2024 Ford F-150 Raptor R Overview: ‘Final’ Off-Street Pickup

When you’re searching for a full-sized pickup, Ford has a mannequin for just about each style and finances, particularly for these trying to head off-road. However, if you happen to’re searching for one thing rugged sufficient to deal with something you throw at it — from critical path crawling to abandon racing and even the drag strip — you’ll wish to deal with what the automaker payments because the “final” bundle, the 2024 Ford F-150 Raptor R.

As if the “base” Raptor wasn’t robust already, this beast provides options like a four-stage energetic exhaust system and Fox Dwell Valve dampers. It attracts energy from the “Predator” V-8 lifted out of the Mustang Shelby GT500. And whereas it is perhaps exhausting to think about needing any extra energy than the outgoing Raptor R delivered, the 2024 mannequin ups the ante with 20 extra ponies, bringing the full to 720 horsepower.

Add it up and, after spending a day blasting by way of California’s demanding Johnson Valley Off-Freeway Car Park, I spotted Carl Widmann, Ford’s head of efficiency operations, wasn’t simply spouting advertising and marketing communicate as he stated, “When prospects expertise Raptor R within the desert and past, it would make the hairs on the again of their necks get up — and so they’ll love each second of it.”

Briefly: Ford presents a broad array of F-150 variants, a number of of them designed for off-roading. None takes issues to extremes just like the Raptor R. For 2024, this “final” mannequin good points extra energy and extra options that place it to dominate key opponents just like the Ram 1500 TRX and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Bison.

2024 Ford F-150 Raptor R Overview

When you’re trying to take a look at the mettle of one thing that claims to have critical off-road capabilities, there are few locations as unforgiving because the rugged badlands a few hours up into the hills east of Palm Springs, Calif. The Johnson Valley Off-Freeway Car (OHV) Park serves up any terrain you would possibly want, from Baja-style desert tracks to trails so rock-strewn you’ll have a problem simply determining the place to plant a tire.

An acceptable place, it turned out, to take the up to date 2024 Ford F-150 Raptor R. Combining the brand new truck and the terrain I used to be about to face, I knew I used to be in for what the oldsters on the automaker’s efficiency truck operations described as “an adrenaline-fueled thrill-ride.”

The excellent news is that the up to date Raptor R managed to make issues feel and look easy sufficient that even a reasonably skilled driver might really feel like a professional. But, it supplied sufficient options and capabilities to beguile even essentially the most skilled professional.

Raptor vs. Raptor R

Whereas technically a mid-cycle replace, the brand new Raptor R has had sufficient adjustments to warrant a more in-depth look — and drive — even for house owners of the outgoing mannequin. However first, here’s a fast primer on the variations between Raptor and Raptor R.

It’s been 14 years since Ford first launched the Raptor-badged F-150. Again then, consumers had a alternative of two powertrains, a 5.4L V-8 making 310 horsepower and a 6.2L V-8 bumping that as much as 411 horsepower. Successfully, that set the stage for the evolution into two totally different trim ranges.

At this time, the variations are substantial. Don’t be fooled. The bottom Raptor is a powerful beast, powered by a 3.5L twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6 making 450 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. That’s sufficient to tug a 1,400-pound payload and tow as much as 8,200 kilos. 

As with its large brother, the beast is anxious to go off-road, and it’s loads succesful, with energy delivered by way of a two-speed switch case to all 4 wheels. However add that little letter, “R,” and you’re taking issues to a brand new stage.

Huge Brother

The prior mannequin noticed Ford lastly problem all comers. To start out with, it gave the Raptor R that Predator V-8 borrowed from the Mustang Shelby GT500. It wasn’t a pure, one-to-one swap, in fact. Within the Raptor R, the engine was personalized for off-road conditions, with revised pulleys, upgraded exhaust manifolds, a deeper oil pan, and enhanced cooling.

A wider air consumption elevated airflow quantity by 66%, in the meantime. Improved filtration additionally stored the engine from sucking up mud. There’s additionally a modified twin exhaust system with a real pass-through muffler and energetic valving to manage the exhaust observe. 

It got here oh so near going tire-to-tire with Ram’s brawny TRX making 702 horsepower and 650 pound-feet. For 2024, nonetheless, the Ford F-150 Raptor R doesn’t have any purpose to apologize, the horse rely bumped to 720 — although it’s nonetheless 10 pound-fee wanting its rival, at 640.

As with its engine, the Raptor R’s 10-speed gearbox has been beefed up considerably to deal with the more durable atmosphere it faces. One good element: extra-long magnesium paddle shifters that make it straightforward to function, even when bouncing down a Baja course at pace.  Energy is then fed to all 4 wheels by way of a beefed-up two-speed switch case.

Making It Baby’s Play

One of many Raptor R’s greatest options is its in depth choice of driver modes, which optimize the truck for no matter you’ll throw at it. You possibly can immediately modify just about all programs — from engine and transmission mapping to suspension settings, and even the best way you’ll see what’s on the truck’s digital gauge, infotainment, and HUD shows.

There are seven selections right here, together with a Baja setting and, if you happen to want, you’ll be able to combine and match these settings, because it had been, accessing the customizable outcomes utilizing an “R” mode button on the steering wheel.

From a know-how standpoint, nonetheless, it doesn’t cease there. One function, referred to as Path Flip, makes use of the within brake to assist the truck pirouette round a good nook nearly as if you happen to had been driving Ford’s child pickup, the Maverick.

And One-Pedal Mode lets you speed up and decelerate just by modulating the throttle. Whereas that’s a typical function on trendy EVs, it’s a novel providing on a gas-powered automobile.

There are, in fact, the requisite options that allow you to do issues like set a set pace to creep up or down a hill, very like an off-road cruise management.

Stunning

Nearly each element of the truck has been tuned to resist the hardest of off-road situations. And there are welcome updates for 2024. The suspension journey, for one factor, is now 13.5 inches up entrance and 14 within the rear. Each elevated by 0.5 inches for 2024. 

One of the vital vital options is the Raptor R’s Fox Twin Dwell Valve shocks. Whereas they had been obtainable on the outgoing Raptor R, they’ve additionally been upgraded for 2024 to supply position-sensitive compression management.

In different phrases, they’ll reply higher beneath a broader vary of situations, and every damper might be in a unique setting at any explicit second. That’s useful in any off-road driving state of affairs, however particularly so when going through the daunting challenges that the 2024 F-150 Raptor R will face in Baja-style racing, which is its main raison d’être.

Surprisingly, the Fox know-how helped clean out the truck’s journey as soon as again on pavement — much more surprising contemplating we had been driving on 37-inch off-road tires. Whereas it’s not more likely to be a primary alternative as a each day driver, house owners might substitute the brand new Raptor R for his or her poser CUV, if they need and never discover the truck bouncing the fillings out of their tooth.

2024 Raptor R Driving Impressions

This wasn’t my first time at Johnson Valley OHV, so I had the chance to check and distinction the 2024 Raptor R with each the outgoing mannequin and a wide range of opponents, such because the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Bison.

This time round, Ford made positive I skilled just about any and the whole lot the park might supply. This included a bounce that lofted me into the air at 65 mph for nearly 50 ft. Landing was uncannily clean and confidence-inspiring.

That’s a phrase I might use to explain nearly the whole lot I skilled in Johnson Valley, thanks, specifically, to the truck’s huge energy — and its grippy rubber.

On earlier visits, I solely stared up at steep mountains of sand, questioning what it could be wish to cost up towards the summit. Inspired by the Ford group, I gave it a go this journey, kicking up large roostertails of sand in my wake.

Measurement Issues

The truck was greater than in a position to deal with some mid-level rock crawling and certain might have surmounted just about the whole lot I skilled driving on the market in a Bronco Raptor R a few years in the past.

The largest problem that an proprietor should accommodate, in fact, is the Raptor’s large footprint. At 232.6 inches, nose-to-tail, with a 145.4-inch wheelbase, there are merely some locations you’ll be able to’t take a truck this dimension — even if you happen to activated Path Management. The 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R has a width of 87.0 inches and a peak of 80.6 inches.

One other essential dimension is 13.1 inches of floor clearance. That got here into play as I confronted down the final problem of my go to: some Baja-style racing on and round Johnson Valley’s dry lake mattress. As a measure of how robust this may be, notice that the park is house to the King of the Hammers race.

Charging down the deeply rutted path, my foot urgent the throttle ever nearer to the floorboards was an train in abandon. The shifting sand and surprising obstacles threatened at any second to spin me off into the scrubby brush and bushes. My kidneys, after the primary two laps, started to scream for a relaxation cease and I started hoping I wouldn’t require an emergency go to to the dentist.

But, as I discovered making repeated jumps within the Raptor R, I additionally felt impressed to press the throttle just a bit bit more durable, brake a bit later, and go into every nook a bit sooner — lastly drifting by way of the coned-out course on the lake mattress.

Raptor R Design

As you’d anticipate of a truck just like the 2024 Ford F-150 Raptor R, the designers weren’t instructed to ship a truck that may mix right into a crowd.

It stands larger than a traditional model of the pickup. It boasts a practical energy bulge on the hood that makes it simpler to feed air into the engine compartment for cooling. Graphics above the wheel lip molding, alongside the field aspect, and on the hood and fenders be sure that everybody is aware of precisely what they’re taking a look at.

There’s additionally a modular entrance bumper that may simply be outfitted with a winch or different equipment.

’24 Raptor R Inside

Inside, the truck doesn’t stray removed from the standard F-150, albeit one of many extra up-market trims. That features options just like the shifter that may fold into the middle console when parked.

The truck additionally will get twin 12-inch screens, one for the gauge cluster, the opposite a touchscreen serving infotainment duties. A brand new head-up show is a welcome version. Like the dual screens, its show is revised every time you modify the drive mode settings.

The brand new Raptor R has the most recent Sync 4 infotainment know-how and has wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capabilities. It additionally presents a Wi-Fi hotspot that may deal with as much as 10 units, and you may order an 18-speaker Bang & Olufson sound system.

One other helpful function: the non-obligatory 2.0kW cell generator the truck might be outfitted with. It lets you have loads of juice for a camp or worksite.

2024 Ford F-150 Raptor R Overview Wrap-Up

For these trying to take their off-road experiences to the acute, particularly if that features critical Baja-style adventures, the newly up to date, 2024 Ford F-150 Raptor R stands out, even when in comparison with Ram’s ominous TRX and Chevy’s Bison. 

There are some sensible issues to contemplate, beginning with its base value of $111,500 — earlier than factoring in supply charges — and the large gas payments you’ll be able to anticipate, contemplating that, in real-world conditions, you’ll doubtless get someplace round 10 to 11 mpg.

However, for these with deep sufficient pockets and the will to let no obstacles stand of their manner, the final word F-150 goes to be exhausting to withstand.