RAPTOR TAKES RANGER TO THE NEXT LEVEL

WE HIT THE RACETRACK IN A FORD RANGER RAPTOR PROTOTYPE

- MATT RAUDONIKIS

I AM strapped into a pre-production prototype of Ford’s upcoming Ranger Raptor, and riding shotgun is none other than seven-time Australian Rally Championship winner and four-time Side by Side (SXS) champion, Cody Crocker. Cody is justifiably nervous, as this isn’t the first time he has ridden alongside me. The last time he was teaching me the ropes of racing a Polaris RZR SXS, and that occasion ended up with the RZR on its side.

The venue for this drive is the off-road track at Loveday 4x4 Adventure Park in South Australia’s Riverland district. The track ahead of us is one that park owner Tony Whateley uses to test and develop their trophy truck and other off-road racing vehicles, so it's an imposing strip of dirt for any production vehicle. And if any production road car could be up to the challenge, it has to be the new Ranger Raptor.

The original PX2 Ranger Raptor has been in a class of its own for off-road performance ever since its launch in 2019, so much so that it was awarded 4X4 Australia’s 4x4 of The Year award for that year. With its bespoke coil-sprung rear end, widened wheel track and Ford Performance-tuned Fox Racing dampers, the Raptor covered rough terrain at speed and in a more controlled manner than any other showroom-stock 4x4 ute.

While the performance of the Raptor’s hotted-up chassis and suspension were next-level awesome, the one big criticism of the ute was that the bi-turbo, four-cylinder diesel engine didn’t live up to the rest of the car and didn’t really meet the Ford Performance credence.

Make no mistake – Ford has set out to quash any such misgivings about the Raptor with the new P703 version!