Ford Ranger Raptor 2022 Review

The second-generation 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor is only weeks from first deliveries arriving in the hands of eager drivers.

Priced from $85,490 plus on-road costs, the off-road dual-cab super-ute goes up in price more than $6000 compared with its highly respected and popular predecessor.

With that price hike comes a whole new level of performance led by a 292kW/583Nm 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine that replaces the first-gen’s 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder.

But there’s also a new permanent 4x4 system, driver-adjustable Fox coil-over shocks, a lockable front diff and an active exhaust to go with the redesigned T6 ladder frame and overhauled 10-speed auto that are key aspects of the tech package.

We’ll drill more into all that stuff a bit later on, but first off let’s check out the equipment you get for a pretty substantial amount of money.

The Raptor is the only Ranger to come standard with a 10-speaker B&O audio system, 12.4-inch digital cluster with proper tachometer and Ford Performance leather-accented 10-way power-adjustable seats and trimmings in its Code Orange hero colour.

Raptor is alone in having flappy paddles for manual shifting and Sport, Baja and Rock Crawl selectable drive modes. It drops the Eco and Tow/Haul modes mainstream Rangers get.

The Raptor is distinguished by a unique F-O-R-D block letter grille and standard Matrix LED headlights. A 2.3mm steel front bash plate and tow hooks front and rear toughen the look and add capability (it’s the only Ranger with a rear tow hook), as do 17-inch BF Goodrich K02 tyres mounted on alloy wheels. A full-size spare is standard.

The Raptor also gets a spray-in bed liner standard.

Features shared with lesser Rangers externally include zone lighting, side steps and LED tail-lights and front fog lamps.

External stuff Raptor misses out on compared to lesser Rangers includes the much-hyped box step, roof rails, a sports bar/sailplane and the box’s aluminium tie-down rails, cargo management system and any form of cover such as the power roller shutter found on the new 2022 Ford Ranger Wildtrak.

Interior equipment shared with lesser Rangers includes dual-zone climate control with rear seat outlets, leather wrapping for the steering wheel, shifter and electric parking brake, front seat heating, ambient lighting, 12V and USB ports and wireless charging.

The Raptor’s infotainment equipment is comprehensive. Along with Wildtrak it gets the larger 12-inch centre console touch-screen housing Ford’s SYNC 4A system. Within that you’ll find wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, embedded sat-nav, Bluetooth and a digital radio.

Like all Rangers, Raptor comes with an embedded modem and the FordPass app that enables things like remote start and vehicle locator.

The Raptor is covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and comes with 12-month/15,000km service intervals.

Capped-price serving is charged at $329 for each of the first four visits to the dealer, including oil and filter replacements.

As we’ve covered separately here, the safety upgrades for the new 2022 Ford Ranger are significant.

And the 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor benefits from all that effort, picking up all the new features as well as the upgrades to carryover stuff.

At the core of it all is an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system fitted with a better camera. The AEB is active from 5km/h and adds cyclist detection and intersection assist to its existing vehicle- and pedestrian-spotting capabilities. (Ford Australia is still to clarify what exactly it can spot at night-time as well as during the day.)

Upper-spec Rangers including Raptor add an adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, traffic sign recognition and lane centring.

It incorporates the ability to adjust speed automatically based on traffic signs, and based on our experience in other Rangers is very good at it, especially during the day.

A segment first is blind spot monitoring that covers a trailer if you are towing. Up to 10 trailers can be programmed into the system memory.

Other new driver assist features include rear cross traffic alert, reverse brake assist, evasive steer assist, post-impact braking and road edge detection. They are added to lane keeping aid with lane departure warning.

The Raptor, along with Wildtrak, also gets a new 360-degree camera with a split-screen. These two also get uprated feet- and hands-free parking assist.

All Rangers including Raptor now get nine airbags including front-centre and front passenger knee airbags.

An ANCAP safety rating is pretty much all that’s left to be announced. It’s expected to be five stars across the range.

When it comes to the 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor, there’s no doubt the decision to drop the old four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine and replace it with the twin-turbo V6 created the biggest headlines.

Ford says it’s a change driven by customer demand for more performance. But it also reflects the fact this model – unlike its predecessor – will be sold in the US where there’s no interest in high-performance diesel.

Economies of scale also play a role, as this engine also features in the T6-based Ford Bronco Raptor that was developed around the same time for primarily US consumption.

The DOHC 24-valve direct-injection EcoBoost engine makes 292kW at 5650rpm and 583Nm at 3500rpm. That’s almost double the power and a touch more torque than the old car’s 157kW/500Nm Panther 2.0-litre diesel.

The familiar 10R60 10-speed automatic has a boost profile for each gear. The BorgWarner torque-on-demand permanent 4x4 system with two-speed transfer case replaces the old part-time set-up.

The V6 employs an anti-lag system in Baja mode that keeps the turbochargers spinning for up to three seconds after the driver lifts off the throttle to ensure rapid-fire response when the throttle is pressed again.

An active exhaust valve also enables the engine’s soundtrack to be tuned from ‘quiet’ mode all the way through to the most aggressive Baja system, which essentially turns the exhaust into a straight-through system.

The big positive result out of all this is the new drivetrain halves the 0-100km/h acceleration time from the 10s to the fives on gravel. Top speed only climbs 10km/h to 180km/h, limited by the off-road rubber.

The big negative result is fuel consumption climbs – officially from 8.2 to 11.5L/100km – and with the tank staying at 80 litres the ability to make long off-road trips is potentially truncated.

Other upgrades for the new Raptor include moving from passive to adaptive Fox Shox Live Valve Internal ByPass dampers that allow the driver to tune compression but not rebound. There are both off-road and on-road tunes.

From the same family as the units used in the Bronco Raptor and the F-150 Raptor, the dampers have been locally tuned with a narrower 2.5-inch bore (down from 3.0-inch).

The shocks work with the familiar Raptor suspension set-up of aluminium double-wishbone front-end and live axle with coils and a Watts link at the rear. The steering rack remain electric assist. The box section frame has been toughened and reinforced compared to the standard Ranger.

Hill descent control has been replaced by an off-road low-speed cruise control called Trail Control.

The lockable Dana front diff adds to its predecessor’s locking rear diff.

The driver-selectable modes available with Raptor are Normal, Sport, Slippery, Mud/Ruts, Sand, Baja and Rock Cawl. The drivetrain, steering, dampers and exhaust are all impacted by twirling the dial although not everything changes every time. For instance, the dampers have three tunes: Normal, Off-Road and Sport.

The wheelbase of the Raptor extends 50mm, but the 1710mm track widths are unchanged. They are encased in unique steel (previously composite) flared fenders front and rear. The bonnet is also specific to Raptor, but doors, the roof, the tailgate and the size of the tray are identical to Ranger.

The Raptor’s approach angle has reduced marginally from 32.5 to 32 degrees because of the shaping of the nose to suit the latest pedestrian protection rules. Ground clearance also dips from 283mm to 272mm because of the new transfer case. The departure angle is improved from 24 to 27 degrees by improved shaping of the rear bumper and tow bar position.

There is no improvement to Raptor’s 2500kg braked towing capacity, while the 708kg payload is slightly down. The official kerb weight sneaks up 37kg from the outgoing Raptor X’s 2376kg claim.

The Raptor’s 32mm disc brake package remains unchanged in terms of hardware, although Ford Performance says there have been tuning improvements made to the ABS.

Our drive of the 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor was tacked on to a multi-day engineering program at the Loveday off-road park near Renmark in South Australia. It was pretty comprehensive.

The first part comprised a back-to-back of old and new Raptor on a dirt track that had plenty of whoops, holes, bermed and flat turns, a table-top jump and a flat-out section.

Aussie rally champion Cody Crocker drew the short straw and got to ride shotgun for this exercise.

Then it was into the passenger seat of a camouflaged and caged development Raptor driven by vehicle dynamics engineer Matt Gerlach for a blast on another track that’s been regularly used throughout development.

Finally came the chance to take off the helmet and drive the Raptor through some sand dunes and then across some man-made obstacles to get a more classic Aussie off-road perspective of the vehicle.

By the way, we were driving what are called Tool Test (TT for short) vehicles that are the very first to roll off the production line in Thailand. So a pretty good indication of what’s coming to a dealer near you.

And wow, what’s coming is pretty darn special.

The most stark demonstration of the change in capability was the back-to-back. The new Raptor simply did everything faster and more confidently than the old car – and the old car wasn’t doing anything badly.

Acceleration is the most obvious and immediate change. The petrol engine slams you into the seat in a way the diesel can’t match when the throttle is pushed to the floor.

In a flat-out cresting esses section the new Raptor was topping 160km/h when the old car was reaching 130km/h!

All this is accompanied by a characteristic V6 howl, but sadly no lift-off crackle-bang – blame emissions regs – except occasionally on a down-change in maxed-out Baja mode.

Speaking of gears, the 10-speed auto can be relatively relaxed or machine-gun rapid depending on the mode.

Added composure over the rough stuff was clear. At 110km/h the table-top jump was completed with less fuss and more stability in the new Raptor thanks to those new shocks.

At full droop they figure out the vehicle is off the ground and pre-prep for the landing. Bottom-out resistance was noticeably better. Potholes were dispensed with more smoothly and comfortably.

The new set-and-forget 4x4 system also made itself felt in the way the Raptor rotated through turns, gripped up, straightened from a drift and hurtled down the next straight.

In the most aggressive off-road Baja mode the brake software is even retuned with ABS thresholds amped up, allowing the ute to build up a bow wave of gravel to help stopping.

Before adjusting to this, I was just about coming to a stop ahead of the turns and having to accelerate again. There was some chat about brake fade but that was something I didn’t experience.

The lap with Gerlach was eye-opening because it gave a guide to the ultimate capabilities of the new Raptor. Matt’s a tier-four test driver and there’s no higher rating than that in the Ford world.

That was obvious as he barged over all sorts of rugged terrain without ever lifting the throttle – or so it seemed.

Finally, the chance to drive at a slower pace and work through the various drive modes and low range showed the new Raptor continues to be a fine all-purpose off-roader.

That ability is something which sometimes gets lost in all the hoo-hah about high-speed desert racing. The reality is it’s also great at scrambling through rock gardens, powering over sand dunes, sliding around in a sand bowl and climbing and descending mountainous slopes.

Each mode delivers fine tuning differences. For instance, flicking into sand mode sharpens the throttle, reduces stability control intervention, swaps the damper compression to off-road, adds steering dampening and locks the rear diff.

Low range also locks the rear diff. The front diff is always manually engaged.

On compression alone, the Raptor walked beautifully through a set of moguls, wheels waggling high in the air and rolled downhill comfortably.

Trail Control transfers most responsibility for climbs and descents to the vehicle. Set via the cruise control, it ambles along pedal-free. You just have to steer.

Through all this there was the only occasional scrape of the side steps or underbody armour.

The off-road traction control function can be disabled (along with roll stability control and stability control) with a long push on the ESC button. A short push reduces control. There is a significant amount of personalisation of screens through these modes.

Mucking about in these environments also gave us the chance to use the off-road screen in the infotainment unit. It proved particularly helpful before committing over a drop-off.

All up, there’s a flexibility and civility in this environment the old Raptor boasted that the new thankfully retains and builds on.

What we can’t tell you yet is how the new Raptor drives on bitumen. For all its obvious talent in the rough and tough stuff, the reality is most examples will spend much more time on bitumen than dirt.

However, the old car worked well there, so we’d be confident the new one will too. Stay tuned.

Driving the 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor was an intense and deeply compelling experience.

There is no doubt Ford Performance’s Australian engineers have delivered a vehicle with more high-end performance capability without losing the all-round quality it already boasted.

I came to think of it in the end as the off-road equivalent of the Porsche 911; capable of amazing performance but also amazingly civilised and easy to use.

Personally, it’s not a truck I’d buy. The V6 engine compromises long-distance touring ability too much.

But give me this set-up – or something similar – with a diesel engine and it would be very hard to resist.

How much does the 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor cost?
Price: $85,490 (plus on-road costs)
Available: August 2022
Powertrain: 3.0-litre V6 turbo-petrol
Output: 292kW/583Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel: 11.5L/100km
CO2: 262g/km
Safety rating: Not tested