{"id":24964,"date":"2022-06-20T09:04:07","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T13:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=24964"},"modified":"2022-06-20T09:04:07","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T13:04:07","slug":"1134837_2022-ford-bronco-raptor-test-drive-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=24964","title":{"rendered":"Review: 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor bedevils the dust, terrorizes all terrain, for $69,995"},"content":{"rendered":"

You don\u2019t use a sledgehammer to drive in a picture hook. You don\u2019t swat a fly with Edward\u2019s scissorhands. And you certainly don\u2019t make a bundt cake in a springform pan. You, an enthusiastic driver, need the right tool for the job. Especially when you\u2019re a hundred miles from Los Angeles, in blistering triple-digit heat, specifically to cake your innards in dust and flip the work-week grimace into a wide grin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enter the 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor. Like the F-150 Raptor, it\u2019s lightly contained chaos, a size-large container of whoop-ass available retail for the street, no after-modding needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unveiled earlier this year, the Ford Bronco Raptor\u2014we\u2019ve dubbed it the Braptor to save some letters\u2014sports a hilariously wide body, turbocharged V-6 power, a long-travel suspension, and a claimed 111-mph top speed. If that sounds low, its sticker price won\u2019t: it\u2019s $69,995, including destination.<\/p>\n

\"2022<\/p>\n

2022 Ford Bronco Raptor, Johnson Valley off-road review <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Ford Bronco Raptor doesn\u2019t wobble on its heels on the highway. An everyday commuter, it isn\u2019t\u2014but it\u2019s easy enough to live with, day in, day out<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s purpose built for high-speed, off-road rampages. To fit the part, it wears the oddly tiered look that all bro-dozers share\u2014it\u2019s like a smaller vehicle drove up into the middle of a much bigger car and parked there. It\u2019s so big, it doesn\u2019t fit in the Bronco factory<\/a> without some modifications.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s just the start: the Bronco Raptor stuffs a 418-hp twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6<\/a> with 440 lb-ft of torque under its vented fiberglass hood, and ships its output to all four wheels through a 10-speed paddle-shifted automatic transmission. A performance dual-exhaust system with differing runner lengths comes with an electronic valve system that can damp exhaust noise for quieter driving, or let the Raptor rip.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been through a few rounds of anabolic add-ons\u2014which make it. The four-wheel-drive system is shared with other Broncos, but the Sasquatch package\u2019s 2-speed transfer case comes here with a 3.06 4Lo ratio for a 67.7:1 crawl ratio. A bigger driveshaft sends power to a Dana 50 rear axle; a Dana 44 axle slings things up front. All around, thicker half-shafts (from 5mm to 9mm) stiffen the Bronco Raptor\u2019s ability to withstand impacts from its aerial acts\u2014more on that in a bit. All told, the Raptor\u2019s track ends up 8.6 inches wider than a stock Bronco\u2019s\u2014and it can tow up to 4,500 lb thanks to a specific Raptor Tow\/Haul mode and additional space under the body that permits a stouter hitch.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere down under, the Bronco Raptor adapts the F-150 Raptor suspension, shocks, hubs, brakes, and exhaust. It retunes the other Raptor\u2019s Fox 3.1 internal bypass semi-active dampers for its specific weight and traction needs. Its 17-inch wheels (beadlock-capable wheels will be available) come wrapped in 37-inch BFGoodrich K02 all-terrain tires that bolt to an M14 pattern like the F-150 rather than the standard Bronco\u2019s M12 pattern. In all, the Braptor sports 13.1 inches of ground clearance, 1.6 inches more than a Sasquatch Bronco on 35-inch tires, with 13 inches of front suspension travel and 14.0 inches at the rear. A bolstered frame with a carbon-composite brace across the roof\u2019s B-pillars increases torsional stiffness by 50%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even if it\u2019s not the task it\u2019s designed for, the Bronco Raptor acquits itself well enough on the open road, whether it\u2019s dragging through rush hour in the Coachella Valley down Highway 111 or looping over the mountains on the Pines to Palms Highway, banking northward toward Idyllwild. Its Normal-set suspension thumps over shallow bumps with a jiggle-jiggle, amping up to a tremor-tremor in Sport. It pays to steer into a turn early, to give the Bronco Raptor a half-second to bump-shudder in agreement and move on; it turns in like a cranky toddler at bedtime, and sometimes trying to find its center is like trying to find America\u2019s own center. It\u2019s a challenging task, at best. I still pitch those enormous sidewalls close to the guardrails on the highway that slithers from Palm Springs over the mountains towards Hemet, while I register a nice, round 8 mpg on the instant fuel economy gauge. It\u2019s fine. It\u2019s OK. It\u2019s tolerable, manageable, decent. I could live day-to-day with this car so long as I promised myself I\u2019d take it somewhere special on the weekends.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2022<\/p>\n

2022 Ford Bronco Raptor, Johnson Valley off-road review <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Slideways\u2014it\u2019s the Bronco Raptor\u2019s second-favorite way to go, after the hard way.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bronco Raptor: King of the Hammers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ideally, I\u2019d take a single-use tool like a Bronco Raptor to the home of the off-road gods: the King of the Hammers<\/a> course in California\u2019s Johnson Valley. King of the Hammers cooks up world-class off-road racing with open races for spectators and a classic Coachella Valley festival atmosphere. Think Burning Man plus Mad Max, and triple the potential for dehydration.<\/p>\n

We line up for the morning\u2019s low-speed rock crawl initiation, and with a disconnected front sway bar\u2014one of a passel of buttons on the Bronco Raptor dash\u2014we clamber over a spine of rocks that probably mark an ancient volcano\u2019s dying sputters. \u201cAvenge me, break some A-arms and slice some tires,\u201d it may have said, if volcanoes could talk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got some hills to climb,\u201d the radio crackles at the voice of Navy vet and off-road driver\/trainer Brian Trotter, and we\u2019re off to a landscape that\u2019s bleakly beautiful. At some point, some human looked at this parched and pockmarked place and thought to themselves, this is obviously the best way to go. They\u2019re not alive to explain themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2022<\/p>\n

2022 Ford Bronco Raptor, Johnson Valley off-road review <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Articulation is the key to the Raptor\u2019s off-road talent: it\u2019s the Toastmaster of desert hill-climbing.<\/em><\/p>\n

With a helmet strapped to my head, in full Rick Moranis \u201cGhostbusters\u201d homage, I begin carefully picking my way up the rock path. The Raptor\u2019s pretty black donuts pass within a hair of a legion of sharp rocks, gliding by with just a credit card\u2019s worth of space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The wide-beam Bronco can get a little slimmer by unbuckling its add-ons. The flares and fenders bolt on and off, though they require special tools instead of using fasteners like standard Broncos. Each Bronco Raptor comes with a specific tool kit to remove the fenders and flares for extreme off-roading; the same kit provides the tool to remove the six bolts holding the running boards, which hide standard rock rails.<\/p>\n

We switch into a fleet of Raptors so outfitted for the tighter, steeper climbs past what\u2019s been dubbed Kings\u2019 Graveyard. \u201cWe probably won\u2019t be attempting that today,\u201d says Trotter, \u201cbecause we don\u2019t have a helicopter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2022<\/p>\n

2022 Ford Bronco Raptor, Johnson Valley off-road review <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Worried about the Bronco Raptor\u2019s underbelly? Worry more about your own.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trotter has jokes. He becomes the MST3K to my off-roading adventure when he cautions us about a big rock ahead. No sooner than he says, \u201cit\u2019s a little tire kicker, when you find it you\u2019ll know,\u201d my ribs and my kidneys decide to hook up like they matched on Tinder. I land hard in a rock pocket and for a moment, swear I\u2019ve coughed up a chunk of spleen.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarty found it,\u201d Trotter deadpans. Now I know when that foot-plus of rear-end travel\u2019s used up.<\/p>\n

To keep the rest of my spleen intact, I rummage through memory to find old horseback riding skills. I post up and let the Bronco handle the path with equal parts speed and prowess. It clangs and clips along, while its Fox shocks duel between sag and compression. I could learn something from these shocks at my age\u2014but try as I might,\u00a0<\/p>\n

I never get used to using the Raptor\u2019s extensive cameras instead of my own eyes. Maybe it\u2019s the decent camera quality, the washed-out light and heat soaking into every pore, but the front-facing cameras that show what\u2019s just ahead of the Raptor\u2019s tires come in handy for me only when I crest a few blind hills. It\u2019s more of a distraction in a place that doesn\u2019t reward it\u2014distraction can kill out here, given the right speed and wrong attitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"2022<\/p>\n

2022 Ford Bronco Raptor, Johnson Valley off-road review <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Braptor spins, loops, circles, and dives despite massive 37-inch tires, a massive wide-track stance, and Dana front and rear axles.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pump up the jams<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a water break, our Bronco busters step up to be fitted with full helmets and HANS devices. We\u2019ll be driving a high-speed course and for a grand finale, jumping the Bronco Raptor into the air, if briefly. I lived in Georgia, I know how to \u201cDukes of Hazzard\u201d this bit, I tell myself. Or so I think.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I make the mistake of sending a picture home of me in the setup, which I describe as a cross-your-heart death preventer. \u201cAre you on the road or in the air? And HOW fast???\u201d There\u2019s not a diacritical mark my husband doesn\u2019t adore.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s off-road racing and jumping,\u201d I answer. \u201cSo, both?\u201d<\/p>\n

Before long, we\u2019re miles off the trodden dirt track, on a deeply rutted path that\u2019s coated in silt. It billows off the rear tires like wildfires as I skim through an autocross course meant to train for the big time coming up shortly. I stab at the gas and provoke the Raptor into loop-de-looping figure-eights. It doesn\u2019t take much to get it angry. Waves of dust blot out the view for everyone hundreds of feet around. The Braptor loves to spin, as the constant buzz of its turbo V-6 broadcasts a midrange snarl that sounds like it\u2019s sampled from murder hornets.<\/p>\n

I take that skill to a long course, where the replaceable rock guards and wide-view LED marker lights make the case for themselves. First I scrabble behind a lead-follow instructor who races through a backdrop that probably doubled for Tatooine at some point in \u201cStar Wars\u201d reshoots, pounding and bounding and rounding through turns like Dr. Seuss\u2019 musical bicycle without the who-clatters and who-claps. Chasing a bright-orange truck shouldn\u2019t be tough, but wind-blown dust throws up a wall ahead of me as the SUV hammers over buckboard and washboard, really, any kind of board. Now I know what a milkshake feels like. Those LED lights are the only thing between me and rear-ending the Braptor ahead.<\/p>\n

\"2022<\/p>\n

2022 Ford Bronco Raptor, Johnson Valley off-road review <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Jump shot: The Ford Bronco Raptor has the vertical leap of a pro player, and sticks the landing, too.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Then, for some inexplicable reason, they loose us on the off-road course alone, one at a time. I yank the Raptor out of the pit area\u2014it\u2019s a literal pit, a dry lakebed a mile from what passes for passable bathrooms\u2014by posting up on the gas pedal, and immediately, the dun-covered cones and pink ribbons that try to mark the course turn into a dust devil. Silver skeletons of sagebrush sail past my sideview; the instructor\u2019s trail of dust is gone and so am I, careening through a few mild turns, cranking the Raptor up to 75-mph plus to see what it can do, aware for a bright moment that I\u2019m on my own, save for the dust cloud I kick skyward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The only reinforcements out here are the Raptor\u2019s aluminum front skid plate and steel modular bumper, and I call on them right away. What do you call it when you go off-off-road? I do that. I hit the wall of a rut and pop out like a weasel, sliding at a 30-degree angle up the bank then over that picturesque sagebrush. The Raptor snubs it off with its massive 37-inch tires, drops back into the dugout trail, and I scorch whatever earth can still be scorched until I arrive at a welcome sight: a spotter who sets me up for a leap into the air.<\/p>\n

The jump\u2019s easy on the pedals, but sits big on my brain. How\u2019s this thing going to react when it falls back to earth, all 4,500 lb of it? I take faith in the instructor\u2019s directions and push it to 40, 45, then 50 mph before I angle left then drift up to 65 mph before the road rises to meet me. I take off\u2014and then for a brief second I\u2019m floating high enough for a barbell to pass under the tires before I drop back onto the 108-degree hellscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those big donuts cushion my fall, and the Bronco Raptor lands like it\u2019s on pillows. Donuts? Pillows? It\u2019s the most outrageous machine this side of Homer Simpson\u2019s Canyonero\u2014only here it\u2019s me that\u2019s animated. I can\u2019t stop chattering about the Raptor\u2019s exhilarating portfolio of stunts. It\u2019s capable, outrageously so. The 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor can do all the things you\u2019d normally only do to rental cars and ATVs. If the job is off-road lunacy and weekend thrill-driving, it\u2019s the perfect tool.\u00a0<\/p>\n

___________<\/p>\n

Ford brought me to California to try and shake loose my most vulnerable body parts\u2014and failed. Try again with a Raptor R if you dare.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014with additional reporting by Joel Feder<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You don\u2019t use a sledgehammer to drive in a picture hook. You don\u2019t swat a fly with Edward\u2019s scissorhands. And you certainly don\u2019t make a bundt cake in a springform pan. You, an enthusiastic driver, need the right tool for the job. Especially when you\u2019re a hundred miles from Los Angeles, in blistering triple-digit heat, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}