Ford Raptor Declared the ‘Batman’ of Trucks!
Our favorite Ford truck is also ‘quick and ferocious,’ says Texarkana Gazette.
Ford cornered the off-roading pickup truck segment with the release of the mighty Raptor in 2010. Now in its second generation, the Raptor’s even more of an off-roading monster, featuring a more grown-up look and powered by a more refined engine. After taking the new Raptor for a ride through a remote wildlife management area, the Texarkana Gazette found that the pickup lives up to its namesake.
Right off the bat, the outlet found just how purpose-built the Raptor is. After going down a narrow path that eventually led to a creek with nothing in place to help cross the body of water, the Texarkana Gazette simply carried momentum through the mud hole and safely got across. The situation might have been different if the reviewer was driving any other truck but the Raptor.
“Were we behind the wheel of an ordinary F-150, we might have gently crawled through the hole, feeling our way along,” said the Texarkana Gazette. But the Raptor is no ordinary F-150, as the outlet aptly puts it, “a normal F-150 is to the Raptor what Bruce Wayne is to Batman.”
‘A normal F-150 is to the Raptor what Bruce Wayne is to Batman.’
While everyone knows that few vehicles can keep up with the Raptor in off-roading situations, the Texarkana Gazette touched upon something others haven’t, which is just how smart the new Raptor is. Once the going got a little smoother (in the off-roading world that includes undulating gravel roads), the outlet let the truck do the work by placing the vehicle in Baja mode and letting the new 10-speed do its job.
Those that enjoy being in control will find that the Raptor readily takes command with little deliberation, while those that are okay with giving up some control will find the truck is more than capable of doing everything on its own.
“Crawl? Never!” recounts the reviewer when the Raptor is faced with challenging terrain. “Lifting off the throttle a little, but still maintaining plenty of momentum, we flew into the mud hole. The front wheels bounded into the bottom and smoothly lifted us right back up to the other side.
“In that briefest of moments,” he continues, “the ‘purpose’ for which the Raptor was built was made clear. It is to get muddy. At high speed. And elicit whoops and hollers not dissimilar to Rebel battle cries.”
‘The “purpose” for which the Raptor was built was made clear. It is to get muddy. At high speed. And elicit whoops and hollers not dissimilar to Rebel battle cries.’
The Raptor, though, isn’t all go and no comfort. The Texarkana Gazette enjoyed some of the truck’s finer pieces of equipment, including the pickup’s 360-view camera system and upgraded sound system, which the outlet claimed was one of the nicest they have ever heard.
The Texarkana Gazette, then, clearly thinks the Raptor is a hit. And after hooning the truck around in both off-roading and normal road conditions, the outlet found it to be the vehicle of choice for those looking to explore off-road driving.
“On my last day with the truck I took it to a lumber yard and wound up parking nose-to-nose with a full sized Toyota,” says the Texarkana Gazette. After walking away from the vehicle, the truck’s aggressive styling had the outlet giving the vehicle a word of caution.
“I put my hand on the rear fender, leaned over and whispered to the Raptor. ‘Don’t eat it.'” Any vehicle that needs to be told not to eat another is a sure fire winner.