2020 Ford Ranger Raptor review

It's big, brash and billed as Ford's answer to the performance dual-cab ute. But, does the Ford Ranger Raptor live up to its name? Paul Maric finds out.

80, 90, 100km/h...and brace! My stomach churns as we become airborne and then crash back down to earth. We've just cleared a jump in the all-new 2019 Ford Ranger Raptor!

What you're looking at here is Ford's first ever Ford Ranger Raptor and the smaller sibling of the epic left-hand-drive-only Ford F-150 Raptor.

Exclusively revealed by CarAdvice back in 2015, the Ranger Raptor has been a passion project for the Australian T6 home room. It's here in Australia that Ford led the design and engineering work on Ranger Raptor, so the Australian DNA is well and truly embedded into every part of this vehicle.

__________________________________________________________________

Drive will showcase the best of the automotive industry, to help drivers discover, find, and own the cars that inspire and meet their needs.

[tlevans]

I’ve driven this truck and it’s excellent, it rides really well, on and off road, it’s plenty fast enough, and the small engine is to keep the weight and balance nearly 50/50. I went off jumps in it on the test track and it lands nearly flat. With chip mods, it’s possible to get nearly 300hp and over 600nm of torque, but that’s really not the point. The suspension is amazing, and it just floats over everything thrown at it. Because of the modified suspension, it doesn’t tow as much or carry as much as the normal Ranger, but that’s not the point of this small truck, it’s designed for fun and high speed off roading, not for towing or winning drag races. This was designed with things like the Paris to Dakar or the Baja rally in mind. On the beach, or in the dunes, or running flat out in the outback, this things is incredible.

[jarrodganley]

I brought a raptor on the gold coast and a dual axle 5x10 trailer loaded it up and drove back to darwin, got plenty of power, I over took the road trains at 150km with ease.best car I've ever owned

[forbeshutton]

Heated seats. Well, those should save lives in Australia.

[ozzierockets]

Twice the price of any of the major US trucks, we should have the Ford 150, Silverado, Tundra and RAMs as main stream offerings in Australia years ago. I admit the off road kit is pretty cool. But to say that a "Ranger Raptor runs out of puff" isn't good enough when its main competitor is the X350d

[gamerscockpit]

We need more intros like this, where you can show some emotion and say how you feel. F##K Yeah.

[OFFICIAL_VIDEO_AWARDS]

Yep the US is getting the 2.3 Ecoboost from the Mustang.

Beware of this engine though. Ford I have no idea how this stuff gets passed for production.

This engine has a belt driven timing belt that is sealed from access inside the engine with the crankcase oil. Its supposedly meant to last the life of the engine and I suspect that life is 10 years.

Also spinning in the oil is another belt driving the oil pump.

And lastly it has an inbuilt sealed EGR system which cannot be accessed. So if it gets blocked, which they all do, expect a head out repair. It also means you cannot fit an oil fumes catch can.

Lastly, unlike the current Ranger engines or any models engine in this class that have been detuned from factory for reliability and warranty reasons, or in the case of the 3.2 Ranger which was detuned so that future models could offer higher power with a simple retune... This 2.0l is an existing Ford engine that has been tuned up to within an inch of its life.

It has the potential to produce slightly more power and torque but inside that little engine there is a massive amount of stress and strain. Even to make its current numbers. It also needed reinforcing to keep it rigid.

Buy it, but sell it before the warranty expires. I suspect its resale value will be horrendous as soon as it's reliability or more so, built to be disposable reputation gets out.

[louisbarningham]

I have been in one and the build is very solid and strong and is made very good quality

[msljm]

I meet Paul on the plane up to Darwin on Monday morning and saw all the Raptors at the Hilton Tuesday morning and to have the review already online is amazing! Guys that’s impressive and such good quality too.

[carpocolypsenow]

Those extra tech features that are missing won't matter to most buyers of this, just less things to break.
Now we need to wait for the 2.3l eco boost with 350hp that the USA version of our raptor is getting.

[memeone]

My old f150 was 5.7. The raptor version was 6.2 I believe. 2l doesn't flick my monster truck switch.

[chrisbiker]

Great suspension and good looks, but what were they thinking with that engine. Not worth the money

[kmuinde]

working for ford and raptor is one of my number 1 favourite

[Tnkcommander]

Good review, glad to see the Ranger version is living up to the name, at least suspension wise. Did you try out sport mode? I would hope (like my F150 Raptor) it would make a significant difference in the get-up-and-go via much more aggressive shifting patterns. The 10 speed might make up for some of the engine's lackluster performance.

[Larc]

We recently bought a raptor and the sound system is GOOD!

[invasion]

It's nothing like the F-150 raptor, the real raptor is a beast!

[niloibarra]

Here in the Philippines it cost around P1.89M($35, 000 US Dollars) $3000 more from from the standard Ranger and for Asian Countries the specs of the Ranger Raptor in more than enough, and here in the Philippines, this vehicle is perfect for the road conditions and powerful from other vehicles too so we loved it... it even won Top Gear PH car of the year....

[MIGerlag]

If only they had the 3.5 v6 ecoboost as an option...

[davidanderson]

Neat, but 2.zero litres not really ringing my 75K bell..

[RainDropBlopper]

the only thing that i don't get is why they went with a 2.0L endigne while the wildtrack has a 3.0L engine? was there no chance to enhance or make a better 3.0L diesel BiTurbo with more HP for the Raptor version?

[jojomarcelo]

Todays trend, as the engine becomes smaller, the HOOD is getting HIGHER.