Clash of the dirt dinosaurs

[Smokyray]

Well said y'all..
I've driven my Stepsons Rebel extensively and it's a solid truck, but not a Raptor ride, or performance, on or off road. The only (slight) edge I give Dodge (Ram) over Ford is the interior.
It's very well done with a superbly engineered tech center display. The TRX shares this which is a plus. I'd actually buy a Rebel vice the TRX as it's much more bang for the buck, (11,500lb towing capacity, selectable 4WD)
however comma,

I'm not trading my Raptor anytime soon..

 

[Medic 6]

Not trading my Raptor either.

 

[K223]

The TRX is a lot of truck in many ways, no doubt about it. Even if you hate Rams you cannot deny many of the good features it has.

With that said, I don’t think it’s the truck I expected in the looks dept and what the early pre production trucks looked like over the last couple of years. Even a 5 year old Raptor design looks more aggressive to me.

Outside of the high HP blown V8 which is FCA’s signature, multi link/coil rear and upgraded interior. It seems like the truck is as cloned and everything slightly equaled to or upgraded just enough to say it’s that much better than the 5 year old Raptor.

With that said, I think outside the raw power, it’s somewhat dated on arrival in today’s world. Not much that is anything groundbreaking as the Raptor Brought to the table. Just another top off road competitor. I have to think Ford can do better. And not necessarily taking sides.

 

[pbtjrlmrt]

I have serious doubts as to how easy it will be to modify these things. While I'm sure it would do just fine, within reason, I'll stick with a heavily modified raptor as the main fun-haver.

10mpg on road will mean 5-6ish offroad. How big is the gas tank? I'd be worried about off-road range when you're flogging it.

I really don't like the awd full-time. Furthermore, I'd be VERY interested to take a look at the front CVs to see if they'd even allow extra travel.

I think it's a cool truck for the street, but I wouldn't make room in my stable for it. Every mouthbreather with an inferiority complex will be trying to drag race you.

and fwiw, dropping a 750HP motor into a raptor costs a hell of a lot more than $20K. (i'd have already V8 swapped my truck if it was $20K, in all reality, to pay a pro, it's more than double that.)



oh and Alcantara? ooph. Make good friends with a very talented detailer. One trip into the dirt and it'll never be clean again.

You are comparing an aftermarket engine swap to a factory original engine? seriously? The cost difference of dropping in a different motor is not measurable if the truck is designed for it. They may charge more for the engine as it will be slightly more expensive to build it but most of the cost difference is marketing and what people are willing to pay. Your aftermarket swap comparison is just silly.

You clearly have no experience with the Alcantara Ford uses in the Raptor. I have it...gotten it dirty...repeatedly...and it cleans up as easy as the leather does. Spilled an entire pot of beans on it even...can't tell it's not new. Please inform yourself before commenting or at least let everyone know you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Rollofire]

Its still a just a DODGE, and I don't like the way they look at all.....

 

[bubb2521]

For me it really is just the full time AWD

 

[zombiekiller]

You are comparing an aftermarket engine swap to a factory original engine? seriously? The cost difference of dropping in a different motor is not measurable if the truck is designed for it. They may charge more for the engine as it will be slightly more expensive to build it but most of the cost difference is marketing and what people are willing to pay. Your aftermarket swap comparison is just silly.

You clearly have no experience with the Alcantara Ford uses in the Raptor. I have it...gotten it dirty...repeatedly...and it cleans up as easy as the leather does. Spilled an entire pot of beans on it even...can't tell it's not new. Please inform yourself before commenting or at least let everyone know you don't know what you're talking about.

I have had PLENTY of experience, my friend.

I have driven my truck harder than 99% of raptor owners, up and down Baja, and deserts in Nevada, Texas, California, Arizona, and Oklahoma. it has gotten filthy, dented, dirty and by no means babied. I've got 25K offroad miles on mine, how about you?

Please grab your ears with both hands and pull your head out of your ass.

My point in mentioning the motor swap is, if you were to try to BUILD a raptor that had a V8 in it, you'd be looking at $30K over what you paid, at minimum and thus, the motor in the dodge pulling a $20K premium isn't crazy. So no, my comparison is not silly.

 

[jimmyjamm]

I am surprised that someone even mentioned Ram and good fit and finish in the same sentence.
Yeah, Rams tend to have a nicer feel to the interior, but the problem is the TRX engine and transmission are good (the transmission is after all a ZF, which is why its good, it's not a Ram/Dodge product), it's the rest of the truck in FCA!

 

[melvimbe]

$20k is a good chunk of money, but let’s face it, if a $75k Raptor (before mods) is the daily driver, a $90k truck isn’t that out of the realm.

I keep seeing this sort of logic, but doesn't make sense to me. Sure, there are those out there that can buy any vehicle they want, but the majority have a budget they have to live under. From what I've seen, Raptor owners don't have unlimited funds and stretched the budget to get their dream truck at $70k. This is fairly evident by the talk about dealer pricing and such. They could not all easily stretch that to $90k, or at least would much prefer to spend that $20k elsewhere.

 

[Russ103]

I keep seeing this sort of logic, but doesn't make sense to me. Sure, there are those out there that can buy any vehicle they want, but the majority have a budget they have to live under. From what I've seen, Raptor owners don't have unlimited funds and stretched the budget to get their dream truck at $70k. This is fairly evident by the talk about dealer pricing and such. They could not all easily stretch that to $90k, or at least would much prefer to spend that $20k elsewhere.

That’s certainly the case with a decent portion of Raptor owners.

The searching for MSRP or below however would apply to people of all incomes IMO since nobody likes to overpay for anything.