Ford’s Rockin’ Raptor Tackles Some Tough Terrain and Proves Why it is the ‘Ultimate’ Off-Road Vehicle
This week’s “Truckin’ Fast Wednesday” video features the 2017 Ford Raptor F-150. We see it showing what it can do in two very different settings. First, there’s an intricate off-road course, then a quarter-mile drag strip.
The 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor is designed to be the ultimate off-road truck that you can still drive daily. At the same time, the 450 horsepower, twin turbo 3.5L EcoBoost V6 paired with the new 10-speed automatic transmission will likely make this new Raptor the quickest stock F-150 ever, shy of the SVT Lightning.
The new truck is made to stomp the competition off-road. But it will still likely hang with almost any American production truck on a drag strip. So, the crew from PickupTrucks.com spent time with the new F-150 supertruck. The guys took it to an off-road vehicle course and then to a quarter-mile drag strip. This video gives us a chance to see the Raptor do what it does best: storming through the dirt and making short work of pretty much every obstacle. It does all this while also getting down the quarter-mile quicker than any other current F-150 can in stock form.
Within the first minute and a half of the video, the 2017 Ford F-150 doesn’t get going all that fast, spending more time easing through deep off-road obstacles than blasting along the dirt paths, although we do get some high speed dirt shots. During this early portion of the video, we see how easily the new Raptor gets through some sticky situations, but we also get to hear the EcoBoost V6 scream as it cruises through the dirt.
The second part of the video shows the 2017 truck making a pass down the quarter-mile. We don’t see the numbers for this run, but we know that the new Raptor will run the quarter-mile in the low 14-second range.
Crank up your speakers and watch the Raptor rock out in the dirt and on the drag strip.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
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