For starters it's big, just over six inches wider than the stock F-150, in fact it's so wide that it has to run marker lights, usually only required on trucks with towing duelly's bringing up the rear. It's taller, a full 4 inches over the base model and, thanks to a serious suspension system that includes some big, beef-eating control arms and serious shocks by Fox Racing, developed especially for the Raptor. Throw in some serious BF Goodrich off road tires and an optional aggressive decal set, a one of a kind grille and it all comes together quite stunningly.
The serious look continues inside, Ford has really harnessed the essence of man, wrapping the seats in black and read leather, chroming all of the serious bits and making things chunky for tough man actions, like eating cows and playing football.
This is a great truck, it harnesses exactly what SVT trucks always have, tapping into a popular trend, and doing it up to the nines. Like the Lightening did before it with the street truck scene, the Raptor not only looks great, but it is a serious off-road machine capable of taking on the Paris-Dakar on Monday, ripping out some stumps Tuesdayand taking the misses out to dinner on Wednesday.
However, one question keeps nagging me, why this? Why now? Ford has taken a big gamble marketing a Truck with a base price of $38, 000 in the U.S and $48, 000 in Canada to a market that already is scraping through the lint, buttons and old receipts at the bottom of their wallets as it is. Is there really room for another high performance, high priced version of a familiar automotive institution?
With no serious competition from it's full sized pick-up competition, its safe to say that Ford has the market all to itself with the Raptor, a fact that will play to it's advantage. With all things considered, the Raptor is a well rounded pick up that can rip your face off all weekend and still get you to work in comfort the rest of the week, and for that reason it just might be feasible.
Maybe.
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