2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor Review | |||
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When Ford's Special Vehicle Team (SVT) turns its attention to one of the company's vehicles, that ride inevitably runs faster, jumps higher and provides way more thrills per mile than the vehicle it's based on. And, in many cases, more than any other vehicle in its competitive set too. So, what happened when the SVT drew a bead on the new F-150? Well, let's just call it focused mayhem. The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor is the SVT's take on the pre-runner pickups desert racing teams use to scout the course ahead of unleashing their outrageously expensive Trophy Truck racers. A pre-runner has to be able to negotiate the same terrain as those racing trucks, at greatly elevated speeds like those racing trucks, and they can't break down in the process, again, like those racing trucks. Recognizing a ripe opportunity to offer something truly unique in the marketplace, Jamal Hadeemi, SVT chief engineer and a former race engineer for a Baja Trophy Truck, set the SVT's engineers on a course to build a pre-runner for the real world. Hadeemi's truck had to be capable of absorbing the punishing shocks to its system engendered by pounding over thousands of miles of rough terrain at speeds that would get you pulled over on any highway in America. However, it also had to provide an acceptable ride, competent handling and diminished levels of noise, vibrations and harshness so it could be employed as a daily driver.  In other words, the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor had to be the offroad pickup equivalent of a high performance GT automobile. After spending a day driving it through the city streets of San Diego, over the sinuous roads scaling the Cuyamaca Mountains, and along miles of trails in the Anza Borrego desert, I can report the team has succeeded on all fronts. This is a truck you can drive back and forth to work everyday, and with no modifications whatsoever, take offroading in virtually any style you wish. On pavement, the ride is (dare I say it?) plush, but reassuringly stable. Tire roar is non-existent, which, given the size and tread depth of those 35-inch desert boots the Raptor wears is an amazing accomplishment in and of itself. Body roll around curves is minimal and the steering is exactingly precise. Taking to the dirt, if climbing steep inclines with loose gravel, sand, and/or snow under your wheels is your thing, Raptor offers over 11 inches of front, and 12 inches of rear suspension travel, along with four low gearing and locking differentials. In other words, Raptor SVT climbs like the proverbial mountain goat.  When it's time to descend those impossibly steep inclines, activating the F-150 Raptor's hill descent control eases you down that slope between two and 20 miles per hour (your preference) with only steering inputs required from you. The Ford modulates the downhill speed all by its lonesome. Now if that style of offroad going is too slow for you, there's this whole other aspect to the Raptor's personality. While 320 horsepower moving nearly 6000 pounds might not sound like a whole lot on the street (and there is a 400 horsepower engine coming for the Raptor), in the desert, said 320 horsepower is more than adequate at keeping the Raptor ripping along at an eye-widening, white knuckling, booty puckering pace. Thanks to key suspension modifications, the Raptor flies through the air with the greatest of ease, then lands as lightly as a ballerina. Much of this is due to the adoption of a set of oil-filled Fox triple interior-bypass shocks that firm up progressively and rebound progressively. This, combined with all of that suspension travel gives the shocks enough time to control the suspension system adequately as loads increase.  Readily adept at surfing sand dunes, flying (literally) over moguls, power sliding through desert washes with its tail hung out, all while sending gravel and dust flying in all directions at ferocious velocities - this is one badass pickup truck. Raptor is capable of screaming across the desert at speeds that would rip the suspension system out of any other pickup. That it does this is remarkable, that it does this and carries a factory warranty is absolutely amazing. Back in the real world, Raptor offers a towing capacity of 6,000 pounds as well as a 1,000-pound payload capacity. Sirius satellite radio, Ford's Sync infotainment system, automatic climate control, supportive leather seating, and a nicely sculpted steering wheel provide welcoming accomodations.  I've always been fond of Ford's interior treatments and the touches they've added to differentiate the Raptor really infuse the cabin with a sporting flair. Orange accents tell the world this is the fun loving F-150, and the black on white SVT six-gauge instrument package says it's serious about that fun too. All in all, this is an entirely new breed of factory pickup. It'll be interesting to see if GMC, Chevy and Chrysler decide to play along.  Ford F-150 Raptor SVT pricing starts at $38,995.
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Popular Mechanics
April 24, 2009
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Borrego Springs, Calif.–The Raptor promises to be the most off-road-capable F-150 Ford has ever built. This pickup is like a street-legal Baja prerunner. In other words, the SVT Raptor promises to smooth out the worst high-speed desert terrain, fly over jumps and handle slow-speed four-wheeling better than just about any production truck. Tall order? Perhaps not.
We had a chance to spend a day riding along with the SVT team as they put a group of preproduction Raptors through an arduous development loop in the California dessert. So how does this truck handle extreme off-road conditions? Let's find out. –Ben Stewart
The Specs
The $38,995 Raptor is based on a 4WD F-150 Super Cab with a 5.5-foot bed. So there are quite a few components shared with the standard-issue F-150 range. Under the hood is Ford's 320-hp 5.4-liter V8 that generates 390 lb-ft of torque and is paired to a six-speed automatic. The differentials are conventional F-150. But an electronic locking rear differential is standard as are 4.10:1 gears that turn beefy 315/70R17 (35-inch) BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A tires. And to cover the rubber, the bodywork skins are heavily flared.Big tires are helpful to improve off-road ground clearance. But the key to the Raptor's capability is its suspension. The SVT team widened the F-150's track by 7-inches–measured at the center of the tire tread–with new upper and lower control arms. The lower control arms are chamfered like a skidplate, so rocks can slide underneath without hanging the truck up. The half-shafts, usually a weak link in independent front suspension 4WD trucks, are not only longer, but also more durable than the standard-issue units.
This added width gave engineers the platform to increase wheel travel. So now there's a total of 11.2-inches of travel up front and 13.4-inches in the rear. The suspension provides about an inch of lift too. To allow the Raptor to glide over obstacles and take the punishment of hard landings, the SVT team chose specifically tuned internal-bypass Fox Racing shocks and micro-cellular urethane bump stops.
Though the Raptor's 4WD system is mechanically similar to a standard-issue F-150, the SVT team incorporated advanced electronics to increase the capability. The stability control system has a sport mode that shuts off the traction control, and a "full off road" mode, that cuts all stability control functions and switches the ABS to an off-road setting. In full off-road mode, the electronic locking rear differential will remain locked at higher speeds too–so the Raptor acts like a prerunner with a spool for easy power slides. Like some modern off-road vehicles, the Raptor has a hill descent control system. But this system can match the speed you choose with the throttle, from 1.6-mph up to around 18 mph.
The Ride
It was pure torture. We had a full day with the Raptor on some of the best terrain in the California desert–and we were relegated to the passenger seat. Ford won't let anyone outside the development team behind the wheel of the Raptor until a drive event later this year. Still, we learned a lot riding shotgun.The team used a 62-mile loop to both tune and validate the durability of the Raptor. In fact, they completed two full 1000-mile torture tests using this route. And every time the team returned to home base at the end of the loop, they hit a massive tabletop jump–clearing 2 to 3 feet under the rear axle. Sounds like a good day at the office to us.
From the right seat, it seems like that extreme tuning has paid off. SVT Vehicle Development Engineer Gene Martindale is a lead foot. He plants the throttle to the floor as we enter a sandy, rutted trail and doesn't lift when we approach berms and off-camber shelves. We grit our teeth and brace for the impact. But instead of crashing down onto the bump stops like an ordinary pickup might, the Raptor soaks it all up. It's not Cadillac-smooth–this is a truck after al≠l–but we've driven trails just like this in heavily-modified 4WD machines and, while many of them have had the wheel travel and ground clearance, rarely do they have the fine-tuned finesse of the Raptor.
As the desert opens up into a wide wash, our Raptor hits 80 mph and floats over the terrain. That speed would cripple most trucks out here, but the supple suspension takes the beating and feels remarkably stable too. High-speed desert romps are fun, but four-wheeling capability in low range requires a different set of vehicle skills. The Raptor may not have an ultralow transfer case like a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon or Dodge Power Wagon, but long-travel suspension kept the large tires in contact with the trail on one particularly hairy climb–and we crested the peak with the help of the rear locking differential.
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