2017 Ford F-150 Raptor

WHAT WE LIKE: Evidently the thing we like most about our Ford F-150 Raptor is spinning its odometer at ridiculous rates: Since its arrival in April of last year we’ve already ticked through 27,000 miles. This truck, on its surface, seems an unlikely choice for over-the-road travel, but it gets used often for that since it’s as capable of gently swallowing highway miles as it is of eating Michigan chuckholes. Despite its 34-inch-tall BFGoodrich rubber and refrigerator-in-a-wind-tunnel aero profile, the enormous rig sails down the road with the silence and serenity of an air-hockey puck. The arrival of Michigan winter coincided with the need for new rubber, leading to our discovery that, at full tread depth, the BFG All-Terrain T/A KO2 is a very reasonable winter tire. Even on hard-packed snow, the tires dig in and churn the white stuff into frozen pulp. Speaking of winter-specific features, this F-150’s remote-start function saves us the burden of being cold while we annoy our neighbors by roostertailing powder off the unplowed subdivision roads. There’s a lot to like here.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: Two editors complained about the truck’s periodic refusal to unlock its doors on the first tug of the handle when using its passive-entry function. Sometimes two or three yanks are required before it decides to allow access, but the problem is erratic so we’ve not yet seen the dealer for it. We’ve discovered that our SuperCrew Raptor, at 19.3 feet in length, is too long for smaller garages. We also recorded an egregious 8-mpg fill-up while towing a 22-foot, 3500-pound fully laden snowmobile trailer to northern Michigan. But that should be balanced against tanks of 11 and 13 mpg while towing a 5000-pound open car trailer to the same region. To date, our, ahem, “EcoBoosted” Raptor is averaging 14 mpg, 2 mpg shy of its EPA combined rating.

WHAT WENT WRONG: Our first-update worries about oil in the intake tract have largely abated; as of this writing, there has been no additional evidence. At 24,000 miles we swapped all four tires, a $1040 endeavor including mounting and balancing. A $150 routine oil change and inspection at 20,000 miles was exactly that and included replacement of both the cabin and engine air filters. Otherwise, we haven’t even added any fluids.

WHERE WE WENT: Multiple trips to northern Michigan are accounted for in the Raptor’s logbook. These are both recreational and utilitarian, including hauling snowmobiles for play or junk cars we’re no longer allowed to keep at the office. One nontowing adventure found the Raptor deep in the Upper Peninsula flirting with Wisconsin. The holidays included a trip to Franklin, Tennessee. Each of these trips bears out more of the Raptor’s personality, which is usually accompanied by a turbo-muffled growl that sounds something like, “Relax, I got this,” followed by a gross display of power and often some flying road surface. And thus far the truck does, in fact, have it.

Months in Fleet: 9 months Current Mileage: 27,107 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 14 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 36.0 gal Fuel Range: 500 miles
Service: $216 Normal Wear: $1040 Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $228

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-/all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door pickup

PRICE AS TESTED: $64,800 (base price: $53,140)

ENGINE TYPE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port and direct fuel injection

Displacement: 213 cu in, 3496 cc
Power: 450 hp @ 5000 rpm
Torque: 510 lb-ft @ 3500 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 10-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 146.0 in
Length: 231.9 in
Width: 86.3 in Height: 78.5 in
Passenger volume: 136 cu ft
Curb weight: 5890 lb

PERFORMANCE: NEW
Zero to 60 mph: 5.5 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 15.4 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 6.1 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 4.1 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 4.2 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 14.2 sec @ 97 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 108 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 212 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.69 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA combined/city/highway: 16/15/18 mpg
C/D observed: 14 mpg
Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt

WARRANTY:
3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;
5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;
5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;
5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance

When it comes to traversing Michigan potholes, there are two strategies. Most folks employ the balanced-human approach: Plod through the minefield carefully, taking it easy in hopes nothing gets bent. The second tactic requires more, well, let’s call it commitment. Every vehicle has a safe speed at which it will fly right over the craters, occasionally skimming their edges but never dropping a wheel far enough below the surface to do damage. It’s the automotive equivalent of a supercross racer in the whoops. When perfectly executed, both are effective means to get home. Strategy two comes with the reward of getting there sooner and the risk of, say, removing an axle from the vehicle.

Until now, this was an actual dilemma.

Our long-term Ford F-150 Raptor SuperCrew, then, is a $64,800, 450-hp dilemma killer. That it tears a commercial-truck-sized hole in the atmosphere while completing a 14.2-second quarter-mile at 97 mph and hits 60 mph in only 5.5 seconds, well, those things are just gravy.

So, you see, owning a Raptor in Michigan is simply pragmatic. Here, the road shoulders are a burial ground for long-dead Caprices, Plymouths, Silverados, and, yes, F-150s that couldn’t hack the wet, freezing misery. What better way to celebrate potholes, frost heaves, and shweckled wheels than to embrace them with a truck unburdened by such concerns? We couldn’t think of one, so we ordered a Raptor to test for 40,000 miles.

Impulsiveness

Fortunately, every Raptor comes with the same wildly capable hardware: a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6, a 10-speed automatic transmission, BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires, Fox dampers, and a penchant for inducing poor impulse control.

And what would a gratuitous truck be without a gratuitous options list? Ours is loaded with $11,660 in add-ons, starting with the $9345 Equipment Group 802A, which supplies a Torsen limited-slip front differential (a locking rear diff is standard), 360-degree cameras, remote start, dual-zone automatic climate control, Sync 3 infotainment, a trailer-brake controller and backup assist, and more. We then piled on these à la carte additions: 17-inch forged-aluminum wheels, a heated steering wheel, second-row heated seats, a tailgate step, and a spray-in bedliner. And, of course, ours is dark gray—Magnetic, in Ford-speak—with black wheels.

Outrageous Utility

Just for sport, we’ve begun lining up Michigan’s ever-sprouting potholes and smoothing them to cream with the Raptor’s ever-buttery bypass dampers. Emboldened by its prodigious amounts of wheel travel—13.0 inches in front and 13.9 at the rear—we’ve taken to charging through more than road imperfections, however. Periodically, we run through our local off-road park—sideways, of course—just to send the locals into a tailspin as the Raptor chews through dirt mounds and rooster tails every sand wash, spewing an unending stream of Michigan alfisols from all four tires. Did we mention its 510 lb-ft of torque?

It flies—and lands, even—with substantially more poise than any three-ton wingless vehicle should. It is also, by a wide margin, the most popular vehicle in our long-term fleet. And that’s a fleet that currently includes a Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, a Ford Shelby GT350, and a Porsche 718 Boxster S. Drawing weekend reservations months in advance, the big Ford is in as much demand as a $40 per night VRBO on Monaco’s Mirabeau corner.

It’s a machine that perfectly aligns your wants: “I might be middle-aged, but I still indulge the occasional airborne railroad crossing,” with your needs: “I have two dorky kids and a ton of crap to haul around.” On and on, it is the embodiment of outrageous—massive, coarse, rapid, and capable of eating curbs at freeway speeds. It is to subtlety what Charlie Sheen is to decorum. Yet, as an everyday vehicle, it’s also feature rich, stunningly comfortable, and remarkably easy to live with. The big goofball is perfectly happy to cruise the expressway in quiet, frost-heave pooh-poohing ease.

Big, Bad, Bold

Its corpulence doesn’t prevent it from being easy on the eyes. More than six inches wider than a standard F-150 and beefed up with flared fenders front and rear, the thing is a distinguished giant. It’s also fraught with styling that reveals its goods, like holes in the front bumper to show off its beefy suspension pieces and the 3.0-inch-diameter dampers that help it stand proud of Michigan’s countless volumes of matter-of-fact pickups.

But beneath all its desert-hammering skin, there’s still a real, usable four-door pickup capable of towing an 8000-pound trailer, hauling 1200 pounds in its bed, and taking those dorks to school. This duality is what makes the Raptor so appealing. We’re looking forward to the next 35,000 miles. (Bonus: The odometer doesn’t measure distance traveled off the ground.)

Thus far, about 5000 miles in, we’ve discovered only three faults: Ten is too many gears. It’s too wide for at least one local car wash. At full throttle, it honks like a Pontiac Sunbird in the Holland Tunnel.

But, good Lord, nothing has ever cared less about potholes.

Months in Fleet: 2 months Current Mileage: 5113 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 14 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 36.0 gal Fuel Range: 500 miles
Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-/all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door pickup

PRICE AS TESTED: $64,800 (base price: $53,140)

ENGINE TYPE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port and direct fuel injection

Displacement: 213 cu in, 3496 cc
Power: 450 hp @ 5000 rpm
Torque: 510 lb-ft @ 3500 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 10-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 146.0 in
Length: 231.9 in
Width: 86.3 in Height: 78.5 in
Passenger volume: 136 cu ft
Curb weight: 5890 lb

PERFORMANCE: NEW
Zero to 60 mph: 5.5 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 15.4 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 6.1 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 4.1 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 4.2 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 14.2 sec @ 97 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 108 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 212 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.69 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA combined/city/highway: 16/15/18 mpg
C/D observed: 14 mpg
Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt

WARRANTY:
3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;
5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;
5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;
5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance

WHAT WE LIKE: Who knew we’d enjoy ignoring curbs, chuckholes, road gators, and errant boulders this much? Truly, the breadth of the Ford F-150 Raptor’s capabilities is stupefying. As happy to haul the family comfortably to the theme park as it is to obliterate mud fields, the Raptor makes even the simplest errand a reason to exercise restraint. But only a little. At only 4000 miles our truck had already spent significant time in the Michigan sand dunes. It never wants for power, even in that situation. The ability to walk up the steepest dunes from nary a crawl at the bottom is telling of what’s under the hood. And with ample suspension travel, it will exceed freeway speed through the open stretches, no damage done. We found airing the tires down to 18 psi in the front and 15 psi in the rear gave it the necessary footprint to float through the silt without risking a busted bead. The chassis’s Baja or Mud/Sand modes each seem to do the trick, and the truck’s locking rear differential works great, provided the turns aren’t tight.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: There’s little to not like. Possibly the only regret we have is that Michigan doesn’t have bigger sand dunes and utterly lacks the vast stretches of desert where the Raptor can really shine. But, being professional whiners, we found a few more gripes. The 510 lb-ft of torque coupled with our collective heavy foot will mean a new set of tires by 25,000 or so miles. We once loaded a large cabinet in the bed and had to give the tailgate a shove to get it closed. The result was enough pressure on the tailgate that the electronic release wouldn’t, well, release. We lost some skin on a finger tripping the release manually, and that’s on us. But this is a truck. There should be a better solution.

WHAT WENT WRONG: At 6500 miles our Raptor’s right-front tire developed a bulge in the sidewall. It’s possible a senior staffer may have launched the Raptor over a curb in a desperate attempt to escape traffic. It’s also possible the tire fairy gave us a defective tire. That was a $228 hit. No one—especially not the fairy—is saying anything.

We also spent $66 on an uneventful oil change, tire rotation, and multipoint inspection at 10,000 miles. The dealer swapped the air filter at that service as well because the original was lightly oil-soaked—presumably a result of the engine’s exhaust-gas-recirculation system allowing oil into the intake. But at 16,864 miles there’s no oil in the new filter or in the intake. We’re keeping an eye on it.

WHERE WE WENT: Over its first 16,000-plus miles, the Raptor’s farthest journeys have been Michigan-based—three to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes for good thrashings and one to Hale for the Michigan Mud Jam, a festival of culture and aromas unlike any other. You’ll read about that one soon. We even drove the big hoss down to Ohio once or twice, but nothing exciting ever happens there.

Months in Fleet: 5 months Current Mileage: 16,864 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 15 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 36.0 gal Fuel Range: 540 miles
Service: $66 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $228

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-/all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door pickup

PRICE AS TESTED: $64,800 (base price: $53,140)

ENGINE TYPE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port and direct fuel injection

Displacement: 213 cu in, 3496 cc
Power: 450 hp @ 5000 rpm
Torque: 510 lb-ft @ 3500 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 10-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 146.0 in
Length: 231.9 in
Width: 86.3 in Height: 78.5 in
Passenger volume: 136 cu ft
Curb weight: 5890 lb

PERFORMANCE: NEW
Zero to 60 mph: 5.5 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 15.4 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 6.1 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 4.1 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 4.2 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 14.2 sec @ 97 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 108 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 212 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.69 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA combined/city/highway: 16/15/18 mpg
C/D observed: 15 mpg
Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt

WARRANTY:
3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;
5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;
5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;
5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance