First Impression Black Crew Cab-Florida
I've been watching this forum for awhile reading up on the new Raptor, when to expect delivery etc etc. I picked mine up yesterday. Its a black crew cab with the luxury package. In case anyone is interested I bought one that was ordered for dealer inventory, according to the sticker it was built on 12/3 and delivered on 12/16. (to north FL). For what its worth the guys that ordered theirs back in the Summer that don't have them yet that is BS Ford did that, and I'm a big Ford fan. I've only had it on road so far so this is all based on that.
I'm going to attempt to compare in context to my '15 King Ranch and my buddies 14' Raptor. Here goes:
1) Visually the truck is amazing. Every part of the way it looks is cool. I really like that there is zero chrome on it. The tailgate applique I was skeptical of at first is actually awesome. Its sort of the gunmetal color and looks sweet up against the black. My only "complaint" and I had to look real hard to find one is the front bumper has these holes in it on each end, presumably for after market lights and what not. It just looks a bit odd to me with nothing in there. The tail pipes are huge...sort of reminds me of the back end of a fighter jet.
2) The ride quality is superb and exceeded my expectations. Its at least as smooth of a ride as my king ranch and way better than the '14 raptor. It soaks up bumps with ease, is very quiet and basically zero wind noise. I have to say I was really impressed with how refined this thing drives on the road.
3) The BFG tires are great (on road only so far). There is zero humming, growling etc. They are as smooth as my wifes Michelins are on her denali. I noticed they are "C" range which I bet has something to do with it. Most off road type tires I've ever had are D or E range. I think the C ride smoother.
4) Speed: I've read in a few different places that it has been tested as a mid 5 second rig. Truth be told it is for sure quick but it didn't feel that fast to me, meaning 5 point something second fast. Granted I didn't get the stop watch out and really get on it but it didn't feel like it had 5 seconds in it. Again it is plenty fast just not sure it is that fast? It felt basically as fast as my KR (eco boost), but did feel faster than the '14 raptor.
5) Interior: Very similar to the fit and finish of any of the higher end F150s of late. Some of the materials/colors are raptor specific, like the accents are that same gunmetal grey as opposed to the more brushed aluminum look in the KR. If you've had a newer KR/Platinum etc it will be familiar to you. If you are used to an older pickup this will be substantially nicer. I will say they've upgraded the seats though, more comfortable and supportive than my '15. I don't know if the better seats are a raptor thing or a 2017 in general thing. It has all the gadgets I would expect in a vehicle at this price point: heated/cooled seats, steering wheel, cameras everywhere, LEDs in the box and on the mirrors, adaptive cruise, etc etc. Again if you are currently driving a 5 or 6 year old rig that may not have all this you will be blown away, if you have a '15 or '16 high trim model pretty much the same stuff.
6) The auto/start stop thing is weird. I'm sure I will get used to it but when you are sitting at a red light it shuts off. In the back of my mind when the light turns green I feel like I will hit the gas too fast as the engine is starting back up and break something. I'm sure that there is some sort of gizmo to keep this from happening but just the same its weird. A few notes on this: you can turn it off by hitting a button above the nav screen, it turns off automatically in sport mode and finally if you stop, let it shut off, let the brake off it will crank back up and if you put the brake back on it will stay running.
7) Transmission: So the ten speed based on all the stuff on the forum is controversial. I think I read somewhere that in normal drive mode it was jerky and in sport it was not. I have the exact opposite impression. Mine is as smooth as silk in normal mode. When I put it in sport mode it shifts much harder and quicker, almost jerky but not quite. This is what I would expect.
8) MPG: not sure why anyone getting a raptor cares that much but I'm getting 15MPG so far in mixed driving. I've driven it about 150 miles. My '15 ecoboost got about 16.5 or so and my '11 about the same. Now that I'm thinking about it the raptor get's closer to the sticker MPG than either my '11 or '15. My '15 couldn't get 23MPG downhill with a tailwind LOL.
I'm sure I missed something but thought folks might find this useful. Overall I'm impressed so far and glad I bought.