2019 Raptor Gets Down and Dirty in Off-Road Test
The 2019 Raptor is surprisingly good on the highway, but significant technological updates make it even smarter when it goes off-road.
It may be hard to believe, but as of the 2020 model year, the second-generation Raptor is four years old. The good thing about that is that Ford has had enough time to think of ways to improve its most aggressive off-road version of the F-150. The 2019 model benefits from a few major updates, which the YouTube channel Driving Sports TV covers in the video above.
Host Ryan Douthit starts off his test of the refreshed Raptor on Washington roads. His press loaner has been stuffed with options that make it look even cooler (carbon fiber interior trim), safer (adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go functionality), and more comfortable (heated steering wheel). They also bring the Raptor’s final price to nearly $73,000.
Like its predecessors, the 2019 Raptor SuperCrew has a 450-horsepower/510-lb-ft 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6, 10-speed automatic, spacious backseat area, and undeniable presence. Its multi-mode (Normal, Sport, Slippery, Tow/Haul, Deep Snow/Sand, Baja, and Rock Crawl) Terrain Management System adjusts a variety of settings, including the engine, gearbox, and suspension, according to which mode a driver chooses.
A new adaptive suspension system still runs Fox shocks like previous Raptors, but interprets data from a variety of vehicle sensors to respond to road and trail conditions on the fly. Douthit says, “When I’m in Sport mode and I’m driving quick … and I’m going around corners, the car won’t wallow. It won’t lean with a death lean. In fact, it’s actually kind of fun in the corners now.”
No test of a Raptor would be complete without seeing how it performs on unpaved roads. Douthit honors the engineering Ford Performance put into the Raptor by pointing its nose toward a rain-soaked powerline trail and pressing the gas. He starts off by leaving the TMS in Normal and charges forward. “This road is awful, but honestly, with this suspension and these [BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A K02] tires, it’s cake.”
Further down the trail, Douthit tries out the Raptor’s new Trail Control system. It’s essentially off-road cruise control that allows you to set a speed and then let the truck manage the acceleration and braking as it takes you up or down rugged terrain. Douthit also engages the Raptor’s Rock Crawl mode to match the land he’s trying to get across. He says, “It’s automatically locked the rear differential, it’s put the steering into Comfort mode, and the shocks … are now set for off-road.” The Raptor claws its way to the top of the 18-degree incline with only a small amount of underbody skid plate usage. For Douthit’s next run up, he does the footwork himself. The Raptor’s crawl ratio and knobby tires combined with the soft earth underneath it allow him to easily reach the summit.
We’ve spent dozens of hours driving the 2017 Raptor on- and off-road. Whether we were crawling over rocks with Jeep Wrangler owners or blasting across the Red Sands of El Paso, Texas, it didn’t let us down. But Driving Sports TV‘s review shows that Ford Performance somehow found ways to make the Raptor an even better and more capable truck.
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