Baja 1000 Ranger Raptor Walkaround

[jezzza]

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[RapVillin]

So the only thing stock is the engine..lol

 

[yoopercharged]

So the only thing stock is the engine..lol

Glad to hear the suspension is mostly stock as well.

 

[Scooter]

Not sure how much of a roll cage this ZR2 had. The Race Ranger Raptor has one serious roll cage.
The ZR2 broke in the Mint 400

 

[Scooter]

I watched a video on the Mint 400 Chevy ZR2 run . Very lame low speed 2 loop run. Where the Mint 400 is 4 times. Seems Chevy has not reinforced the frame over the previous Gen. The F150 Raptor did break frames but Ford addressed that issue.

 

[Lion77]

Entire powertrain is stock besides the snorkel and exhaust. Interior is stripped with full cage and safety gear etc. like any race vehicle. Suspension is stock aside from adjustment to the ride height to compensate for over +400lbs of additional race equipment (2nd spare tire, more fuel, safety cage etc.).

AND, if you paid attention, he said they run 35" K02's for added ground clearance on the rough terrain at Baja. If I understood him correctly, they use 33" at Finke, which is the factory size, since it's sandier / smoother at higher speeds.

That's pretty normal for any race event, you run specific tires and suspension tuning tailored to the course. What's impressive is that the factory powertrain and suspension is race capable.

I also get why Ford chose to run 33" tires stock, because most of us will do moderate to intermediate off-roading, high speed stuff in the sand dunes like Silver Lake Michigan with 95% of the rest of time, the truck is driven on paved roads, gravel roads or maybe smooth dirt roads / trails. That and I think the US required crash bars, which you can remove.

So, in my opinion, the stock setup is very versatile and fits MOST use cases. Want to run in rougher trerrain? Throw on larger diameter K02's on another set of wheels and pull the crash bars, then swap them back. That's absolutely no different than track day with my 2016 Mustang GT PP. Swap on a set of track tires, swap out the pads for track pads.

After a track day, you are swapping pads and maybe rotors, tires and changing the brake fluid and oil! I'd say compared to a high-performance car, you can have a lot more fun for a lot less work with the RR than something like a Mustang GT at track day. And, I don't have buy a $1,300 set of tires and $250 set of pads after just a few hours of driving....

 

[Lion77]

2024 Tatts Finke Desert Race | Ranger Raptor | Ford Performance - YouTube

Found that, pretty cool to see what it's capable of. They blew out a shock on the rear passing the chevy on the whoops, but it was a field swap. Their max speed on the straights was 167kph which is 103 mph, right at the governor of the factory engine (107 gov ltd).

I'd like to see a Jeep with a solid front axle and short wheelbase do that.... clearly the 95 hp advantage of the 3.0L allowed them to pass the ZR2 pretty well.

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