komek
Member
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2024
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- 14
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- 37
- Location
- Western Washington
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- 2024 Ranger Raptor
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- #1
There's been loads of threads of people sharing their new-truck experiences but I figured I would throw in a few bits coming from someone who has never had a truck, or American vehicle, test driven the competition, and someone coming from a more sports-car background. I let go of my M2 Competition for this beast. I miss it, but no regrets! I'll give some background/context and then some impressions/thoughts.
Background:
I'm a sports car enthusiast, through and through, but I have been thinking about moving on to a truck the past year or so. I'm a mountain biker, and there's a lot of trails I can't go to because of the parking or the service roads to get to them, and shoving all the bike gear in a small car is starting to wear on me. Plus the stress of feeling bad for your nice sports car being filthy all the time just pains me. So having something more rugged and off-road focused would suit my biking hobbies more. I started getting into gravel biking on top of mtb recently and there's so many awesome roads to go ride that you can't get to in a lowered BMW haha!
I've always liked performance focused vehicles and like to push them to what they're built to do, all while using them for daily driving and aiding other hobbies. When the RR was announced, it was ticking all the boxes, and all the info I've read on here and Reddit really helped solidify my decision to go this route.
To put it lightly, I was extremely unimpressed with test driving and shopping for the new Tacoma. It's built like a 25k vehicle, for more than double the price. The Kia rental I got to drive down and get the RR was built better inside than the Taco. I absolutely loved the Gladiator Mojave and Rubicon, and they mostly ticked all the boxes for me, but they have the aerodynamics of a cow and I wanted something more road-trip comfortable.
So the journey started by looking for a Blue RR, with non-beadlock wheels, and no graphics decals since they started filling up dealerships this year and I would not settle for those insane 20k markups they all want. I probably talked to 50+ dealerships. I'm well researched and I know what I want when it comes to things like this, and I don't settle. Finally, one popped up, and I managed to snag it. I had to roadtrip down 6.5 hours to get it but it was well worth it. The trip back was a really nice way to get acclimated to the truck as well.
Impressions/Thoughts:
Background:
I'm a sports car enthusiast, through and through, but I have been thinking about moving on to a truck the past year or so. I'm a mountain biker, and there's a lot of trails I can't go to because of the parking or the service roads to get to them, and shoving all the bike gear in a small car is starting to wear on me. Plus the stress of feeling bad for your nice sports car being filthy all the time just pains me. So having something more rugged and off-road focused would suit my biking hobbies more. I started getting into gravel biking on top of mtb recently and there's so many awesome roads to go ride that you can't get to in a lowered BMW haha!
I've always liked performance focused vehicles and like to push them to what they're built to do, all while using them for daily driving and aiding other hobbies. When the RR was announced, it was ticking all the boxes, and all the info I've read on here and Reddit really helped solidify my decision to go this route.
To put it lightly, I was extremely unimpressed with test driving and shopping for the new Tacoma. It's built like a 25k vehicle, for more than double the price. The Kia rental I got to drive down and get the RR was built better inside than the Taco. I absolutely loved the Gladiator Mojave and Rubicon, and they mostly ticked all the boxes for me, but they have the aerodynamics of a cow and I wanted something more road-trip comfortable.
So the journey started by looking for a Blue RR, with non-beadlock wheels, and no graphics decals since they started filling up dealerships this year and I would not settle for those insane 20k markups they all want. I probably talked to 50+ dealerships. I'm well researched and I know what I want when it comes to things like this, and I don't settle. Finally, one popped up, and I managed to snag it. I had to roadtrip down 6.5 hours to get it but it was well worth it. The trip back was a really nice way to get acclimated to the truck as well.
Impressions/Thoughts:
- Looking out the drivers side mirror gives you that awesome feeling you get when you can see how wide and aggressively curvy the vehicle is. If you've ever driven a sports car with staggered setup or wide body, such as a Porsche, Lotus, Corvette, or BMW etc, you know what I'm talking about. Looking out the side mirror and seeing and feeling the aggressive width of the vehicle is a really cool feeling. This truck has that and it's awesome.
- Same with the front dash. If you sit higher up, you can see the hood lines and the vent details and it gives you this feeling of driving something unique.
- Quality of life when it comes to driving casually is incredible. Very quiet cabin, tire knob noise seems to fade off after 35+ mph, and normal suspension mode is comfy.
- Interior quality is impressive. I can still see signs of it being from a non-luxury euro brand, but not really in a bad way, and overall the build feels premium. Faux-leather stitched wrapped plastic and other material pieces that make up the interior feel seamless together (100x more than the new Tacos, that was embarrassing to see how cheaply snapped together those things are.).
- Interior materials are really impressive. The arm rest cover in the center is covered in this really soft-touch faux-leather that I really like, and the padding is road trip approved. Same with the steering wheel and this unique rubberized fabric trim throughout. One of my major hangups with the new Tacoma is how even for 54k for a TRD OR, you still have light gray fabric interior, which sounds insane for a vehicle that is for outdoorsy people getting dirty. I needed an interior that was easy to clean and wipe down after muddy bike rides.
- Seats are incredibly comfy. Bolsters don't go as high which I appreciate. Adjustability is perfect. They remind me of my 2018 STi's Recaros, but just a bit more aggressive in the bolster height, but similar stiffness. I'd say they are wide lat friendly because the bolsters don't go as high up the seat back as other seats I've been in.
- Vertical screen and how Ford split it between Android Auto and the Truck's climate control stuff is brilliant. It's like two 4:3 screens on top of one another. Not too big, not too small, it's truly perfect. Software and screen is pretty responsive too, I was impressed. I'm in tech, and any tech that slow like this usually drives me nuts.
- Steering wheel size feels smaller and sporty. I'm coming from a BMW though, which I have always found to have larger steering wheels for some reason. I like the grip shape behind the wheel at 9 and 3. It definitely feels like a performance vehicle wheel meant to be driven properly. Steering ratio is very different than all other cars I've driven. I'm used to being able to opposite lock for 90 degree turns mostly, and this requires a bit more rotation. Could be a truck thing.
- 4auto is incredible. It's been dumping rain here the past few days and the steep hills here will make the truck spin the rears a bit when you accelerate. I keep it in 4auto when it's wet and I notice it kicking some power to the fronts in these cases. Truck starts automatically in 4auto. I switch to 2wd if it's fully drier out.
- Brake pedal is very stiff. I'd say in a good way. Although the truck doesn't break fast imo, but I'm used to 6 pot fronts, 4 pot rear, big anchors on the m2c. Brake pedal feels sturdy from it, I guess. It's not flimsy but it's one of the biggest giveaways that you're driving a heavier vehicle imo.
- Suspension settings don't drastically feel different on the road specifically. I haven't taken this off-road too much yet so I'll have to see how they feel there. Sport feels like it has more compression damping at the beginning of travel, and less rebound damping, but not by a huge amount. It's far more subtle than other electric adjusting suspension I've driven. It's not stiff enough to really feel the benefits on winding backroads, so I just keep it in normal.
- Exhaust sound in the interior is very muted in quiet mode, it's awesome. I prefer to be quieter most of the time, nowadays. Other modes the sound there in the cabin, but very little to no drone, and its pretty subtle. I'm guessing because the resonator is further from the cabin vs a sports car. I can tell there is no fake speaker exhaust sound, I'm very sure of it.
- Extremely impressed with the Ford app on the phone. You can do things to the truck in the free app. It's not some subscription like Toyota or BMW.
- Extremely impressed with how much of the truck you can customize in the settings. There's a toggle for everything. It felt like I was using the coding apps for a BMW or something. If and when the truck does something that kind of annoys you, there's a setting for that.
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And yeah I just had to get used to the feel and get used to more hand over hand than usual. After today's errands around town, I'm pretty used to it. Its not bad or anything, just different. The Gladiator I drove felt the same way.
For not being into the bead lock factory wheels, its a few things: I don't personally like the aesthetic of them which means its extra $$ that I'd rather spend on aftermarket wheels I actually like the looks of. They aren't actually beadlock ready off the lot since you have to order a $1000 worth of lock rings plus pay labor to have them installed. I don't have any intention of airing down low enough + driving aggressive while aired down that low that I'd truly get the benefits of having them. Sure I'll have to run higher pressure and have less grip but still have loads of fun. So yeah, I'm just not personally into spending money on something I won't really use as well as not liking the look of them specifically. If you like em and you find use for em, sweet!
