2024 Ford Ranger Raptor: Everything You Want in a Pickup, and Less

Let’s get this out of the way: The Ford Ranger XL starts at $34,415, including shipping. Our test truck, a Ford Ranger Raptor, lists for $60,545. Is there really a justifiable $26,130 worth of content in the Raptor, over the base XL?

Arguably, yes. The Ranger XL is reasonably well-equipped—air conditioning, cruise control, 17-inch aluminum wheels, a six-speaker sound system, and most all the safety systems you’d get in a more expensive model—and there’s the general goodness of the extensive redesign for 2024, which carries over to 2025 with no notable updates. The mid-sized Ranger joined the Ford lineup in 2019, and frankly, I never warmed up to it. The 2024 model and I, however, hit it off.

And the Ford Ranger Raptor—yeah, we became very close friends during a varied two-week test. The more I drove it, the more I was able to justify the price, to the point where it seemed pretty reasonable.

That said, if you need a durable and overbuilt work or play truck, the F-150-based Raptor may be more your speed. According to Ford.com, the F-150 Raptor with the V-6 starts at $80,535, and if you want the lovely supercharged 5.2-liter with 720 horsepower, it will cost you an extra $31,925, bringing the price to just over $113,000.

See? Suddenly our $60,545 Ranger Raptor doesn’t seem so outrageous. After all, it’s willing to work; the five-foot bed, with a spray-in bedliner (a $495 option) can handle the usual 4×4 sheets of plywood, and it will tow 5510 pounds, about what my open car trailer weighs, with car. There’s already a dashboard-mounted trailer brake controller, and trailer backup assist is standard.

But the Ranger Raptor would rather play. Standard Rangers are available with either a turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder or a 2.7-liter V-6 engine, but the Raptor, which only comes with four-wheel-drive, has the 3.0-liter V-6 with twin turbochargers. It’s rated at 405 horsepower, and 430 pound-feet of torque. Acceleration is brisk but not exactly exhilarating, though our 0-to-60 mph time of 5.7 seconds isn’t bad. Sometimes 10-speed automatic transmissions can seem frightfully busy, but the one in the Raptor did its work in the background. It’s controlled by a floor-mounted shifter, or by steering wheel paddles.

If you absolutely need more power, we’ve reported on Ford Performance’s $825 software upgrade that increases the turbos’ output to make 455 horsepower and 536 pound-feet of torque. That’ll get you down the road, and it doesn’t void your Ford warranty.

Beneath the body, you can tell where Raptor designers and engineers got busy. Front to back, there are aluminum upper and lower control arms, a special, strengthened steering rack, Fox Live Valve shocks with variable damping, and an anti-roll bar. In the rear suspension, a Watt’s linkage replaces the cheaper Panhard rod, and coilover springs on piggyback-reservoir Fox shocks help make the live axle feel, well, less lively. This is helpful off-road, but it also pays dividends on bumpy pavement, with well-controlled movement in the rear end.

Specs: 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor

Price: $55,620/$60,545 (base/as-tested)
Powertrain: 3.0-liter iron-block V-6 with twin turbochargers; 10-speed automatic transmission
Output: 405 horsepower at 5500 rpm; 430 pound-feet of torque at 3500 rpm
Layout: Front-engine, four-door, five-passenger, four-wheel-drive pickup
Weight: 5325 pounds
0–60 mph: 5.7 seconds as tested
EPA-rated fuel economy: 16/18/17 mpg (city/hwy/combined)
Competitors: Nissan Frontier, Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, GMC Canyon Denali

One of the real stars of the Ranger Raptor package is the 33-inch tires: LT285/70 R17 BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A K03s. The Raptor is a versatile truck, and these are among the most versatile tires I’ve encountered.

The rubber says “Baja Champion” on the sidewalls, and they were likely chosen for their prowess in leaping sand dunes. Said dunes are scarce in Florida. But there is plenty of lower-speed mud and packed sand, and the tires worked well in those conditions, as well as on dry and rain-soaked pavement, where they are surprisingly quiet.

Inside the Ranger Raptor, there’s plenty of evidence of added value. You’ll find a power sliding rear window, ambient lighting, rain-sensing wipers, adaptive cruise control with sign recognition, and a 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system. The leather-trimmed charcoal upholstery is highlighted by Code Orange stitching, and orange highlights are applied all through the cabin. The Raptor’s power front bucket seats are comfortable even on long drives, but the padded bolsters offer some side support if you get sporty. The rear seats, which have a fold-down center console, are roomier than you’d expect. And the seats fold forward if you need interior cargo space, plus there’s a storage area underneath.

There is a vertical 12.4-inch display in the center of the dashboard, accessible to both driver and passenger. It controls a wide range of functions, from the navigation system to the differential locks; the display is responsible for so much that we wholly recommend that you read about it in the owner’s manual. Up above, there are six blank auxiliary switches, ready for use with add-on off-road accessories, such as custom lighting. The configurable all-digital instrument panel is contained in a 12-inch horizontal screen.

Outside, you’ll find twin tow hooks front and rear, heated power-folding, body-colored mirrors; big wheelarch flares, beadlock-capable wheels ($1495), prominent dual exhausts, some thin, useless running boards and, on our truck, thanks to a $750 graphics package, some stripes on the rear flank and large, make-no-mistake-this-is-a-RAPTOR lettering.

Indeed, you are unlikely to forget this Ranger is a Raptor; there’s a big badge on the tailgate, and RAPTOR is printed on the base of the headrests, onto the very nice sport steering wheel, and on those running boards. It isn’t as tacky as it sounds, and it all works pretty well with the Hot Pepper Red Metallic paint ($495). Surprisingly there isn’t some sort of bold RAPTOR plastic engine cover, but rather a plain mass of hoses and metal tubes and wiring. The EPA-rated average fuel mileage is 17 mpg, and our mileage was 17.7 mpg. The Raptor makes maximum power on 91-octane gas, but 87-octane works fine.

On the road, the Ranger Raptor’s size makes it a viable city commuter. Even with 10.5 inches of ground clearance, the step-in isn’t that steep. The ride is smooth, especially if you select the “Comfort” mode, and there’s a “Quiet” exhaust setting (along with Normal, Sport, or Baja), helpful because the exhaust noise coming from the V-6 engine is annoying. We know performance V-6s can sound melodic, witness the Nissan Z, but this one’s just raspy.

Off road, you have some decisions to make. Would you like the Normal, Tow/Haul, Sport, Slippery, Off-Road, Rock Crawl, or Baja settings? Rear- or four-wheel-drive? High or Low? Locked or unlocked front and rear differentials? Our modest trail mostly just required Off-Road and four-wheel High, but we experimented with the Low gearing; it pulls like a draft horse. And those BF Goodrich tires dug in properly.

We couldn’t find much to complain about with the Ranger Raptor. It’s a Swiss Army knife of a pickup truck, as comfortable going for groceries or for some serious off-roading, where its smaller size makes it feel nimble. It may not be the perfect truck, but it isn’t far off the mark.

2024 Ford Ranger Raptor

Highs: Profoundly versatile. Works very well as your in-city daily driver and out-of-city weekend playmate. Garageable and fits in most any parking place. Agreeable transmission. Nice interior.

Lows: Engine doesn’t feel like 405 horsepower. Fuel mileage is pretty grim. $60,000 for a Ranger seems pricey on the surface.

Takeaway: The Ford Ranger Raptor is about as close as a 405-hp trail runner can be to a viceless pickup truck. Maybe that’s ideal for people who don’t ordinarily like pickups.

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