2024 Ford Ranger Raptor Review

Once in a while a vehicle comes along that changes your preconceived opinions about it in mere moments after starting the engine. The 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor is one such vehicle, sounding silly on paper with it's 3.0L Twin-Turbo V6, big off-road tires, beefy fender flares, and metal skid plats throughout. While technically designed to be the most off-road oriented version of the new Ford Ranger, the Raptor's performance and speed are sports car levels out of a capable utility vehicle.

My nearly 200km drive home with the Ranger Raptor was kept in full sport mode with manual shifting, and while it cost me nearly $100 in premium fuel to do that, it was well worth it - which is strange coming from someone like me who prefers fuel efficiency over everything, but sometimes a vehicle throws away everything you've come to expect and re-writes the rule book. So did the Ranger Raptor.

With an as-tested price of approximately $84,000 CAD, the 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor 4x4 isn't cheap, but compared to the full F-150 Raptor R or Bronco Raptor, this Raptor is a steal, and I think the sweet spot in the truck lineup. I drove the F-150 Raptor R after this and found it enjoyable, rugged, and capable, but the Ranger checks off all the boxes on my list for a fraction of the price, and fits my personal needs of being a useable mid-size pickup.

The 3.0L Twin-Turbo EcoBoost V6 produces 405 horsepower, 430 lb-ft of torque, and only comes in 4x4 configuration. Some of our commenters have complained that Ford's decision to only offer the automatic transfer case on the Raptor is a miss, but it is a welcomed feature on this truck. We kept it in 2H almost the entire week, as the weather was favourable for some spirited driving. Unfortunately no "Truck Stuff" was accomplished during my week.

This generation Ford Ranger was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, coming out about 2 model years later than it should have. The previous generation was tired, with old design language and technology making it's age apparent. This refresh is exactly that, refreshing. With updated exterior styling to make it feel more inline with Ford's current design language, without completely copying the looks of the larger F-150 full-size pickup truck. Our test model was optioned with the Raptor graphic decals which I think help make the truck unique, especially in this paint colour.

The interior of the Ranger gets a big update from the previous generation also, with a large tablet-style Ford Sync 4 infotainment system in the centre of the dash. We appreciate that physical controls still exist including the HVAC and radio controls, and while the Sync 4 system can be a little laggy at times, the system works well enough. We recently did a video talking about the dangers of these tablet-style infotainment systems.

The Raptor takes things up a notch with some special Ford Performance parts, including upgraded leather seating, performance steering wheel with alloy paddle shifters, and Ford Performance skid plates. One feature unavailable no matter how much money you want to throw at Ford is a sunroof, panoramic or regular. Ford still doesn't offer either option on this new generation Ranger, and something we hope gets added down the road.

While the 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor 4x4 may not be the pickup truck for everyone, it certainly is the truck for someone - including me. This is actually a truck I'd be interested in buying, in this exact configuration, with a panoramic sunroof. The fun I had was this was unmatched in a pickup truck, even the F-150 Raptor R which felt like it cost me more in gas just to start it up than driving around town in the Ranger.

If you want to know more about the 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor and see me have a lot of fun driving around in it, I highly suggest checking out our full tour and review over on our YouTube Channel: