So I finally picked up my 2017 Raptor earlier this week. This truck is amazing. It’s the nicest truck I’ve ever owned, by a wide margin. I paid MSRP and ordered it through a dealership in TX to avoid the absurd ADM that I was finding at every dealer I contacted in SoCal. The order was placed 09/13/16, and I took delivery on 03/14/17. I hit the road the day after taking delivery and drive through the night to arrive home the following day.
There are plenty of reviews that talk about performance etc, so I’m going to focus more on other elements. I had never seen a 2017 Raptor in the flesh until I picked mine up, so I really wasn’t sure what things I may not like about it. I knew the specs on the truck and I was able to add every option that I wanted, so I knew what it would be like from a feature standpoint, however some things you just don’t know until you see it and drive it. I’m talking about things like seat comfort, visibility, ergonomics etc. Well, I’m pleased to say that in my opinion the truck excels in all of these areas. About 12 hours after taking delivery, I embarked on a 23 hour drive from TX to CA. I had a travel companion with me, so we were able trade off driving and resting. We pushed through and only stopped for meals and gas. The long trip home gave me a good sense of ergonomics and seat comfort, and I couldn’t be happier. The seats are highly adjustable, and the front passenger seat rolls back and reclines enough to create a reasonable resting position while someone else drives. The SCREW cab is perfect - it’s plenty of room for adults, but it’s not any bigger than it needs to be. The twin panel roof is amazing. It really makes the cabin feel huge and open, even for passengers in the back. The power outlet in the back of the center console will be great for rear passengers while on road trips, as will the rear seat warmers. The visibilty from every seat is great, as it would be in any F-150 SCREW regardless of the trim level. I’ve had several vehicles that suffered in this area, but the Raptor has great visibility all around. Part of that is due to the ride height, but much of it is due to the cab design. My travel companion is very tall, and although I’m only average height, both of us were able to achieve comfortable seating positions and excellent visibility. I like the way the front door panels are cut down towards the front allowing better visibility when looking down towards the road from either front seat. I have not owned an F-150 before, so this was something I noticed and appreciated immediately.
As you would expect, the suspension is amazing. Most bumps are better handled with more speed. I took three identical speed bumps at 20mph, 30mph and 40 mph, and as the speed increased, so did the comfort. I didn’t try it, but I’m pretty sure I could have taken it at 60mph and barely known it was there. Aside from taking hits and bumps (that you would expect the truck to handle well), the suspension offers a very comfortable ride under general driving conditions. My travel companion owns a late model Cadillac Escalade, and when I commented that the Raptor rides like a Cadillac he replied that it actually rides much better than his Cadillac.
The SYNC 3 interface is pretty intuitive to navigate, and very responsive. I’ll dig out the manual at some point, but so far I haven’t needed it. The only trouble I’ve had is with voice recognition and the required syntax for voice commands - that’s something I’ll have to read up on as I was having trouble getting it to do what I wanted.
This is probably going to sound strange, but one of my favorite features is the side steps. I’ve had several vehicles with side steps, but nothing even close the quality of the ones on the Raptor. They’re large, well positioned, and have a textured coating on them (similar to LineX) that makes for a sure-fotted experience when entering or exiting the vehicle. My wife and kids love them too. The ones I’ve had on previous vehicles were much smaller, and very slippery when wet. The ones on the Raptor are perfect.
In terms of drive modes, I’ve only really played with Normal and Sport so far. Both work just fine, but I like the way that Sport doesn’t skip gears. There have been times where I take off in Normal mode and the truck shifts from 1st to 3rd, then I decide I want to give it a little more. The truck will willingly downshift to 2nd, but it’s a somewhat abrupt experience. In Sport mode the truck hold the gears longer and doesn’t seem to skip any gears, so giving it a little more gas won’t cause it to downshift as often. Obviously if your cruising normally and mash down on the gas pedal, the truck will need to downshift regardless of what mode you’re in. I’m just talking about taking off normally, then deciding (as you’re still accelerating) that the guy in the truck next to you probably wants to see what your tailgate looks like. [emoji2] I live in SoCal so we don’t get much in the way of “weather” here, but I will certainly be testing out Baja and Mud/Sand when I take it off-road. I’m looking at wrap options currently, so I don’t plan on going off-road until the wrap is taken care of.
Bottom line - I seriously love this truck. It’s really the perfect truck in my opinion. It’s comfortable, capable, and SO good to look at. I’m literally looking for reasons to drive places. In fact, I’m going to go see if my wife needs anything from the store...
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