I went by the Ford dealer in my town, and there were 4 Raptors in sight.
As I had never driven one, and had some spare time, I thought this was a good
time to get that X in the box.

One was new, one belonged to a young salesman, and two were used.
Being a small town dealership, I just went in, talked with the two sales guys that
I had met a number of times. They tossed me the keys to a 2011, and said have it back
by 5. It was 1:00. Things are much looser in a small town.

Raptors aren't designed for you to look cool and macho in driving to the
store. They're more heavy duty then a regular F150. They're in the
mid to high $50K range, and most of the ones sold by this dealer are to
oil companies in the Uintah Basin, that beat them up running them around off road. That's their
design purpose in life.

My impressions comparing it to my EB equipped 2012 King Ranch (3:31):
Much more noise from the aggressive tires, more wind noise at 65, more
engine and exhaust noise. Don't expect to hear many notes from Willie's bass player driving
one of these.

It rode rougher then my KR, but not unpleasant. It felt heavier and a little more
noise when hitting imperfections in the slabs on the highway.

I'm at 6000 ft. and drove it up a grade to
7000 ft. The EB has a far smoother application of power. A little throttle, and the EB smoothly accelerates in the same gear. Do the same dance on the Raptors throttle, and it down shift 2 gears,
RPMs go to 5000, and it takes off with plenty of noise and fanfare, but for
practical purposes,
really no faster then the EB.

As the EB produces more power up to about 4500 RPM over the 6.2 at sea level, and the V8 has lost 20% of it's power at this altitude, arguing over which will
"blow your doors off" is pretty subjective. They're both a HUGE improvement
over trucks just a few years ago. I've driven HEMIs in the past, and
was underwhelmed by them, probably due to the altitude and the 5 speed.

My EB can climb the grade on the test ride easily in 6th gear. The Raptor couldn't without some downshifting.

At 65, the Raptor was tacking 1900 RPM. My truck tachs 1500. Makes sense:
4:10 vs.3:31 diffs. My truck routinely gets 21 MPG all summer long with the way I drive. The Raptor won't come close, but that's not why you buy one.

Overall thoughts: if I were in my 20s, like the sales guy, going way off road to go rock climbing and other outdoor adventures he does here in Utah,
the Raptor would be my pick. Looking cool would also be a player. What young single
guy wants to look like
a grandfather by driving a King Ranch?

However, I am a grandpa, and my quiet comfortable and POWERFUL truck is perfect for me.
Hope someone finds this interesting.

 

I thought that you were in Hillsboro, OR at first. They have 4 Raptors sitting out front!
They are cool but not for this Grandpa either!

 

This pee paa wants one too but, I won't get one. I love my ecoboost with 3.31's. Tons of power, excellent MPG's and whisper quiet.

 

I love the way the Raptor looks. The F150 is already hard to find parking for on my many frequent trips into Chicago, can't imagine slipping a Raptor into a parking spot.

 

I love the looks as well, never driven one myself, I should get around to that, lol

 

I have the 6.2 and 3.73s in a F150. I don't live in mountains, so my truck doesn't downshift......but I like my 6.2. but it wont get the fuel economy......but I did not buy this truck to drive everyday anyway. Ive only put 800 miles on it since last October.......lol