Ford Ranger Raptor

The Ford Ranger Raptor shares its dashboard layout to the smaller spec regular Ranger, however, there are some special bits which justify its flagship and most-premium-variant tag here.

Matching the butch appeal of the pickup on the outside, the three-spoke steering wheel feels large with thick gripping, while the funky looking instrument console here features a carbon fiber like the design for the analog dials and more detailed MID screen at the center.  The center console feels premium thanks to the tucked-in touch screen infotainment system and vertical AC vents beside it, with an array of buttons for automatic climate controls placed below it. Other exclusive features of the Ford Ranger Raptor are body contoured sports seats, perforated leather hand grips, unique ‘Raptor’ stitches at places

The Ford Ranger Raptor is loaded with features like adaptive cruise control, Ford’s latest SYNC 3 system compatible to the 8-inch touchscreen unit, dual-zone automatic climate control, 8-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat, Alcantara leather upholstery, cooled console, push-button start with keyless entry, active noise cancellation and 230V inverter.

The pickup trucks from Ford are well known to give some SUVs tough nightmares to face, and the Ranger Raptor further raises the bar even higher to match.

The front fascia shares a lot with the regular Ranger pickup, as the former shares the large headlamps with projector bulbs and daytime running LEDs with the latter. However, the three slat large chrome grille has been replaced by the traditional massive looking matt black ‘FORD’ font grille. This grille is enough to give it an ‘in-your-face’ brash attitude. To make it look off-road ready, the front bumper has been heavily tweaked with slimmer design and new fog lamp design. To unleash its sporty side, the rear view mirrors are finished in glossy black.

The side profile of the Ranger Raptor looks very similar to that of the regular Ranger, with the doors directly lifted from the former. However, the alloy wheels and tires on the Ranger Raptor are bigger and come with hardcore patterns, whereas the flared wheel arches, as well as side body molding, are more prominent here.

It is only the rear profile of the Ranger Raptor, which manages to look sublime with a plain deck lid design and simply styled vertical tail lamps.

The butch stance of the Ranger Raptor is not all show and no go, instead, Ford has left no stone unturned to make this one its ultimate pickup variant. The suspension has been massively tweaked with raised aluminium double wishbone with internal bypass Fox acing Shox dampers at the front and coilover shocks with Watt’s linkage and internal bypass Fox acing Shox dampers at the rear.

The vehicle boasts of a ground clearance of 283 mm and 850 mm of water wading capacity. Also, the Terrain Management System of the Ford Ranger Raptor has been blessed with six different terrain drive modes – Normal, Rock (for rocky surfaces), Mud/Sand (for loose surfaces), Grass/Gravel/Snow (for low traction surfaces), Baja (high speed desert running) and Sport (faster throttle response with improved acceleration).

Ford has employed a bi-turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine for the Ranger Raptor, which produces a maximum power output of 213 PS and a peak torque output of 500 Nm. Mated to this engine is a technically advanced 10-speed automatic gearbox with paddle shifters, which is the only gearbox option available for this pickup.

The Ford Ranger Raptor is fully loaded with safety features like While the XLT variants come standard with front, side and curtain airbags, anti-lock braking system, electronic braking distribution, electronic stability control, emergency brake assist, load sensing proportionate valve, hill descent control, adaptive load control, hill start assist, rollover mitigation, trailer sway assist, lane departure warning and assist, forward alert and collision mitigation and distance indication alert.

The Ford Ranger Raptor has the word ‘butch’ written all over it, with its intimidating stance powerful enough to give it a commanding presence, both while in motion as well as while in a standstill. Under the skin too, the Ranger Raptor offers powerful performance and super rugged mechanicals to make sure it has the ability to come out  of whatever situation it gets stuck in.