Ford Ranger Raptor road test 2023

For ute fanatics, the 2023 Ford Ranger Raptor is the vehicle of the moment.

Now with twin-turbo V6 petrol power – rather than the twin-turbo four-cylinder diesel of the original introduced in 2018, which was lethargic in a performance context – the heart transplant does a much better job at shifting 2.4 tonnes of pick-up.

We’ll go into more detail later in this review, but to cut to the chase, it does 0–100km/h on our VBox timing equipment in 6.0 seconds neat.

Other outlets have shaved 0.1 or 0.2 off this time, but we ran our tests with a full tank of fuel and all safety aids switched on. We also learned it doesn’t matter which mode you launch it in. Just press the pedal to the carpet and away you go.

For context, that’s as quick as a Volkswagen Golf GTI hot hatch, faster than a Ram 1500 V8 (7.5 seconds or so) and slower than a Ram TRX supercharged V8 (5.0 seconds neat), though the latter costs $200,000-plus.

Of course, the Raptor is not all about straight-line speed. We also ran braking tests and a range of fuel economy figures. More on those in the relevant sections below.

Amid the hype, there is much to like about the Ford Ranger Raptor. But, as with all new cars, there is always room for improvement.

Here’s how the Ford Ranger Raptor stacked up during our on-road testing after a week in the Drive garage – and away from Ford minders and the restrictions imposed at media launches.

Off-road fans, stress less. There is a separate four-wheel-drive review in the works. This review is for all the bros who want to flex on the tarmac and on the jet ski/boat ramp. Before the keyboard warriors kick off, I own a Ford Ranger Raptor – and two jet skis.

(The Raptor completes a comprehensive Ranger line-up. Click here for full 2023 Ford Ranger price and specs as this article was published.)

There is only one model in the Ford Ranger Raptor launch line-up, starting from $85,490 plus on-road costs (though the price rises by $1300 to $86,790 plus on-road costs from March 2023 production onwards).

Metallic paint adds $675 ($700 from March 2023 production onwards), factory-fitted Raptor stripes cost $500, and factory-fitted beadlock-capable wheels are $2000 (not including the Ford Performance beadlocks that replace the trims on the road-going wheel).

Without options, prices for the Ford Ranger Raptor have generally translated to drive-away prices between $92,000 and $93,000 depending on variations in stamp duty, dealer delivery fees and options, though some dealers are quoting above retail while demand exceeds supply.

A number of low-kilometre Ford Ranger Raptors with delivery kilometres have appeared online for silly money (with asking prices of $110,000 and beyond) after the buyer suddenly realised their circumstances had changed. Those circumstances appear to be the sudden desire to make a quick buck.

It’s unclear if people are actually paying these ridiculous prices (an advertised price is not necessarily the selling price) but our advice is to wait.

Aside from the fact buyers of second-hand vehicles need to pay stamp duty on top of the asking price, the wait times for brand-new Ford Ranger Raptors will hopefully come down as production increases – and as interest rates continue to rise, pushing some buyers out of their comfort zone, or their ability to meet the repayments on a big loan.

In round numbers, the RRP of $85,490 plus on-road costs is $5000 dearer than where the previous-generation Ford Ranger Raptor ended up – and $10,000 more than the original Ford Ranger Raptor’s launch price in 2018.

For all the Ford Ranger Raptor’s merit, the cost of $90,000 or thereabouts – in the traffic – is a huge sum of money for a double-cab ute. Especially as the Raptor is missing convenience items considered bare essentials in this price range (extendable sun visors, illuminated vanity mirrors, rear floor mats, and a genuine premium audio system).

Ford is working the Thailand factory overtime to fill a backlog of orders that stretch three to nine months (depending on dealer allocation and colour preferences). So hopefully prices will settle in the coming months. That said, Ford dealers canvassed by Drive say they have been advised to expect price rises across the new Ranger line-up from the start of next year.

The Ford Ranger Raptor is based on the top-line Ford Ranger Wildtrak, but with the Ford Performance treatment.

Regardless of the vehicle’s external colour, there are Code Orange trim highlights around the air vents and on the seats – plus a Code Orange ’12-o’clock’ strip of leather at the top-dead centre of the steering wheel (a nod to rally cars).

The edges of the dash and seats have faux suede leather trim and, as with the Wildtrak, the dash gets pop-out cupholders and a cubby above the glovebox.

While the Premium Pack – which includes matrix LED headlights, premium audio, and six factory-fitted ready-to-go auxiliary switches in the roof console – is a $1500 option on the Wildtrak, this kit is standard on the Raptor.

In addition, the Raptor gains sports seats (with power adjustment for both front seats), and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, which is currently not available on Wildtrak or any other Ranger model.

The Ranger has one of the roomier cabins in the double-cab ute class. Although the cabin’s framework is carried over from the previous model, Ford has eked out a few millimetres of cabin space by sculpting out the back of the front seats.

And there are now air vents in the rear.

The household power point from previous high-grade Rangers has been temporarily deleted until Ford develops an Australian (rather than universal) socket to meet local regulations. The ute tub (with a spray-on bed-liner as standard) has a 12V socket in the left rear panel.

One change with the new model that tripped up most passengers are the new internal door levers: borrowed from the Ford F-150 in the US, the door release tab is a large horizontal lever inside the door pull. We like it, but for the uninitiated it’s hard to find the first time.

We’re pleased Ford has kept the tiny LED lamp in the door lock switches on both front doors. They’re a great visual reminder that you’re locked down as you approach a windscreen washer at the lights – or the other half wants to lock all doors from their side of the car while the driver jumps out to grab the mail or dinner from the takeaway shop.

The Ford Ranger Raptor comes standard with a 12.0-inch vertical touchscreen (lesser model grades come with a 10.1-inch display behind the same large screen). Wired and wireless Apple CarPlay – and wired Android Auto – are standard.

The wireless smartphone charger worked on and off with our phone case, and had only just enough room for a large phone with a case.

There are four USB-A and USB-C ports in the front and rear consoles (one of each front and rear), a USB-A socket in the mirror housing for a dash cam, and a 12V socket in the centre console.

The infotainment display is sharp and the cameras are relatively clear (including in low light).

However, there was some lag when swiping from screen to screen and, oddly, this action would create static or momentarily pause the sound when touching the display. We have noticed this on a number of new Ranger and Everest models with this infotainment system.

Ford describes the B&O Play audio as premium sound but, frankly, it’s not. The audio sounds muddy, the bass can’t handle decent volume – and finding the treble and bass settings on the screen is not as easy as it should be. Ford should remove the B&O badges or improve the audio quality.

Talking via Bluetooth or Apple CarPlay is okay unless it’s raining. The belting on the roof makes it almost impossible for the person at the other end to hear you (which is not the case in most other cars), so some extra sound-deadening would be welcome.

Instead, I ran earbud headphones most of the time: less yelling from me, and easier to hear the caller as well as surrounding traffic.

Most variants of the new Ford Ranger line-up have a five-star safety rating; however, the Ford Ranger Raptor is listed as ‘unrated’ because it was not available at the time of testing, and has a different front-end structure (front bumper and bodywork) and a twin-turbo V6 engine (rather than the 2.0-litre and 3.0-litre diesels tested).

While there is every likelihood the five-star result would carry over, given the Raptor shares the full suite of advanced safety tech as the rest of the line-up, an ANCAP score is yet to be applied.

Standard safety equipment includes dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags, driver and passenger knee airbags, and a centre airbag that provides additional protection to front seat occupants in a side-impact crash.

Crash-avoidance technology includes autonomous emergency braking (vehicle-to-vehicle, pedestrian and cyclist detection, and junction assistance), lane-keeping assistance, speed sign recognition (with automatic speed limit control if so desired), blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert and reversing AEB.

The Raptor also has radar cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, a 360-degree camera view, tyre pressure monitors and matrix LED headlights.

When activated, matrix LEDs mask oncoming traffic of the Raptor’s high beams – but still illuminate the area around oncoming traffic and cars you are following.

The Ford Ranger Raptor’s matrix LEDs are okay, but not as fast-acting, as precise, or as clear-cut as similar technology on Mercedes-Benz and other luxury cars we have tested.

Servicing intervals are 15,000km/12 months, whichever comes first. The price for routine maintenance is capped at $987 over three years/45,000km and $1316 over four years/60,000km.

The warranty is five years/unlimited kilometres.

NRMA Insurance quotes an annual premium of $2308 based on a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The best fuel economy we could extract from the 2023 Ford Ranger Raptor was 11.5L/100km on a return run from Sydney to Bathurst. Around town and in the suburbs consumption was closer to 15.5L/100km. By the end of our week with the car, the consumption average showed 13.5L/100km.

We ran 98-octane premium unleaded, but it will take 91 for an occasional fill.

All of the above figures are thirsty by modern standards, but that’s the cost of shifting 2.4 tonnes with so much grunt.

The Ford Ranger Raptor – now with twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol power – is faster than it feels or sounds.

Acceleration – 0–100km/h in 6.0 seconds neat on our VBox timing equipment – is perky for a double-cab ute. Most diesel four-cylinder pick-ups take 10 to 12 seconds to complete the same task.

The original Volkswagen Amarok turbo diesel V6 stopped the clocks in 7.8 seconds, and the new Ford Ranger Wildtrak turbo diesel V6 time is 8.0 seconds (yes, 0.2 seconds slower than the Amarok despite the Ford’s 10-speed versus the VW’s eight-speed auto).

In our experience, the various driving modes (normal, slippery, sport, sport-plus, Baja, and 2H, 4H, 4A) made little to no difference to the Raptor’s 0–100km/h performance times. Running a full belly of fuel and with all safety aids active, it turned out a string of 6.0-second times.

The brake pedal feels precise, and although the four-wheel discs are carried over from the previous Raptor, they hold up well to regular use and only start to feel mushy after repeatedly being pushed too hard.

The BFGoodrich K02 tyres are superb off-road, and above-average on sealed roads in dry conditions. Of course, you can feel the tread squirm in corners, but they don’t hum as much as other gnarly off-road tyres.

The biggest issue with the BFGoodrich K02 tyres for on-road use is they deliver longer braking distances than highway terrain rubber, sap fuel, and are deadset dicey in the wet.

Even with all-wheel drive, the Ford Ranger Raptor needs to be driven with caution on wet roads and through roundabouts, where you can feel every bit of its 2.4 tonnes.

In our 100km/h to zero emergency braking tests, the Ford Ranger Raptor pulled up in 47m the first time and 46m in the second run – after the brakes were bedded-in and then allowed to cool.

Most other double-cab utes on highway terrain tyres pull up in 40–42m on the same stretch of pavement.

We also know from experience the BFGoodrich K02 tyres sap about 1.5–2.0L/100km because of their extra resistance on the road (we discovered this with the original Raptor, which was always 1.5–2.0L/100km thirstier than the Wildtrak with the same engine but on highway tyres).

There are four exhaust modes – from quiet to ‘Baja’ – however all of them are still relatively mute. The twin-turbo V6 also doesn’t deliver as much theatre as we were expecting. No doubt tuners are trying to find ways to turn up the volume on the whooshing noises of the turbochargers.

While the latest generation of Fox shock absorbers have been designed to enable 2.4 tonnes’ worth of pick-up to land safely after launching the vehicle a few feet in the air – a scenario few owners will get to experience – they also iron out a lot of bumps in the daily grind. The ride comfort puts Range Rovers to shame.

One of the downsides of the Raptor’s sophisticated suspension set-up: cargo carrying is limit to 708kg (rather than a tonne), and towing capacity is capped at 2500kg (as was the previous model) rather than 3500kg on the bulk of the Ranger line-up.

The 10-speed auto is a smoother operator than it was previously, but we reckon there is still a little more room to make it more intuitive.

The PRNDL electronic gearshifter is annoying and requires some patience when making three-point turns.

It is too easy to slot it into park when in fact you want reverse. Ford needs to come up with a lockout for park that requires some kind of button press. After a week, we still were not used to the fiddly electronic gear selectors.

The speed sign recognition system now includes automatic speed adjustment when radar cruise control is active; however, we are still trying to figure out if this feature can be disabled – and if cruise control can be operated without radar.

Other diary notes: with a broad turning circle of 13.0m and wider fenders compared to the regular Ranger, the Raptor does feel big in shopping centre car parks (even though the steering is light and precise).

On balance, however, as we’ve said before, the Ford Ranger Raptor is in a league of its own.

It may not suit everyone’s needs – and many question the price – but for now, no other vehicle can match its breadth of ability on-road or off-road.

If you need to tow or carry heavy loads, do not pass go and do not collect $200. The V6 diesel variants of the Ford Ranger XLT, Sport or Wildtrak are better options.

If cargo-carrying is not a top priority – and you fancy a bit more grunt and a go-anywhere vehicle that’s comfortable in the daily grind – the Ford Ranger Raptor is worth a look.

As we reported after the engineering preview drive – where we got to send the new Ford Ranger Raptor into the air and land safely back on earth on a closed off-road course – few owners will ever get to experience or exploit the vehicle’s full potential.

Many people will simply buy the Ford Ranger Raptor for its tough-truck looks, which is like having the thoroughbred horse Winx in the backyard as a pony for the kids.

But it’s no different to people who buy Porsches and Ferraris and don’t go anywhere near a racetrack.

So, if you want one, knock yourself out. Dynamically and performance-wise, it sets a new benchmark.

Just take it easy in the wet, expect some glitches with the infotainment system, and don’t expect too much in the way of premium audio.