2024 Ranger Raptor Review: Born to Run, Crawl, & Fly
With sub-$60,000 pricing, the fun and agile 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor represents the best value in Raptor-branded vehicles since the original.
With the 10-speed auto locked into second gear, I floor the throttle and hold on tight. Ranger Raptor spitting dirt and rushing forward. Up and up a dusty rise to where the road falls away and this truck, much like its bigger brother, shows that it was born to fly…
“Good morning, Ladies & Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
Your Ranger Raptor has been cleared for take-off.“
Photography: Michael S. Palmer
Almost twenty years ago, Ford’s Special Vehicle Team — now Ford Performance — pivoted away from street performance trucks to Trophy Truck-inspired trail runners made for Baja-style high-speed off-roading. In other words, what if your performance truck wasn’t lowered for corners, but instead giving a long-travel suspension for jumping dunes? Its name, of course, was the F-150 Raptor, a branding effort that has since delivered three generations of F-150 Raptor, one Bronco Raptor, and now the first North American Ranger Raptor.
The result, which we experienced during an all-expenses-covered media drive event hosted by the Ford Motor Company, is the widest and wildest Ranger in history. And our pick for the best Raptor value since the original debuted all those years ago.
Specs & Features
The 2024 Ranger Raptor is built on the same platform as the all-new Ranger (reviewed right HERE), yet shares only a basic architecture and a few body panels. Underneath, the Raptor features a bespoke frame and is nearly 3 inches wider than the standard Ranger. It also boasts a revised suspension with 2.5″ FOX Live Valve shocks at all four corners, providing three dedicated firmness settings at the touch of a button. Awatt’s link rear axle setup, in place of the leaf springs, rounds out the package along with 33-inch B.F. Goodrich A/T K03 tires.
Under the hood, a twin-turbo 3.0L EcoBoost V6 — a variant of the motor currently in the Bronco Raptor — produces 405 peak horsepower and 430 ft.-lbs. of maximum torque. It’s mated to a full-time 4WD system and a 10-speed automatic transmission with front and rear locking differentials. The Raptor soundtrack plays in two forms. An active valve exhaust system with Quiet, Normal, Sport, and Baja volumes. And a 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen premium sound system paired with a 12-inch SYNC 4A infotainment system that features wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Other interior goodies include heated Ford Performance racing front bucket seats, and a unique steering wheel with an “R” or Raptor mode button for building a custom drive mode. You know, if Normal, Sport, Off-Road, Rock Crawl, Slippery, Eco, and Baja modes aren’t enough. The rest of the interior is finished in a mix of leather, Alcantara, Code Orange accents, revised textures, and Ford’s typical cheap plastics. The Raptor also features Ford’s Advanced Tow Package with Pro Trailer Backup Assist. It can tow up to 5,510 lbs., down from 7,500 lbs. on the standard Ranger.
The price, you might be wondering, starts at $57,065 with destination and delivery. Toss in some accessories, or premium paint and a graphics package, and you’ll probably still be under $60 grand before tax and title (and dealership markups). Still a lot of money in the grand scheme of things. But consider this: a no-option 2024 F-150 Raptor starts at $80,970 and a no-option 2024 Bronco Raptor starts at $92,575 (both with destination and delivery).
In those terms, the new Ranger Raptor is the Raptor bargain of the year.
Ranger Raptor Assault School
Much like the Bronco Off-Rodeo or various Mustang Track Attack adventures, Ford Performance has announced that Ranger Raptor customers can attend a complimentary day of Ranger Raptor Assault School. Located in the high plains desert of Utah just south of Salt Lake City, Raptor Assault School offers a mix of mountain trail crawling and higher-speed desert off-road course activities Ford says will help Ranger Raptor customers get the most out of their new trucks. Plus, who wouldn’t want to spend a day looking at postcard vistas while hammering on a Ranger Raptor that you don’t have to service or maintain?
The only downsides? Airfare and accommodation are not included and, as we write this, Ford Performance does NOT plan to include jumping as it does with F-150 Raptor Assault School.
Still, throughout the Ranger Raptor’s first-drive media event, we were able to experience a version of what customers will enjoy at this school. Between the mountain trails, and testing out the various Raptor driving modes on the off-road “Baja courses” customers should come away with perma-smiles and a growing addiction to Raptor shenanigans.
Trail Running & Rock Crawling
With dawn breaking over snow-dusted trails, we follow our group leader up the mountain into the fog. Ford Performance guides are showing off the Ranger Raptor’s various driving modes and lockers. With full-time 4WD, you can run the Ranger Raptor in 2H, 4A, 4H, or 4L. Off-Road and Baja driving modes automatically default to 4H, while Rock-Crawl mode engages 4L, a shift that requires putting the Ranger into Neutral. In the center console, Ford designers placed a “magic button” that looks like a Raptor in the desert. Click it to bring up the front camera as well as vehicle telemetry and access to the front and rear lockers.
Crawling up the mountain, over rocks and ruts, the Ranger Raptor barely breaks a sweat. To be fair, most off-road rigs could manage this trail — especially ones with a chunky set of off-road tires. But the Raptor does it in a way that makes you feel like you’re merely driving over a soft patch of grass. In other words, you don’t have to pay for your good times with a sore back on the other end.
On our way down the mountain, we test Trail Control, which allows drivers to set a speed between 1 mph and 20 mph in half-mph increments. Simply activate the feature, set your speed, and the truck will maintain said speed until one depresses the brake or accelerator pedal. It’s neat, intuitive technology that’s smoother than simply descending a trail while riding the brake.
How so? Oddly, with Trail Control OFF, the Ranger Raptor’s transmission (in 4L) kicks when it shifts from first to second or second to first, which is not only jarring, physically, but tends to add or reduce speed when you’re not expecting it. (We’re hoping this is a bug in the tune that can be addressed.) By comparison, Trail Control almost feels like the Ranger’s on a conveyor belt, smooth and steady.
Dessert Running
It’s no surprise that the Ranger Raptor — which is noticeably narrower and more agile than the F-150 and Bronco Raptors — can rock crawl with the best of them and cut through a mountain trail with ease. But Raptors are truly home at higher speeds. That’s where they outshine most rigs, factory or home built. And so we move onto the high-speed section of our day. And, much like future Ranger Assault School attendees, we experience two different off-road dirt courses.
At the first, smaller track, instructors guide us through three driving modes — Normal, Off-Road, and Baja — to demonstrate how the truck varies its feeling and behavior. Off Road is noticeably more comfortable than Normal and the truck feels more at home in the mud and dirt. Baja takes things one step further, keeping the turbos spooled up for a better torque curve and turning off traction control while leaving stability control on. The result is a truck always ready to rock and roll that gives drivers room to learn; but also one that will save a novice from going too far.
Fun aside: if you get mud on your front camera (and you should), any time you use washer fluid with the wipers, it also cleans the front-facing camera, which is, frankly, brilliant.
Moving onto the larger, “Baja” course, we leave the Raptors in Baja Mode and are able to access more trail-running speed and get a sense of the Raptor’s agility and playfulness. I even ride shotgun for a lap with the Ranger Raptor’s program director Justin Capicchiano, who is also one hell of a driver.
Preparing for Takeoff
The last part of our adventure is the jump. Again, not included in Assault School, but Ford’s PR department can’t help demonstrating that, much like its bigger brother, the Ranger Raptor was born to fly. And so we line up at the bottom of a small dirt rise, manually shift the transmission into second gear, and floor the accelerator. To be fair, it’s not the biggest leap in the world. I think we managed a couple of feet of air max while jumping about 2.5-3 truck lengths overall. And you can see some pretty extreme tire sidewall compression during landing, which is probably why this activity isn’t part of the official curriculum.
Still, I wouldn’t try this with a normal truck and, overall, it’s an incredible demo of the Ranger Raptor’s engineering and impressive long-travel suspension.
ON Roading
At the end of the day, we spend about 30 miles wheeling over paved surfaces at highway speeds. While the Ranger Raptor remains comfortable around town, at higher speeds, the suspension feels a bit floaty. And the steering feels a touch darty or jittery. The truck seems prone to wandering along with the various slopes of the road. It’s not terrible, but this mid-size truck isn’t quite as good at road-tripping as its larger F-Series siblings.
Braking is quite good — trucks are so often soft in this realm. But it’s also worth pointing out that, despite having more than 400 crank horsepower, the Ranger Raptor doesn’t feel quick from a dig. That’s what happens when you try to move 5,325 lbs. that would prefer staying at rest, of course. Like the (even heavier) Bronco Raptor, the Ranger Raptor is best once it’s already in motion.
Speaking of which, Sport mode — which adds sharper steering, a stiffer suspension, and more aggressive transmission behavior — is a bit of a mixed bag in this application. It keeps the 10-speed out of the overdrive gears and holds shifts longer. But it also, unlike Mustangs with similar modes, won’t let the truck just cruise at highway speeds, unless you like driving around with a buzzing exhaust churning at 4,000 RPM.
Interior road noise is surprisingly good; yes, there’s wind and rain noise at higher speeds, but the cabin is much more solid compared to the Bronco. And the 10-speaker B&O Sound System delivers tunes with a decent amount of bass and clarity. It breaks up and tips toward muddy when volumes reach reference levels, but it’s much better than the Bronco Raptor’s mediocre radio.
Ranger Raptor Pros & Cons
Pros
- Most affordable Raptor in the 2024 lineup
- Comfortable & capable rock crawler and trail runner
- Amazing long-travel, adjustable suspension
- Enchanted off-roading features (Trail Control, front & rear lockers, cameras)
- Solid B&O Sound System
- Fun factor through the roof
Cons
- 405 horsepower isn’t quite enough for this much weight
- EcoBoost V6 sounds buzzy at times
- Transmission kicks into gear when descending trails in 4L
- No ventilated seats
- A bit floaty at highway speeds
- Sport mode too aggressive for highway cruising
Final Thoughts: Best Value & A Return to Form
Back in the day, when the F-150 Raptor was new, it was a much more attainable truck. Priced, we’d argue, closer to how the Tremor fits into the current 2024 F-150 lineup. Today, the F-150 Raptor starts in the low $80,000 range. And the Raptor R is well over $100 grand. The Bronco Raptor costs over $90,000, up almost $10 grand since it debuted. All of them excellent exercises in vehicle dynamics and engineering. But unattainable for far too many people. The Ranger Raptor, in contrast, does almost everything its older, larger brothers can do — run and jump and trail run and rock crawl. And, yes, even take the kids to soccer practice. And yet Ford has miraculously priced it $20,000 to $30,000 cheaper than the larger Raptors.
In that sense, not only is the Ranger Raptor extremely fun and nimble and capable (and did we say fun?). But it also feels like a return to form that, despite all of the new features and technology discovered over the last two decades, takes the mantle from the original Raptor.
