It's official. My pathetic streak is over. I might not have needed to engage the Raptor's four-wheel drive, but I did spend some time in the dirt this weekend. Sideways, even.
Here's how things like this go in Orange County: There's one accessible (no gate, no long drive) dirt road in the county on which to have some fun. One. As a result, the stupidity level on that road is high on the weekends. It's five miles of the roughest, nastiest dirt anywhere. There are washboards sections, offest frame twisters, creek crossings, water bars and idiots.
Did I mention the idiots?
So we drove it hard. With the idiots. Off-road mode engaged, stability control off. And we fit right in. Even though this is hardly the first time I've driven one of these rigs with vigor, it is the first time I've driven this one that way.
There's something so refreshing about charging through deep washboard at 50 mph. Same with shallow creek crossings. Heck the Raptor doesn't even care if you hit them all crossed up. In fact, the one-wheel-at-a-time thing seems to work best. Most of the time its massive travel even keeps it on the ground.
And when were were done, we at enchiladas. Lots of enchiladas.
With the Raptor a little dirty, I loaded up the family the next day -- kids and all.
Wife: "This thing is filthy, what did you do?"
Dirt Jockey: "I drove it in the dirt. It looks like it's supposed to look."
Wife: "That's great. I just don't want it to touch me."
Dirt Jockey: "Success."
And with that, we proceeded to use the Raptor like a minivan the rest of the day. That's the truly great thing about this truck. Knock its gas mileage, its gratuitous styling and its size all you want. You're not going to find yourself sideways at speed through a creek one day and loaded up with the family for church the next in any minivan.
Best of all...it doesn't care. Its alignment is still good. It cruises at 75 without vibration and there's no more road noise now than there has ever been. It's indifferent to this stuff.
I say it's worth it.
Josh Jacquot, Senior editor
greenpony says:
10:01 AM, 08/ 8/11
Nah, too expensive.
throwback says:
10:17 AM, 08/ 8/11
Considering it has no competition, I'd say it's worth it.
wrinklebump says:
10:23 AM, 08/ 8/11
for the same price you could do a pretty serious mod-job on a wrangler, but the comfort/NVH levels in the raptor are empty-monastery levels compared to the jeep.
saturn95 says:
11:09 AM, 08/ 8/11
Nah, it's a very impressive vehicle, but not really my cup of tea.
bodyblue says:
11:26 AM, 08/ 8/11
Ditto
altimadude05 says:
12:16 PM, 08/ 8/11
I don't find I have the urge to ford streams. I guess that makes me a sheeple.
revn says:
01:30 PM, 08/ 8/11
I wish I knew for a fact that if I owned a Raptor, I'd put it through it's paces enough to justify buying one. I do love the truck, and it's great to see something that off-road capable from the factory, but ~$50k for something that -might- get used for it's real purpose? That's tough to swallow.
Sure, I tell myself now that I'd go hit the trails weekly, but plans are good at falling through, and I'd want to make sure that I could make myself a worthy owner.
mr_bots says:
04:44 PM, 08/ 8/11
So does the bed and cab still line up correctly or is the frame not bent yet?
v8vader says:
11:08 PM, 08/ 8/11
awesome as always. way to go dirt jockey.
2011supercrew says:
08:44 AM, 08/ 9/11
@mr_bots
That whole frame-bending issue was blown WAAAY out of proportion... seven guys on the SAME trail, on the SAME day, driving at the SAME unreasonable speed hit the SAME huge bump that bent everyones truck in the SAME way. Watch the video and you can clearly see that only a true purpose built buggy or trophy truck could have survived such an impact.
That being said, I still love this truck for exactly the reason listed above... it provides a unique capability that can't be had in any other vehicle (incredible off-road capability with excellent on-road civility). For the money, its the best 'enthusiast off-roader' available... IMHO.
70ss454_man says:
09:19 AM, 08/ 9/11
Why are there no videos?