AbleGuy
Officious Intermeddler
2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R First Drive Review: The 'Big Raptor' gets the big V8
“Up until very recently, there was only one Ford Raptor — no Ranger, no Bronco, just the F-150, or as its engineering team likes to call it, “Big Raptor.” The OG. The king. In Big Raptor’s little corner of the Ford Performance world, bringing the V8 back was always a matter of when, not if. But the realities of the market held sway and other projects took priority — including an overhaul of the truck’s suspension. Then TRX happened.
… In plain terms, we now have the…700-horsepower, supercharged F-150…
The new 2023 Ford Raptor R benefits from an existing Raptor framework. The evaluator seems to says that in this case, the R is basically the regular Raptor with mainly a bigger, more powerful engine residing under the hood.
“ Apart from some visual details and swapping a few suspension components to account for the weight of the V8, the Raptor R really is just a more powerful Raptor with the 37-inch tire option made standard.”
The article goes on to point out:
‘Specifically, adding the GT500’s 5.2-liter supercharged V8 pumps things up to 700 hp and 640 pound-feet of torque from 450 hp and 510 lb-ft with the 3.5-liter turbo V6.”
The heavier R’s stiffer springs maintain a similar ground clearance as the V-6 Raptor’s 13.1”, while running with 37’s on it. The other important off road angles…approach, breakover and departure…stay the same too, as well as the its suspension travel (13 inches up front and 14.1 in the rear).
(From the story) “The Raptor’s engineers tinkered with the drive modes a bit for R, changing the default Sport Mode powertrain setup to be the automatic 4WD setting (it’s 2WD in the standard Raptor) in order to put all that power to good use. The standard 37s on the Raptor R don’t do the truck any favors off the line, and in fact may keep a drag race between the R and the TRX perilously close, but the V8 can still rip that off-road rubber to shreds if that’s what you’re going for. We were only given the opportunity to practice acceleration runs on sand — useless for data gathering, but immensely fun.
The differentiation is minimal in practice, too. Setting aside the Raptor R’s dramatic acceleration, the drive is virtually identical. That’s a good thing, and due at least in part to the fact that minimal alterations translate to minimal weight gain. The R weighs roughly 5,950 pounds — about 100 pounds more than a V6 Raptor with the 37s (or 200 pounds more than without). Yeah, that’s a hefty curb weight, but remember that the iron-block Hellcat V8 in the TRX helps push that all-steel truck north of 6,350 pounds. The Raptor’s comparatively lightweight aluminum body gives it a pretty serious edge”
Click on the link below for the rest of the write up ⬇
And the summary of the author’s driving experience of this powerful new F-150 model?
“The Raptor R is everything it appears to be. It’s big, boisterous and willing — every bit the equal (at minimum) of Ram’s Hellcat-powered TRX. The V8 is straight-up nasty, with an off-road exhaust mode that will liquefy children’s ear drums. It’ll do everything the V6 Raptor does just a little bit quicker and with a whole lot more fanfare. If that’s ticking your boxes, then you’re in business. Hopefully business is good, because you’ll be forking over a six-figure sum to get one — $109,145 to be precise, at least before any dealer shenanigans.”
www.autoblog.com
“Up until very recently, there was only one Ford Raptor — no Ranger, no Bronco, just the F-150, or as its engineering team likes to call it, “Big Raptor.” The OG. The king. In Big Raptor’s little corner of the Ford Performance world, bringing the V8 back was always a matter of when, not if. But the realities of the market held sway and other projects took priority — including an overhaul of the truck’s suspension. Then TRX happened.
… In plain terms, we now have the…700-horsepower, supercharged F-150…
The new 2023 Ford Raptor R benefits from an existing Raptor framework. The evaluator seems to says that in this case, the R is basically the regular Raptor with mainly a bigger, more powerful engine residing under the hood.
“ Apart from some visual details and swapping a few suspension components to account for the weight of the V8, the Raptor R really is just a more powerful Raptor with the 37-inch tire option made standard.”
The article goes on to point out:
‘Specifically, adding the GT500’s 5.2-liter supercharged V8 pumps things up to 700 hp and 640 pound-feet of torque from 450 hp and 510 lb-ft with the 3.5-liter turbo V6.”
The heavier R’s stiffer springs maintain a similar ground clearance as the V-6 Raptor’s 13.1”, while running with 37’s on it. The other important off road angles…approach, breakover and departure…stay the same too, as well as the its suspension travel (13 inches up front and 14.1 in the rear).
(From the story) “The Raptor’s engineers tinkered with the drive modes a bit for R, changing the default Sport Mode powertrain setup to be the automatic 4WD setting (it’s 2WD in the standard Raptor) in order to put all that power to good use. The standard 37s on the Raptor R don’t do the truck any favors off the line, and in fact may keep a drag race between the R and the TRX perilously close, but the V8 can still rip that off-road rubber to shreds if that’s what you’re going for. We were only given the opportunity to practice acceleration runs on sand — useless for data gathering, but immensely fun.
The differentiation is minimal in practice, too. Setting aside the Raptor R’s dramatic acceleration, the drive is virtually identical. That’s a good thing, and due at least in part to the fact that minimal alterations translate to minimal weight gain. The R weighs roughly 5,950 pounds — about 100 pounds more than a V6 Raptor with the 37s (or 200 pounds more than without). Yeah, that’s a hefty curb weight, but remember that the iron-block Hellcat V8 in the TRX helps push that all-steel truck north of 6,350 pounds. The Raptor’s comparatively lightweight aluminum body gives it a pretty serious edge”
Click on the link below for the rest of the write up ⬇
And the summary of the author’s driving experience of this powerful new F-150 model?
“The Raptor R is everything it appears to be. It’s big, boisterous and willing — every bit the equal (at minimum) of Ram’s Hellcat-powered TRX. The V8 is straight-up nasty, with an off-road exhaust mode that will liquefy children’s ear drums. It’ll do everything the V6 Raptor does just a little bit quicker and with a whole lot more fanfare. If that’s ticking your boxes, then you’re in business. Hopefully business is good, because you’ll be forking over a six-figure sum to get one — $109,145 to be precise, at least before any dealer shenanigans.”
2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R First Drive Review: The 'Big Raptor' gets the big V8 - Autoblog
The Raptor R looked like the Ram TRX's better on paper. Does reality follow suit?
www.autoblog.com
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