speedometer. Because of the smooth Fox suspension and tall ride height, you have no clue how fast you’re going. 30 mph feels like being parked, and 85 mph feels like 50. I have accidentally crept up to the truck’s 100 mph limiter without even realizing it, and gotten road rage for people driving slowly in front of me, only to look down and realize they are going 90, and so was I. Fortunately, the Raptor’s brakes are much better than you’d expect from a vehicle this size, and panic stops aren’t a problem at all. Neither is handling, surprisingly, and our friend Jamal, who runs shit over at SVT, tells me the Raptor will handle 0.85G on the skidpad. Impressive numbers for a truck with 35″ off-road tires, and a number I completely believe.
What’s interesting about the Raptor is that, unlike a Hummer, everyone loves it. When I owned my H1, the only vehicle out there that is really comparable to a Raptor in terms of off-road performance, people hated it. They kicked it, spit on it, keyed it, left me angry notes when I would park it places, and generally glare at me for being a wasteful asshole. The Raptor, on the other hand, is close enough to a regular F-150 that most “normal” people don’t notice it, and people who do know what it is, positively love it. Even though the fuel economy is awful, and it’s painted bright orange, it doesn’t carry the Hummer stigma, which is a huge bonus.
I’m going to keep this series going as we continue to go on adventures with my Raptor, and until then, enjoy these amazing photographs of my truck taken by Drew Phillips of Autoblog.
Is there something specific you want to know about the Raptor 6.2L? Leave a comment and we’ll answer your questions.
You know Matt, I had never even heard of this truck until I saw it featured on The Smoking Tire.. hell I've still never seen one anywhere, and now you're saying you purchased yours from GAS?
What's the deal with this truck? is it some super limited specialty vehicle or what?.. are the only 2 people that will ever own a Ford Raptor be Matt Farah and US Border Patrol? Lol.
In any case, awesome truck dude, congratulations on your acquisition. As for Gas Mileage, my bro had a 05 Dodge Ram SLT 5.7 quad cab that got about 12mpg realistically Lol.
It's limited to 1500 units a year, and can be purchased from any authorized SVT dealership.
I see tons of Shelby GT 500's at dealers here and Roush F150's and Mustangs but I've yet to see a Raptor either on the street or on a dealer lot.
The way I see it, you got yourself a badass offroad exotic.
I've yet to see one of these myself, but the pictures make it seem the load height for the bed is high, which would make it cumbersome & difficult. What kinds of things have you loaded back there and how did it go?
it's a few inches higher than the regular F-150, but it's never been so high we've thought it was a problem. We haven't loaded anything major in there besides all our hard cases and stuff for our camera gear. Plus, it comes with the "man step" so getting into and out of the bed is a clean, easy procedure.
I FUCKING LOVE THIS TRUCK!!!!!!
Saw a couple black ones last ones. Love 'em.
A video walk around of the truck would be nice. Maybe a video of a drive to a shoot in it, something that shows how you use it on a daily basis. Just a thought. There just isn’t much good video out there on the truck besides what you have already done.
We're doing something with it pretty soon, but because I own the truck, I had time to make sure it's some thing really special.
Fantastic. This is too good a truck for there to be so little video/info on it on the internets.
Walk around video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5GrsYCFO7o
jesus I can't believe that piece of shit video has 250,000 views.
Atleast you don’t have to build a ramp to leave the driveway in the raptor. Ford-1 chevy-0.
I live in the middle of nowhere (and in Canada on top of that), and theres a guy around here who's a roofer that has one. Ironically enough, he doesn't use it for work. My friend's dad is friend's with him, and he says he traded in his G35 for it because he was getting too many speeding tickets, and he swears he'll never load anything in the bed. Talk about being a rich bastard with too much money, but to each his own, at least it's something nice to look at.
I forgot to mention that one of the most important options I got for the Raptor is the $400 Linex bedliner. It's a spray on deal, and it's lifetime covered. So I can throw whatever I want in the bed without worrying about the truck getting scratched up.
Ya, I wouldn't be afraid to actually use it, but i mean hey, maybe in 5 or 6 years i can buy a mint Raptor.
Matthew, never have I been as jealous of you as I have right now. I saw the garage 419 episodes last year on this beast and had to google it and sit in awe. Since then i've seen 4 or 5 in spots that I wouldnt expect to find them. One was behind a luxury hotel in the employee parking lot in Gilbert, AZ. And another time I watched one launch a peice of shit boat at Canyon Lake. I suppose they spent all their money on the truck, and didnt have enough left to get a nice boat. Still though, im very friggin jealous and I will leave you angry letters on your windshield if I ever see yours parked around town. Watch your back Farah.
That picture with the sunset in the background is better than the Ford factory pics (not that any of the others are bad). Great job! Waiting on mine!
Regarding hauling your camera equipment in the bed and then locking it inside the truck — have you considered a lockable tonneau cover?
I wanted to live with the truck for a few months before I decided to spend the money on something like that. So far, we don't need it, since we almost never leave our gear in the truck unattended, and having one would be an extra thing to deal with when we need to shoot out of the back of it.
In relation to the H1 does anyone else think it's strange hippies get mad at us when there the biggest ass holes? I mean come on, when was the last time you saw a truck driver or even a hummer driver kick a car, spit on a car, or key a car just cause they don't like it?
Is there any particular reason that it is limited to 100mph? The gearing maybe? I would figure maybe 130-155mph but 100 is kinda strange.
when you're driving on tires that large, there's really no reason you need to be going over 100. I'm convinced the powertrain is capable of 130 at least, but with off-road tires, a lifted suspension, it would be pretty reckless to be going that fast in that truck. Plus, Ford has to assume that drivers will be as stupid as humanly possible to avoid lawsuits. You don't want some guy hitting a jump in the desert at 140, that would be instant death.
I think you mean instant awesome.
Espically if I’m not the one driving.
Hey Matt, whats the 0-60 in that beast? high 8's
7 seconds flat for the 6.2L
Matt. How much air have you gotten in your truck?!
Once a Hummer owner, always a douche. You know you deserved the s–t people gave you for that H1, right? You only bumped yourself down a couple points on the d-bag scale with this truck. Instead of a full-out 10, you're sitting at around a 6 or 7 now.
I owned the Hummer for exactly 3 months before selling it for a John Cooper Works Mini, and I have repeatedly admitted that buying it was the stupidest move I've made in my automotive career. But yes, I'm still a douchebag.
Beast ride, dude.
Hey matt I’ve looked around at alot of different reviews of the new 6.2L but none of them have highly detailed differences from the 5.4L or how the 6.2L feels and where the power is at ect. If you dont mind do you mind elaberating.
it's 100 horsepower more and 60 lb/ft of extra torque. so it's got more power everywhere. plus the transmission has been re-calibrated for the 6.2 engine. WIth the 5.4, the transmission tends to hunt for gears, and kicks down a gear at the slightest hint of extra throttle. It's kind of annoying. With the 6.2, there is a good bit of in-gear acceleration before the transmission kicks down, and on a highway road trip, the 6.2 will make enough torque that it rarely, if ever, has to kick down from 6th.
0.85 G? I want proof.
Thats the number claimed by factory engineers, and given the speeds at which I've driven canyon roads in my Raptor, I totally believe it.
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