There are pick-up trucks, and then there’s the Ford Ranger Raptor. Big as a house, and powerful as a locomotive, it’s the first citizen of all-American, road transport. Ford has announced its plans of bringing in a limited number of the Raptor, utilising the government’s new policy of allowing a brand to import 2500 models without needing homologation.
This was first reported by Autocar.
Apart from the likes of the Ford Mustang, the Raptor has long been a long-standing flagship of the brand. It’s ability to be driven as the crow flies is central to its appeal, as is its impressive towing capacity and impressive torque figures. It’s this heady concoction of utility mixed with desirability and unbridled machismo, that can make the Ranger Raptor.
Mind you, the Ranger Raptor is different from the even more red blooded F-150 Raptor. But that doesn’t make it a featherweight.
The India-bound Ranger Raptor (the Raptor suffix is added to Ford’s performance-enhanced SUVs,) which shares its underpinnings with the Ford Endeavour may be powered by the same agricultural 2.0-litre turbo-petrol putting out 213bhp and 500Nm of torque, but it’s got the ground clearance and the mechanical chops to be the Baja-style buggy from hell, that you’ve always wanted and needed to waft over Indian terrain.
Of course the Ranger Raptor will have 4WD system, but what also goes some length in justifying the sub-Rs 70 lakh price tag that it’s likely to come with, is its own Terrain Management System which will come with Rock, Gravel, Snow, Climbing, Grass and Baja modes.
The fact that it has a legit ladder-frame chassis, 283mm of ground clearance and 800mm of water wading depth also helps in authenticating its claim as a true, hardcore power-off-roader. Integrated tow bars, recovery hooks – the Ranger has plenty of kit. It also gets special off-road racing coil covers which give it greater suspension travel that fares better under heavy, high-speed load.
The Ranger Raptor is obviously for the hardcore off-road enthusiasts, but I reckon it’s sheer size will be put to use on the road as well. A big bruiser of a pick-up truck, which, even without being powered by a V8, should find plenty of takers.
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