Ford Ranger Raptor long-term test: report 8
In theory it's a lean, mean working machine, but we're living with the ultimate version of Ford's Ranger pick-up truck to see if it lives up to the hype...
The car Ford Ranger Raptor 2.0 EcoBlue 210 4WD auto | Run by Max Edleston, senior photographer
Why it’s here To provide grin-inducing entertainment and practicality in equal measure
Needs to be Unstoppable on-road or off-it, reasonably sensible to run, and practical enough to be used as a working vehicle
Mileage 14,810 List price £57,064 Target Price £57,064 Price as tested £59,824 Test economy 25.2mpg Official economy 25.4mpg
16 August 2024 – Towing titan
There’s no escaping the fact that, with a maximum towing capacity of 2500kg, my Raptor can tow around a tonne less than the regular Ford Ranger.
That fact in isolation might lead you to think my car is somehow lesser than most pick-up truck rivals, but you’d be wrong, because remember my truck can also crack 62mph in 10.5sec and tackle the kind of terrain you’d usually see in a post-apocalyptic film like it was just another road.
I also think my Raptor makes the process of towing easier than in most pick-up trucks. My Dad asked for my help in shifting a big bag of sand down to one of our neighbours, for example, which meant hitching up a trailer to the back of my truck.
Getting the trailer in place was easy – I grabbed the Raptor’s towing hitch from its hiding place beneath the passenger seat, and bolted it in place. Then, using the Ranger’s superb array of cameras, I had the hitch in position before my Dad had returned with a fresh cup of tea.
In fact, I told him to leave me to it, because my car even turned checking the trailer’s electrics into a solo operation. I followed the prompts on the Raptor’s infotainment screen – giving me instructions which even I, a towing novice, couldn’t get wrong – which culminated in the car doing a check of the trailer’s lights. All I had to do was set the test running, then get out to make sure the lights were indeed coming on in order.
If I was the kind of pick-up driver who towed the same trailer each day, I could even save my settings for future use, meaning I wouldn’t have to go through the same process each time. Handy.
As it was, the whole process of hitching up the trailer took about five minutes, leaving us plenty of time to manoeuvre around the country lanes near my parents’ house in Cheshire, and deliver the sand to its waiting owner.
We don’t yet cover pick-up trucks in our annual Tow Car Awards, but despite not carrying the crown for outright towing capacity, I reckon sheer ease of use would earn my Ranger Raptor a well-deserved gong.
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