The 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor has our full attentionEssentially as quick as the F-150 Raptor, the impressive Ranger version is better suited to tighter trails, garages, parking lots, and budgetsDan Edmunds with CARandDRIVER.
The Ranger Raptor gets its motivation from the same twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 that powers the Bronco Raptor. Because of its longer exhaust piping, the Ranger Raptor makes 405 horsepower and 430 pound-feet instead of 418 horsepower and 440 pound-feet. That's nothing to fret over, because the Ranger Raptor's 5372-pound curb weight is 392 pounds lighter. All of this shows up clearly at the track, where the Ranger Raptor gets to 60 mph in 5.3 secondsonly a tenth slower to 60 mph than the F-150 version and destroys the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2's 6.8-second effort.
Underneath, the Raptor's 3.5-inch front track increase comes primarily from longer forged aluminum upper and lower control arms. Damping comes from 2.5-inch Fox Live-valve shocks with variable compression damping, and there's a front anti-roll bar. In back, the axle tube is 3.5 inches broader, fortified by trusswork, and located by four trailing links. Lateral control comes from a Watt's linkage that provides greater cornering stiffness and symmetrical roll behavior.,
In normal truck terms, the Raptor is packed with all the interior design goodness of the new Ranger, including its dual gloveboxes, Bang & Olufsen sound system, and 12.4-inch vertical touchscreen. The five-foot bed behind the crew cab is similarly able to carry four-foot plywood and drywall panels flat on the deck, and the bed comes replete with 110- and 12-volt outlets, under-rail lighting, and numerous attachment points for various factory and aftermarket add-ons.
In short, the Ranger Raptor is the most trail-worthy member of the Raptor family because of its rightsized dimensions. It's also the most affordable by a wide margin and it's as quick as any other Raptor, except for the F-150's V-8-powered R model