Richie
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #1
I picked up the new rig a couple of days ago and wanted to share a list of my initial thoughts from a 2nd gen F150 Raptor.
The Drive: The truck overall feels much tighter and nimble, The damping in sport mode makes it enjoyable to drive through switchbacks and the body roll is surprisingly minimal for a mid-size truck. Compared to the F150 Raptor this feels closer to a sports car. it's no GT350 but the best-handling truck I've ever driven. tires are the biggest limiting factor as far as the corners go.
The motor loves to rev, I find myself consistently getting close to 4k rpm during normal driving with my slight lead foot. In the gen2 I would rarely get over 3k. The truck will hold the RPMs up for a long time in sport mode, much longer than the Gen 2. The Baja exhaust mode is not overbearing and I find myself defaulting to that unless I'm on a call.
Exterior: Ford did a great job of making this truck look aggressive but still subtle. I like the additional width in the fenders and the headlights are very nice to look at and I'm happy with the light output. I'm very happy I went with Carbonized grey. The first thing I did after driving the truck home was a ceramic coat the truck looks great and the coating gives it a permanent wet look and the contrast to the orange accenting seats seems to work well with the grey. In my opinion, the 2nd Gen F150 Raptor is the most aggressive-looking factory truck ever mass-produced and this truck is not quite there but I'm not mad about it.
Cons, I wish they did the amber marker lights and DRLs. I understand the width being just shy of 80in and not a requirement but I think that would have rally made the North American Model stand out from the pack. The only other slight complaint is the offset of the wheels put the tire slightly inside the fender. when off-roading, I often find myself sticking my head out of the window, and tire alignment will be slightly more difficult to see. I do not like the large Raptor logos on the rear fenders so I took those off immediately. It was very easy to do with a little heat and did not leave any residue.
Interior: Starting with the cons, No A/C seats on a 60k truck is ridiculous. There should be a sunroof option even though I wouldn't get one. Physical buttons for the lockers would be awesome, I'm not a fan of having to use a menu to access the off-road functions. Ford could have used the same controls as the Bronco and mounted them above the screen on the dash. The backseat storage under the seats is very small. I wanted to keep some basic off-road equipment back there like a compressor, tow straps, and an air-down tool but even my large tow straps don't fit. It does seem like the competition has found better ways to utilize that space.
As far as the rest of the interior, I think I've already gotten used to the vertical screen after a day. I love the way the seats are bolstered. It's not a race car but is enough to hold you in place firmly when you push the truck hard. The Orange accenting looks much better in person than I expected and makes the interior feel like a special place to be in. The digital gauges are nice and I'm a huge fan of being able to see boost, oil pressure, air charge temps, etc. It's a car nerd's dream to have that from the factory. The shifter is taking a little bit of getting used to pushing on the top instead of the side to go into gear. I like the simple M button on the side to convert to manual shifting. The shift panels feel high quality and the steering wheel feels sporty.
Overall, I love the truck and am very excited to push it offroad and see what it can do. There will be several modifications coming in the next few months that I will try to update for people to see. Cheers and hope everyone gets their trucks soon!
The Drive: The truck overall feels much tighter and nimble, The damping in sport mode makes it enjoyable to drive through switchbacks and the body roll is surprisingly minimal for a mid-size truck. Compared to the F150 Raptor this feels closer to a sports car. it's no GT350 but the best-handling truck I've ever driven. tires are the biggest limiting factor as far as the corners go.
The motor loves to rev, I find myself consistently getting close to 4k rpm during normal driving with my slight lead foot. In the gen2 I would rarely get over 3k. The truck will hold the RPMs up for a long time in sport mode, much longer than the Gen 2. The Baja exhaust mode is not overbearing and I find myself defaulting to that unless I'm on a call.
Exterior: Ford did a great job of making this truck look aggressive but still subtle. I like the additional width in the fenders and the headlights are very nice to look at and I'm happy with the light output. I'm very happy I went with Carbonized grey. The first thing I did after driving the truck home was a ceramic coat the truck looks great and the coating gives it a permanent wet look and the contrast to the orange accenting seats seems to work well with the grey. In my opinion, the 2nd Gen F150 Raptor is the most aggressive-looking factory truck ever mass-produced and this truck is not quite there but I'm not mad about it.
Cons, I wish they did the amber marker lights and DRLs. I understand the width being just shy of 80in and not a requirement but I think that would have rally made the North American Model stand out from the pack. The only other slight complaint is the offset of the wheels put the tire slightly inside the fender. when off-roading, I often find myself sticking my head out of the window, and tire alignment will be slightly more difficult to see. I do not like the large Raptor logos on the rear fenders so I took those off immediately. It was very easy to do with a little heat and did not leave any residue.
Interior: Starting with the cons, No A/C seats on a 60k truck is ridiculous. There should be a sunroof option even though I wouldn't get one. Physical buttons for the lockers would be awesome, I'm not a fan of having to use a menu to access the off-road functions. Ford could have used the same controls as the Bronco and mounted them above the screen on the dash. The backseat storage under the seats is very small. I wanted to keep some basic off-road equipment back there like a compressor, tow straps, and an air-down tool but even my large tow straps don't fit. It does seem like the competition has found better ways to utilize that space.
As far as the rest of the interior, I think I've already gotten used to the vertical screen after a day. I love the way the seats are bolstered. It's not a race car but is enough to hold you in place firmly when you push the truck hard. The Orange accenting looks much better in person than I expected and makes the interior feel like a special place to be in. The digital gauges are nice and I'm a huge fan of being able to see boost, oil pressure, air charge temps, etc. It's a car nerd's dream to have that from the factory. The shifter is taking a little bit of getting used to pushing on the top instead of the side to go into gear. I like the simple M button on the side to convert to manual shifting. The shift panels feel high quality and the steering wheel feels sporty.
Overall, I love the truck and am very excited to push it offroad and see what it can do. There will be several modifications coming in the next few months that I will try to update for people to see. Cheers and hope everyone gets their trucks soon!
