2024 Ford Ranger Raptor Review: All-Conquering Desert Racer

After having been denied the previous-generation Ranger Raptor that was sold in other markets, the redesigned 2024 Ranger finally brings a Raptor variant to the USA. And it's everything we hoped it would be - from its Baja-tuned FOX racing suspension to its twin-turbocharged V6 engine delivering 405 horsepower. Its $55k starting price makes the new Ford Ranger Raptor an expensive proposition for a mid-size truck, but it's a truly special car and doesn't really have any competition in this market. Though the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 and Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro are cheaper, they lack the power, performance, and sheer dune-jumping ability of the Raptor. The Jeep Gladiator Rubicon costs the same and is a compelling off-road alternative, but doesn't offer the grunt or high-speed thrills of the Ford either. As long as you refrain from asking uncomfortable questions about sensibilities such as gas mileage, the Ranger Raptor is a thrill a minute, and there's nothing touching it for high-speed off-roading except its Bronco Raptor SUV sibling and the far more expensive F-150 Raptor.

New for 2024

The 2024 Ranger Raptor is all-new and based on the freshly redesigned Ranger that sits on an updated version of the old one's underpinnings, also shared with the Bronco. The Raptor receives frame reinforcements, long-travel FOX racing suspension, and a 405-hp high-performance engine to provide unmatched point-to-point times on rough terrain. As the most expensive Ranger in the range, it is also fully equipped with all the luxury and convenience features, with almost nothing left on the options menu. Features include leather upholstery, dual 12-inch displays, navigation, a premium 10-speaker audio system, and a suite of driver assists that includes adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, and blind-spot monitoring.

2024 Ford Ranger Raptor Price: Which One to Buy

The price of the 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor starts at $55,365 before any extra-cost options, but there are very few of those except for a couple of exterior accessories and a different set of alloys. The price is MSRP and excludes the destination fee of $1,595.

Since what you see is what you get, there isn't much opportunity to customize the Raptor to your taste. You can add a Raptor decal for $750 or substitute the standard alloys for a set of beadlock-capable wheels for $1,495, but other than these, the only extras available are functional ones like a bedliner or bed rails. Thankfully, the full list of luxuries is included, and you don't have to pay anything extra for things such as leather upholstery or a full suite of driver assists.

Interior and Features

The Raptor's feature count is high, with no interior options available to hike up the price even further. Space is decent and comfort is superb, thanks to supportive seats and the supple FOX suspension and rear coil springs.

Although you won't find true luxury inside the Ranger Raptor, the new Ranger's interior is attractively styled and thoroughly up to date, with a 12-inch digital gauge cluster and a big portrait-style infotainment screen of the same size dominating the dashboard's center stack. Ford has had the good sense to retain physical controls for the HVAC system, and the compact shifter doesn't eat too much into center-console storage space. Various soft-touch materials are used, and the Raptor gets the ultimate evolution of the Ranger cabin, with leather on the seats, a unique Raptor steering wheel, and many orange highlights. You step up into the truck because of its ample 10.7-inch ground clearance, but access is easy through tall door openings, though the rear ones are quite narrow, as is typical in this class. Interior space is slightly better than in the old Ranger, and there is reasonable space for four people, though not the most in the class. Sightlines are largely unobstructed, and maneuvering is aided by front and rear parking sensors, backup and surround-view cameras, and a trailer backup-assist system.

Space

There's enough room in the Raptor for four adults, and even though the second row's legroom doesn't look all that impressive on paper, it's just about enough to get comfortable, while the fairly upright seating position makes the most of the available space. A fifth passenger is a squeeze and only recommended for short distances. The updated T6 platform's basic dimensions grew a little for the new generation, so with its 128.7-inch wheelbase being nearly two inches longer, interior space has improved slightly. The Jeep Gladiator offers significantly more rear legroom, but the Ranger is roomy enough for a mid-size truck.

Cargo

The Raptor comes only in SuperCrew configuration with a five-foot bed offering a total bed volume of 43.5 cubic feet - nearly 10 cu-ft than the old five-foot bed, which was narrower. Due to the coil-spring rear suspension, the Raptor's payload is lower than the regular Ranger's, but you can still put up to 1,411 lbs onto the back.

The cabin provides plenty of places to stow things, with a glovebox and four door pockets just the start. Front and rear passengers get cupholders, and there's a wireless charging pad ahead of the shifter lever and an overhead console. Rear-seat passengers also get a small storage bin in the back end of the front console. What's more, the rear seatback can be flipped flat to load larger items, but unfortunately, it doesn't split, so you can't keep a part of it upright to transport a passenger back there at the same time.

Materials and Colors

You don't get a choice of interior colors, with Ebony (black) being the only option. The seats are trimmed in leather with microfiber inserts, and there are orange highlights everywhere - on the vents, the seats, and the steering wheel. The leather-trimmed tiller is unique to the Raptor and sports an orange dead-ahead marker at the top of the rim and an orange Raptor script at the bottom. The front seatbacks also have Raptor scripts on them.

Features and Infotainment

The Raptor gets the entire catalog of Ranger features as standard, with nothing left for the options list. The front seats are heated, and the driver gets 10-way power adjustment with memory and the passenger 8-way power adjustment. The steering wheel is heated, trimmed in leather, and manually adjustable for rake and reach. Standard, too, are remote keyless entry with remote start, dual-zone climate control, a 12-inch digital gauge cluster, ambient lighting, and a wireless charging pad.

The cloud-connected Sync 4 infotainment system uses a big 12-inch portrait-style touchscreen, and the system incorporates online navigation with a three-year subscription, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM, USB-A and USB-C ports, a Wi-Fi hotspot, and a ten-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system.

Performance

With 405 hp on tap, the Raptor is quicker than its rivals, and the only truck in the segment to combine high performance with racing suspension.

The engine in the Ford Ranger Raptor is the same 3.0-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 found in the Bronco Raptor, but with different packaging and intercooler plumbing resulting in slightly lower outputs of 405 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque. The drivetrain comprises four-wheel drive and a ten-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. This combination gives the Ford Ranger Raptor a 0-60 mph sprint of 5.8 seconds, on to a limited top speed of 114 mph. Trailering is affected by the off-road-tuned coil rear suspension, and the Raptor has its towing capacity reduced from the regular Ranger's 7,500 pounds to 5,510 lbs. All the available Ranger towing equipment is fitted to the Raptor as standard, and these include a Class IV tow-hitch receiver, a trailer-brake controller, and a reverse trailer guidance system. The 10.7-inch ground clearance and 33-inch all-terrain tires ensure excellent approach, departure, and break-over angles of 33, 26.4, and 24.2 degrees, respectively.

The driving experience is what defines the Ranger Raptor, and although an F-150 Raptor is a bit quicker, the exuberant EcoBoost V6 in the Ranger Raptor revs enthusiastically and blares through the dual exhausts. It has been tuned to pull all the way, with 90% of its power output still available at the red line. The rapidly shifting ten-speed auto can be manipulated via shift paddles, but it's perfectly adept at choosing the right gear, and you can get lost in the 'box with so many ratios available. The superb tuning of the FOX suspension has proven itself in the other Raptors, and it's of the same standard here. The front frame and strut towers, along with the rear suspension attachments, have been reinforced for high-speed off-road driving, and the Live Valve FOX racing shocks and long-travel springs simply soak up every shock with hardly a murmur, making blistering point-to-point Baja low flying possible.

What sets this suspension setup apart from its rivals is its uncanny ability to maintain a super-absorbent ride quality at low speeds, too, an area where the TRD Pro Toyotas have traditionally proven rather stiff. Toyota will no doubt be trying to get the brand-new Tacoma TRD Pro just right, hence the fitment of FOX shocks to the new one. We'd have to try it to learn whether this puts it on an equal footing with the Raptor. Rivals such as the Gladiator Rubicon and Colorado ZR2 Bison offer superb off-road ability and good high-speed off-roading, respectively, but nothing in this class brings all these qualities together as effortlessly as the Ford, which is also way quicker than these rivals in a straight line.

Fuel Efficiency

Let's not spoil a good story with the facts, right? Yes, we know the Raptor won't give you good gas mileage, but exactly how bad is it? At the time of writing, the EPA has not yet released official mpg figures for the Ford Ranger Raptor, but we don't expect its fuel consumption to differ much from that of the heavier Bronco Raptor, which uses the same platform and powertrain, and has city/highway/combined estimates of 15/16/15 mpg. So, it's probably going to be quite a bit worse than its less-powerful rivals; the Colorado ZR2 returns 18 mpg combined and the Gladiator 19 mpg. With a 20-gallon fuel capacity, you're unlikely to get a range of more than 300 miles out of your Raptor.

Safety

Crash scores are expected to be good, and the Raptor's safety credentials are bolstered by a full suite of standard driver assists, including adaptive cruise control and a surround-view camera.

Neither the NHTSA nor the IIHS has conducted a safety review of the new Ford Ranger, and the Raptor's safety scores are therefore not known yet. The previous-gen Ranger received middling scores, with an overall NHTSA rating of four stars out of five, and Ford will no doubt be aiming for a five-star rating for the redesigned car. The IIHS rated the old one rather poorly, too, with several Acceptable and Marginal scores. The old Ranger wasn't designed for the local crash tests and wasn't originally earmarked for this market. It only arrived in the US in its twilight years, so the new one, which was always meant to come here, should ace the local crash tests. We're keen to see if it does.

The safety spec is certainly good, starting with the obligatory ABS, stability control, tire-pressure monitoring, and backup camera. The Ranger Raptor also has six airbags and a suite of driver assists, of which the basic ones include automatic LED headlights with auto high beams, rain-sensing wipers, a universal garage-door opener, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, and front and rear parking sensors. Advanced driver assists include adaptive cruise control with stop & go, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert and trailer coverage, a trailer backup-assist system, a surround-view camera system, and lane-keep assist.

Reliability

We don't know much about the Ford Ranger Raptors's reliability yet, as it's still brand-new. While the old Ranger lineup received an excellent JD Power rating of 86 out of 100 for Quality & Reliability, the Bronco, which shares the new Ranger's platform and includes the Bronco Raptor with the same powertrain, received a somewhat disappointing score of 77 for the same criteria. We don't know if the new Ranger will split the difference, so we'll just have to wait and see.

The Ford Ranger Raptor's warranty coverage is unexceptional. The limited bumper-to bumper warranty is valid for three years/36,000 miles, while the powertrain warranty runs for five years/60,000 miles - the same limits that apply to the roadside-assistance program.

Warranty

Design

Whereas the old Ranger had rather soft contours and Euro-centric styling, the new one has been brought right into the modern Ford truck fold with its square-cut looks, strong jawline, and typical styling details such as the C-Clamp headlight clusters. It looks the business now. The Raptor gets all the best bits, of course, with LED technology for the headlights, foglights, DRLs, and bed lighting. Muscular fender flares accommodate its wider track width, and it stands higher off the ground than other Rangers thanks to those big tires and long-travel FOX suspension. Completing the look are 17-inch alloys that can be exchanged for beadlock-capable ones, bash plates, a huge "FORD" script on the grille, and bedside Raptor decals. Additional decal packages can personalize your Raptor even further.

Verdict: Is The 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor A Good Truck?

The Ranger Raptor competes in a class of one and is everything we were expecting it to be - a downsized F-150 Raptor at a far lower price. That's no faint praise, as there is nothing to touch the F-150 Raptor for what it is - a high-performance, high-speed Baja truck with superb race-derived suspension. The Ranger Raptor does all of this at $55k, with a high equipment level and to better effect than the rivals' efforts. It's the one to have.