So I've had my 2023 Ford Ranger Raptor for a little while now. What has it been like to live with? What is great about it...and what's not so great? This is a candid take on what it's like to live with a car you bought with your own money and not just a free press vehicle to fang around in.
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Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
What's it like? 01:05
Fuel Economy 01:39
Infotainment issues 02:50
Day to day use 05:03
Some small issues 06:27
Hot lap 08:13
Verdict 10:42
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
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#ford #ranger #raptor
Our other Ranger videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw_MiPgGBLEsyIw7OL3cxiOtZyTfJAPLp
More Ford content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/ford
More Ford Ranger content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/ford/ranger
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
What's it like? 01:05
Fuel Economy 01:39
Infotainment issues 02:50
Day to day use 05:03
Some small issues 06:27
Hot lap 08:13
Verdict 10:42
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
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Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#ford #ranger #raptor
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day everyone, so my Raptor is here.
00:03 I thought I'd do a quick update on what ownership has been like so far,
00:07 because I genuinely have not had like a proper chance to drive it.
00:10 And yeah, we're out filming today and I thought I'd bring it along
00:13 so we can have a little little drive of it, have some fun with it
00:16 and just see how it's all going and give you guys a bit of an update.
00:19 I guess before we jump into the car and go for a bit of a drive,
00:22 this is my registration plate.
00:25 Yeah, so zero tools because I'm not a tradie.
00:29 (crickets chirping)
00:30 Cue the laughter.
00:32 But yes, the other registration plate I wanted to go with
00:35 that I actually have in my possession, unfortunately, I can't use because
00:40 political correctness and all that other sort of stuff.
00:44 So this is what I've got for the moment.
00:46 If that situation changes, I will change it to that registration plate.
00:49 So yeah, look, today's video is going to be super casual and informal,
00:53 but I'm going to run you through what this has been like so far,
00:56 what the fuel economy is like and any problems that have popped up
00:59 since I've taken ownership as well.
01:00 So yeah, let's hit the road and go for a bit of a spin.
01:03 OK, so we've just hit the road in my Raptor.
01:09 So what's it been like?
01:11 I reckon let's kick off with fuel economy.
01:14 Actually, let's kick off with my pet peeve.
01:16 Every time I start the car, because obviously it's a V6 turbo,
01:20 I want to hear it, I always turn the exhaust mode on and switch stop start off.
01:25 If you are watching this, you know a way of automating that,
01:28 so I don't have to do it every single time.
01:30 Please let me know.
01:31 The other thing I do is switch off the lane departure assistance.
01:35 So it's two presses of this button that does that.
01:37 And then away it goes.
01:39 Now, what about fuel economy?
01:41 So when we last spoke, which was on the way back from picking up this
01:45 from Port Macquarie, I drove it basically on the highway all the way down,
01:49 got home at over a thousand k's on the clock.
01:52 I've just clicked over 2,100 k's.
01:55 So like I said at the start, I really haven't had a chance to drive it.
01:58 I've been overseas and for work and stuff like that.
02:00 So I haven't really had a chance to have a proper fang.
02:03 Now that I have driven it a bit more, it's mainly been city driving,
02:06 plus this sort of highway drive here.
02:09 The economy is now up to 12.9 litres per 100 k's.
02:13 So it is definitely on the way up.
02:15 And we're over that honeymoon period of being in the tens and elevens.
02:18 So I think this is probably where it's going to sit.
02:21 I have noticed a material difference as well between 2H and 4A.
02:25 So if you are looking for economy, just leave it in 2H.
02:28 That's pretty much what I do.
02:29 If it's wet, definitely if it's wet and if there are sort of sketchy conditions,
02:33 I'll always stick it into 4A.
02:34 But 2H does the job, and it also means that
02:37 it's not going to use as much fuel either, which is good.
02:40 So fuel use aside, and I always feed this with 98, by the way,
02:43 so it will run on any fuel, but it will produce less power.
02:46 The worse the fuel is, I always just stick 98 in it.
02:50 In terms of the infotainment system,
02:52 this is something that I'm growing to not really like all that much.
02:55 It looks all flashy and stuff to start with, but it is really fiddly to use.
03:00 And I have learned my way around the menus here and how to do stuff,
03:03 but it is pretty fiddly to use.
03:05 And I find that even accessing some basic functions,
03:08 you've got to take your eyes off the road, look all the way down here,
03:10 flick up to make that happen.
03:12 It's just a bit sort of fiddly and clumsy.
03:15 So I think it needs some extra CPU grunt because it can be laggy at times.
03:19 But outside of that, wireless CarPlay works flawlessly for me.
03:22 I don't have any issues with that at the moment.
03:25 I know that some owners do sort of run into dramas,
03:27 but mine has been perfectly fine, so it hasn't been a drama at all.
03:30 So, yeah, from an infotainment point of view,
03:33 I reckon they could probably do a little bit more work on that to make it better.
03:35 The other thing I found curious as well, so I'm about to book this in for a service.
03:41 It's the three month sort of complimentary inspection.
03:44 And as I was sort of going through the process of doing that,
03:47 I noticed there were three recalls already.
03:48 So the recalls have to do with the lane support system,
03:52 something to do with the headlights and it's just they're all software things.
03:55 Ford boasted about this having over the air updates.
03:58 And at the moment, you can't do anything as an over the air update,
04:01 as far as I can tell.
04:02 So it's a bit silly that they've got the system that's capable of it,
04:05 but they've just not deployed any over the air updates.
04:07 I'm going to have to take it to the dealer.
04:09 I was planning on already doing that, but the fact that I have to do it
04:12 if I didn't need to go to the dealer is pretty frustrating.
04:16 One thing that I've found really interesting,
04:18 and someone said this to me the other day,
04:20 my mate that works at a Ford dealer, he goes,
04:22 "I have that many Ranger customers coming in wanting to replace their roof aerials."
04:26 And I thought, why would they need to be replacing their roof aerials?
04:29 And I've now discovered why. It is just the silliest design.
04:32 So there's Sharkfin Aerial up the back there,
04:34 but the Sharkfin Aerial has another aerial that grows out of it.
04:37 And that aerial points backwards.
04:39 So if you're reversing into a park and this is right at the sort of
04:43 upper height limit of some of the lower car parks in the city,
04:46 you will clip that on, you know,
04:48 cladding or whatever they have there in the car park and you're going to rip it off.
04:52 So I think that is a really silly design.
04:54 If you do get rid of it, it means you lose some of your reception.
04:56 So it's something that has to be there.
04:58 But frustratingly, it really does get in the way of things.
05:01 What has the Raptor been like to live with day to day?
05:06 And this is the thing that's probably surprised me the most.
05:09 You look at this from the outside and go,
05:11 it doesn't look very practical or sort of, you know,
05:15 just not a very good daily, but it is actually a fantastic daily.
05:18 It is so comfortable.
05:20 It soaks up bumps really nicely at the moment with the size of some of the potholes out there.
05:24 This thing is just gliding over them.
05:26 So in and around the city, it's great.
05:27 I love that. Parking it is easy.
05:29 The camera quality is great.
05:31 It's got front rear parking sensors.
05:33 You get good visibility out of the cabin as well.
05:35 Big wing mirrors. It really just ticks all of those boxes.
05:37 The other thing that I love as well, I've got my daughter's baby seat in here.
05:42 She loves this car because in our Tesla,
05:44 she sits quite low and you can't see out the window as well.
05:48 Whereas here, she sits a little bit higher
05:50 and it means she has great visibility out the windows
05:52 and she can see what's going on in the world around her.
05:54 The other advantage as well is something that I never really thought about
05:58 with an electric car, but she's a very light sleeper.
06:00 So in our Tesla, she never really falls asleep.
06:03 If we're stationary, she'll always wake up.
06:05 Whereas here, because it rumbles at idle, she'll always fall asleep,
06:08 which is pretty cool.
06:09 So she loves being in here.
06:11 I love driving her around in this as well.
06:13 These are the ultimate family car because you can go off road
06:16 on the weekend with your mates.
06:17 You can take the kids out to do fun stuff and on workdays,
06:21 you can go and do work related stuff.
06:22 So it really is a car that encapsulates all of that.
06:25 Now, have I had any issues with it?
06:30 There is one thing that has popped up, actually two things.
06:33 So first up, this sort of cover here is a bit sort of janky and funny.
06:39 It doesn't sort of open or close properly.
06:41 The other thing as well, it has a rough idle.
06:44 Now, I don't know if this is a problem or not, but I remember back when
06:48 we used to drive SS Commodores as press cars, when they had the LS3,
06:52 they had a rough idle and I love that because it was an LS3.
06:54 It was meant to feel that way.
06:56 This, when it's warm and only when it's warm and it's stationary,
07:00 it has a fairly rough idle and it is very reminiscent of the LS3.
07:04 And I can't remember what the last press car was like that we drove.
07:07 So what I'm going to do, and I think we'll probably insert it in this part
07:11 of the video, but shoot it later on, is I'll go get a press car and just
07:15 see what it's like at idle compared to my car, because if it is different,
07:20 I will flag it at the service that I'm about to go and do and see if
07:23 they can actually address it and have a look at it.
07:25 Okay, so our Raptors have multiplied.
07:28 I have the press Raptor here.
07:29 There's my Raptor over there.
07:31 We're doing a very unscientific test here.
07:34 I've got a water bottle on the dashboard and we're sort of seeing how the
07:39 water sort of moves around as the cars vibrate.
07:42 Feels kind of the same.
07:44 Mine does feel a little rougher than this, but it's not sort of totally out of proportion.
07:48 We actually went in and I did a service, it was my first sort of service,
07:53 which we'll actually talk about in another video, I reckon.
07:57 And then I got them, I mentioned it to them and they did some kind of an update
08:01 to it, which didn't really make much of a difference.
08:03 But anyway, here we are.
08:04 So long and short of it, I don't seem to have an issue.
08:07 It feels kind of the same as the press car, maybe just a tiny bit rougher than the press car.
08:11 But aside from that, it's nothing to be worried about.
08:14 Now, one thing I have been dying to do, because when we actually drove Raptor here
08:17 the first time around, it was a bit wet and sketchy.
08:20 It's now bone dry.
08:21 So I'm going to pop this into sport mode.
08:25 We'll flick it.
08:27 Let's leave it in too high.
08:29 Have a little bit of fun with it.
08:31 See what it feels like.
08:32 I thought, let's go for a little stab around the track here while it is dry
08:36 and see how it feels.
08:38 The thing I love about this, these tyres, the KO2s are really a shocking tyre in the wet,
08:50 but in the dry, they have a surprising amount of traction.
08:54 I can see that traction light going absolutely bananas there.
09:00 But it's what makes it so much fun to drive.
09:03 The brakes, look, the brakes are good, but what I have noticed,
09:07 I'm going to actually get it into 4A for this faster section up the back.
09:09 What I have noticed with the brakes is that they're not there for a long time.
09:20 They're just there for a good time.
09:21 And as a result of that, you do find that you get a little bit of brake fade
09:26 if you are constantly attacking them.
09:28 But you do get a fair bit of traction on the tyres once they're warm.
09:33 Let's give this a little jab on the back here.
09:38 All right, here we go. Open that up.
09:40 See how that feels.
09:42 That is absolutely moving.
09:45 Nice.
09:46 So, yeah, look, this actually is a really exciting car to drive.
09:53 Like, I don't know, it is a bit hard to put into words
09:56 because when we drive these sort of as press cars,
09:59 I go for a bit of a fang in them and they're really exciting.
10:02 But when it's your own and it does the same sort of stuff
10:04 and puts a big smile on your face,
10:06 it really just makes me love the fact that I bought one.
10:08 So, yeah, I'm sort of pretty happy with that.
10:11 And then probably the last thing we need to do here,
10:13 if I put this over to Baja, my tyres are still very new.
10:19 So I'll put this into two-wheel drive high range.
10:23 I'm gonna switch off stability control as well.
10:27 I think we just need to take the top layer off those tyres.
10:31 So let's...
10:33 Let's go over here to the skid pad.
10:39 Right, Sean, you ready?
10:41 (LAUGHS)
10:42 (LAUGHS)
10:49 (ENGINE REVS)
10:51 So, yes, look, it's safe to say I'm absolutely loving my Raptor.
11:02 I'm so glad that I bought one.
11:04 It is a ute that just...
11:07 It just hauls arse and it puts a big smile on my face.
11:10 And that, to me, is important.
11:11 You have to have a big smile on your face
11:13 if you're buying something like this.
11:15 You don't want just something boring
11:17 that you get to go A to B with.
11:19 You really need something that is gonna make you happy,
11:21 and this, for me, is exactly that car.
11:23 So, yeah, let me know in the comments section below,
11:25 is there anything else you want to know about?
11:28 Is there anything you want me to do with it?
11:29 I'm really keen for your feedback.
11:31 So let me know down there and I will organise whatever I can.