Willem van de Putte

We’re all familiar with the Ford Ranger Raptor that we see and often hear on our roads, but the Raptor nomenclature has been around for a while and it’s not restricted to the Ranger.

In fact, it was first revealed as the F150 Raptor 15 years ago.

And why wouldn’t they? The Ford F150 is America’s best selling car, and has been for decades so slapping in a performance engine, bespoke suspension, big tyres and optimising it for off-road use made perfect sense.

The F150 Raptor continues to be an off-road icon and the third generation has some big cowboy boots to fill.

In the US, the previous one outsold Porsche’s entire line-up of sports cars and also the Chevrolet Corvette.

From a standing start and a quick all-wheel drive pull-away the big F150 hustles along briskly.

We had the opportunity to drive it as well as the Bronco Raptor and Ranger Raptor in the deserts of Dubai as part of a Ford International Markets Group (IMG) gathering and part of the 15th anniversary of Raptor.

In the global Ford organisation, IMG is responsible for Australia, New Zealand, ASEAN, North Africa, South Africa and Middle East markets.

Each version of the Raptor had a route that highlighted their specific forte, and for the F150 it was long stretches of sand, high speed gravel roads and tall dunes.

Size counts

For us that are used to “normal” sized bakkies, the F150 Raptor is big, in fact it’s imposing, and no wonder they call it a truck.

It has a wheelbase of 3,693mm, is 5,908mm long, 2,200mm wide, stands 2,027 high and weighs in at just over 2.6 tons.

Good luck trying to park that outside Tops when you’re stocking up on your bourbon for the weekend.

Inside it’s almost as big as a Sea Point studio apartment.

There won’t ever be a complaint about rear passenger space, a tight footwell or a B pillar that’s too close to your shoulder.

The interior is a variation on the Ranger/Raptor theme that we’ve become accustomed to with a customisable 12-inch digital cluster with Raptor-specific graphics and a 12-inch infotainment screen that can be split to control multiple functions simultaneously.

What sets it apart

Like all Raptor products, the F150 is defined by its Fox suspension and of course the power under the bonnet.

In the case of the F150 Raptor it’s their high-output twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 EcoBoost engine with 335kW and 693Nm coupled to Ford’s 10-speed automatic transmission upgraded with next-generation controls bolted to a torque-on-demand transfer case.

The glorious growl from the tailpipes is courtesy of a three-inch equal-length exhaust system with Quiet, Normal, Sport and Baja modes.

The suspension is designed with a unique reengineered five-link rear suspension with extra long trailing arms, a Panhard rod and 24-inch coil springs.

When you’re tearing along over whoops and lifting all four wheels in the air, the Fox Live Valve internal bypass shocks with electronic control technology and position-sensitive damping adjustability provide a controlled and relatively gentle landing.

They are the biggest shocks yet on a Raptor with a 3.1-inch diameter anodized aluminium shock bodies filled with low-friction shock fluid.

New too are electronically controlled base valves with an upgraded design that allows up to 450kg of damping at desert speeds.

Readings from suspension height sensors and other sensors around the F150 change damping rates independently at each corner 500 times per second.

How does it drive?

It’s all very high-tech and no doubt expensive but what’s it like to drive?

Thanks to the spacious interior, high seating position and Raptor seats, the driving position is comfortable and despite the rather large bonnet it doesn’t intrude on your view of the road.

Being left hand drive it takes a while to get used to its size and spatial position along narrow roads but once you’ve got used to that you’re pretty much king of the road.

Or as we discovered, the king of the desert.

There’s no doubt that the only way to drive it off the beaten path is in Baja Mode. The glorious exhaust sounds and the quick throttle response from the V6 suited the terrain perfectly.

The author enjoying the Ford F150 Raptor.

From a standing start and a quick all-wheel drive pull-away the big F150 hustles along briskly.

It seems like there’s no end to the torque and I’d love to wring its neck on a much longer gravel straight.

But at 140km/h you get to feel and understand how the big standard specially designed 35-inch BF Goodrich tyres, chassis and suspension all combine to make it feel like you’re on a Sunday outing.

It’s not skittish at all and it doesn’t feel as though it will suddenly veer off course if there's a large rut in its way.

If the Ranger Raptor is good then the F150 Raptor ratchets it up significantly.

Dunes are easily dispatched

We didn’t do any of those crazy antics you see on YouTube with the car on the rev limiter screaming up and over dunes but it was a decent enough test to get a taste.

I’m not a huge fan of dune driving. There are too many variables that can go wrong especially if you’re not familiar with the terrain.

Much of it relies on momentum. Too slow and you get bogged down, too fast and you fly over the top and get to spend time either repairing or replacing your car or in hospital.

the Ford F150 Raptor makes short work of dunes.

With an approach angle of 31.0 degrees, departure angle of 23.9 degrees and a breakover angle 22.7 degrees it glided up and around the dune with ease and provided a cocoon of well being.

Returning to the hotel, Ford Performance had chosen some lovely stretches of soft sand and smallish dunes to traverse.

Sorry, it’s not destined for us

Playing around with throttle inputs, mostly to the floor for short stints with sand and dust in our wake as we did our best Dakar rally impression, we got to understand why it’s such a popular option in the markets where it’s sold.

And unfortunately we’re not one of those and never will be.

To change the configuration to right hand drive is just too expensive an