Yeah, we're a bit obsessed. We've never covered a specific truck as
in-depth as we have the remarkable Ford F-150 SVT Raptor off-road
pickup. It's unlike any rig that's come before it, and Ford continues a
steady cadence of adding new features to the truck. We
recently road and dyno tested the new 411-horsepower, 6.2-liter V-8
truck with 434 pounds-feet of torque, and Ford has (finally)
confirmed a SuperCrew
version is on the way for 2011.

Nearly all of our extreme excursions behind the Raptor's wheel have
been in California's Mojave Desert, where it was born to excel on sandy
trails at high speeds. We've never pushed the Raptor to its limits in
wet, muddy terrain, which at first seemed more than a few ticks outside
of the Raptor's comfort zone.

Ford invited us to its Michigan Proving Grounds, north of Detroit to
thrash the Raptor 6.2 across MPG's secluded woodlands; we paid the cost
of our travel and lodging. We expected a day of challenges at lower
speeds than usual, but what wasn't anticipated was how nasty the weather
conditions would be. Under a steady downpour most of the day, we hit
some of the greasiest, snottiest and muddiest single tracks and fields
that we've dared to drive on, but we were comfortable with the knowledge
that if we got stuck help was only a few hundred yards away.

Our navigator and adviser for the day was Gene Martindale, Ford SVT
lead test driver. Martindale has played a critical role developing and
refining the Raptor's off-road driving dynamics and knows the truck's
limits and capabilities about as well as anyone on the planet.

We drove the Raptor looking for its boundaries.

One of the only compromises that Ford had to make developing the
Raptor was the tire choice. The Raptor ships wearing BFGoodrich All
Terrain T/A 315/70R17 tires with massive sidewalls and deep tread for
maximum traction on sand or rocks and ride comfort on the road, but
they're not the optimal choice for rain-soaked trail conditions.

"We thought about mud tires for the Raptor," Martindale said. "They
work awesome in mud, but they sucked at the trade-offs. They were
horrible in grass. They were horrible in sand. They were horrible on the
pavement. They were horrible in snow. They only worked in the mud,
whereas the BFG All Terrain worked everywhere, though it's biggest
weakness was mud. It's kind of a bummer but for those who use the Raptor
in the mud, they'll put on MTs."

The 6.2 Raptor we drove was bone stock with the standard BFG ATs.
They weren't the best choice for the drive but they didn't cripple the
truck, and Martindale shared some driving tips that we can pass along if
you ever decide to drive a Raptor in similar conditions.

Rule No. 1: Wheeling in thick muck seems counterintuitive at first,
but it can mean the difference between crossing a challenge successfully
and calling for help. The trick is to keep your foot in the throttle
instead of trying to gingerly crawl through a sticky spot.

We were in the lead truck snaking up and down tight trails and water
had pooled in almost every trough we crossed. The downhill portions of
most troughs were slick from nonstop runoff, so the Raptor slid, even
with the brakes clamped down. At the bottom, the mud tried to suck the
truck down to its rims. Climbing out meant fighting gravity, suction and
a distinct lack of friction. Our only hope was to modulate the throttle
between 60 to 80 percent of max pedal travel, using wheel spin to clear
slimy debris as quickly as possible from the AT's tightly packed treads
and dig down into the mud to find clay or sand for grip below the soupy
surface layers.

The 6.2-liter V-8 shines as the power engine for the Raptor. Where
the base 5.4-liter V-8 tops out at only 310 hp (on regular unleaded) to
move the Raptor's three-tons, we took full advantage of the 6.2's 411 hp
(on premium unleaded and 401 hp on regular gas) and broad torque curve
to variably grab as much assist as we needed to gain traction. What
might have required wide-open throttle from the 5.4 in certain spots --
to ensure we wouldn't slide backward -- could be dialed in with variable
application of the accelerator that provided a margin for extra power
to keep momentum up and the ability to ramp down when it seemed we might
mow down a tree or three. Still, there were instances where we'd fully
roll our foot and could feel and hear the engine bear down, yet we'd
only traveled inches forward in the mud as the Raptor clawed for
traction.

In one nasty gully that I couldn't find an escape route through,
Martindale showed me just how well he knew the Raptor as he rapidly
modulated the throttle and shifted between forward and Reverse to gain
traction with the barest availability of grip.

The Raptor’s second rule of mudding was to cut corners much earlier
than usual on virgin trails, especially when entering turns at high
speeds. Instead of using wheel spin to clean out the tires, we scrubbed
speed from the truck by easing off the accelerator and allowing the mud
to suck the truck down. Turning the wheel didn't immediately turn the
truck, which proceeded along a straight path until the tires stopped
hydroplaning and dug in. There were instances where it seemed to take up
to 2 or 3 seconds before the Raptor would move along the path the front
wheels were trying to steer it on.

But the second rule changed as we looped back and forth along the
same trails with our large group of Raptors. As each truck followed the
line of the truck in front of it, deep ruts were quickly carved into the
soil. Soon enough, we weren't floating over the mud like ice skaters.
Instead, we were locked into our path like a freight train and one wrong
flick of the wheel at speeds up to 50 mph could have thrown us out of
the ditch and onto our backs. Sometimes, you're just along for the ride.

The final rule was that wheeling the Raptor in mud was more fun that
we thought it could be. In the second half of the day, we were able to
run a high-speed loop over open ground at speeds up to 70 mph on trails
etched in soggy fields, kicking up thick, brown rooster tails behind us
and caking the truck in mud until we almost couldn't see any of its
bright white paint.

After completing our turn steering the Raptor, we were treated to a
hot lap with Martindale at the wheel in a Raptor equipped with Mud
Terrain tires. The difference in performance was amazing with a
race-experience driver in the left seat and rolling stock that shed mud
like water at low speeds. If we owned a Raptor in the Midwest, we'd keep
a set of MTs on hand to swap them out like summer and winter tires.

Photo by Mike Levine

Of course, there were also unique technological helpers that made
driving the Raptor in these tough conditions easier. The Raptor's unique
off-road mode doesn't just change the six-speed automatic
transmission's shift points so the truck performs like a desert racer;
it also changes the antilock braking system's performance to allow the
wheels to lock up at lower speeds and gain traction from the ground
instead of firing the calipers until the truck stops, potentially
allowing it to skate off a trail. In the stickiest spots, we called upon
the rear electronic locking differential to provide extra traction
assist. In another exercise, we simply steered the truck down a 45
percent concrete grade as the Raptor's hill descent control
automatically braked the truck to hold its speed downhill.

Now that we've pushed the 6.2-liter Raptor hard in the desert and wet
woodlands, what would we change? We've got a few minor nits to pick.

When the rain was at its worst and mud splashed up over the hood and
onto the windshield, we'd have liked the windshield wipers to cycle
faster than their fastest setting. There was more than one occasion
where we were flying blind for a second of two longer than we felt
comfortable until the front glass could be cleared.

As we took advantage of all of the Raptor's unique off-road settings,
the same chime sounded to activate or deactivate hill descent control
and off-road mode. We'd like unique chimes so you can tell by ear if
you've accidentally enabled or disabled a mode. When you're adrenalin is
going, visual cues can be overlooked.

Photo by Mike Levine

We've said it once before, but we think the 6.2-liter Raptors need a
badge of some type to differentiate them from the 5.4-liter trucks. At
one point one of the 6.2 trucks had to be swapped for another and the
only way we could locate a replacement truck from a mixed group of
trucks was to pop the hoods and see which engines they had.

Just a bit further out, Ford has promised that the next evolution of
its awesome Sync infotainment system, called MyFordTouch, will feature
custom apps that you'll be able to download, which is similar to the
apps for an Apple iPhone. We'd like someone to create a "booby trap"
app, so when you're traveling with a pack of Raptors one press of a
button on a lead truck can wirelessly tell those behind what to avoid --
just like the navigation systems used in the Baja 1000.

Overall, the 6.2 Raptor, which starts at $41,995, is just about as
perfect as it can be for its job. It's well worth the $3,000 premium
over the 5.4 Raptor. There is nothing that has changed our mind that
this would be our next truck if we were shopping for the best cross
between fun and capability in a full-size pickup.

And now we know that the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor isn't just a good
desert racer, it's also one bad mudder of a pickup.