2021 Ford Ranger Raptor X review

We push Ford’s performance ute to its limit to see if it can handle it.

What we love

Awesome suspension that performs wonderfully on- and off-road

Able to handle the abuse of constant, hard off-road driving

Quality, comfortable seats help to justify the price

What we don’t

Although good, the 2.0-litre engine is uninspiring

A lot of money for a four-wheel-drive ute that jumps

Lacking the workhorse credentials of other cheaper utes

For the 2021 Ford Ranger Raptor X, it’s all about the suspension. This is where all of the effort went in terms of increasing the capability in comparison to a normal Ranger, and this is also where all of the joy comes from driving the car.

It’s got the same 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel engine as other Rangers, which makes a sprightly 157kW and 500Nm running exclusively through a 10-speed automatic gearbox. 

The Raptor also retains the same part-time four-wheel-drive system, shift-on-the-fly with a locking rear differential and low-range transfer case.

But is it just about looks? We all know how eye-catching this Ranger Raptor is, which is undoubtedly a big factor in many people deciding on one. 

What we want to find out is whether the Raptor can walk the walk as well as looking good. So, we’re heading to an off-road racetrack.

We’ve got a 2021 Ford Ranger Raptor X, which has a big ol’ asking price of $79,390 before on-road costs. Differences for the ‘X’ name are minimal: some speed stripes on the sides and over the top, black alloy wheels, sports bar, front tow hooks and some smaller aesthetic changes.

Driving

One side benefit of this suspension is that it yields a great, wafting ride quality around town, that is able to smooth out even the sharpest of hits and bumps around town and country. It’s supple and delectable, without any sense of that harsh jittering most four-wheel-drive utes have.

The big sidewalls of the 33-inch tyres also help the Raptor soak up bumps and give it a further elastic feel through corners. There’s clearly plenty of wallow here as the tyres flex about. It doesn’t lose grip, but you can feel the car lean across through the tyres.

The 2.0-litre engine can feel a little underpowered at times, especially when you consider how beefy the Raptor otherwise is. The engine is good enough, but not exactly the recipe to bristle the hairs on your chest. It feels most lethargic when asking for some extra acceleration at higher speeds, and overtaking up hills or on highways does require a mite of patience and planning.

And when you consider the kind of power the 335kW Ford F-150 Raptor gets stateside, our paltry 150-odd kilowatts doesn’t add the same kind of fireworks that one might expect.

The fact that this Raptor – with its heavier mass and taller tyres – is slower than a normal Ranger only adds salt to the wound.

This should change in the near future however, with the next generation Ford Ranger – and it’s Raptor derivative – slated to get a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged petrol V6 under the bonnet. This will comfortably double the available horsepower from the current diesel motor, and best it for torque as well.

This new engine will also have the potential to slash the 0-100km/h time in half: from around 10 seconds, to somewhere around 5.

The star of the show in this case is instead is the Fox-branded suspension at 2.5 inches in diameter – big for a monotube – and sporting trick tuning technology of internal bypass and an internal floating piston. The latter helps keep the nitrogen gas and oil separate inside, thereby improving fade resistance after longer periods of hard work.

But it’s the internal bypassing – extra passages within the shock absorber through which oil can pass – that improves the performance most. It allows the damping to be soft and compliant initially, and enables the suspension to move freely with little resistance.

When the suspension reaches the upper limits of extension and compression – through things like jumps, whoops and washouts – that damping tune changes dramatically. Those holes are closed and oil is forced to travel through the piston shim stacks for much firmer overall damping.

That means when dealing with huge amounts of weight and energy, the shock absorber can still match the spring’s operating forces and keep everything under control. 

It’s not just a case of bolting on some fancy shock absorbers, swapping on a Raptor grille and calling it a day. Aside from the lengthy work involved in tuning this suspension set-up, the Raptor has a bunch of other major changes.

The wheel track has been increased by 150mm thanks to unique aluminium control arms underneath. This is accommodated by flared guards, which also house larger 33-inch BFGoodrich K02 all-terrain tyres. 

Old-school leaf springs and drum brakes in the rear have been thrown out, and replaced with a coilover-style struts and disc brakes. This part of the modifications is impressive, with significant work done to the chassis to strengthen and brace the new suspension set-up.

The Raptor has pilfered the Watt’s linkage rear suspension design from the Everest, instead of using a more common five-link Panhard rod set-up. This is an interesting choice, presumably to help keep the live rear axle centred when suspension is at maximum compression and extension, and reducing rear bump steer on faster, rough surfaces.

On our way to the track, the Ranger Raptor is quite impressive. The ride quality is good, especially on your common country roads in varying degrees of decomposition.

Steering isn’t sporty, and you can certainly feel those tyres squirm around underneath at times. But the steering feel is overall well-weighted and balanced. There isn’t any big disposition to understeer or oversteer provided you’re on a grippy and dry surface.

While we didn’t have rain this time, previous experience with the Ranger Raptor says to exercise caution in intersections and roundabouts in the wet. One colleague called it “diabolical” in these situations, and I don’t disagree.

The interior – mostly shared with high-spec versions of the Ranger – gets unique and comfortable sports seats with plenty of bolstering and a nice dash of contrasting colours and materials. Many of the touchpoints feel quality, which is important when you’re asking so much money for a four-wheel-drive ute.

The reduced payload (750kg) and towing capacity (2500kg) hint at the fact that the Raptor isn’t the choice for someone who wants to heavily load up and tow. For those instances, Ford instead offers the FX4 Max as something of a middle-ground between the Raptor and regular Ranger.

Off-road

Once you select Baja mode and start to get a properly heavy right boot, the Ranger Raptor proves to be quite a compliant and easy companion for racetrack shenanigans. We weren’t so keen on shaving seconds off our lap times; instead, we were having fun sliding the car around corners for as long as possible.

Baja mode also retunes the traction-control system for a little bit of tail-wagging fun, and waiting a little longer before intervening. We found it still reined in more wild slides and drifts, and then selecting two-wheel drive helped out also.

Modern-day driving electronics are amazing, and can do incredible feats to catch a car before it goes out of control. So, holding down the traction-control button (to turn it off) is something you’ll only want to do at your own risk and in a controlled environment. 

And if you’re aiming to go as fast as possible around a track and through corners, then Baja mode with four-wheel drive is the pick.

In this situation, the 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine proved to be forgiving and easy to handle. The skinny pedal was hard against the firewall more often than not, and you get the sense that the Raptor would be able to handle a bit more grunt quite happily. But the silver lining here is that even a mug like me can have plenty of fun without constantly losing control. 

I recommend popping the shifter down to M for manual and making use of those paddle shifters. The 10-speed gearbox changes ratios a little faster in different driving modes, but harder use can see it drag the chain slightly when you want an extra punch of torque. Because the paddle shifters are steering-wheel-mounted, you can also lose them as you furiously spin the tiller side-to-side through the dirt.

Mid-corner bumps and holes are dispatched wonderfully, as are smaller whoops and wallows. And the big show – a good-sized jump halfway along the main straight – also proved the point. 

To be honest, you don’t need a lot more power to have fun. If you want to drive faster and more competitively, then yes, I get it. But otherwise, I would be happy enough with the bi-turbo powertrain for a bit of occasional fun.

We started at 80km/h and finished somewhere north of 100km/h as we approached the jump on the track. And to be honest, I was probably the weak part of the equation not wanting to push my luck. Or the Raptor’s, for that matter.. Recovery gear in the tub bounced around a bit, and some camera gear didn’t like the impact, but the Raptor was impressively steadfast as it came down, absorbed the impact, and settled without bouncing and jouncing all over the place.

Looking at the footage afterwards, one could easily see the suspension at maximum compression, with the tyres compressed like they had 5psi in them for a moment. But from the driver’s seat, after getting over the adrenaline of actually jumping – it’s not something I really do often – the Raptor was composed.

Once the initial force of coming down was soaked up, I could barely sense any boating or oscillations after the fact. So much so, you’ve quickly got eyes on the next corner aiming for your angle. 

So that’s what I did. The camera guys wanted me to do a few cracks at the jump to ensure they had it from a variety of angles, and I was only too happy to oblige.

Naturally, I didn’t want to leave them waiting too long. So I mashed the pedals and yanked at the wheel, kicking up clouds of dirt and dust as I took the long and twisty way around the track.

I was having a bloody great time. Normally, four-wheel driving is about low-speed capability, testing incremental throttle control and tiny changes in steering input. This is wildly different – going from lock-to-lock with the tiller and rarely using half-throttle.

I thrashed my way around, laughing through the tight turns and wider esses alike, and lined up for yet another crack at the jump.

The Raptor was going well, and I could feel myself slowly improving with control after getting my eye in. If you were keen to test yourself against the clock, this ute has plenty enough mechanical ability to test you out.

After repeated laps, stomping hard on pedals and sliding around every corner as stupidly as possible, the Raptor didn’t put a foot wrong. I couldn’t sense any degradation in acceleration or braking, and the suspension resisted fading like a champion. 

It’s not fast, but it’s a whole lot of fun. Buyers aren’t going to be doing this all the time, I know. Similarly, there are plenty more pampered supercars than those that do serious track days. Many buyers just want to know the car can do it, even if they won’t be doing it themselves.

Keyword: 2021 Ford Ranger Raptor X review