This whole thing reads as my Dad can beat up your Dad.
@
Randy M,
I'm probably going to pointlessly try and reason with you here. What you are calling people hating or trash talking the Gen II is really Realistic Raptor owners knowing that what is pre-released and what you get delivered is not always the same. Also regurgitating commercials is not an actual indicator of performance. Were we actually meant to jump our trucks....But But But...the commercials. And finally new is not always better nor updates always done for the reasons you might assume.
Will the Gen II be better, possibly, in some ways, Its not an SVT if that matters to anyone, Jamal was quick to point out... or possibly worse, in some ways. Point is we won't know that answer until its keys in hand and real world experience for those looking to buy one.
Tizzle suggested early on that you do some research on the Frame thing, you need more than just research on that. Maybe a general understanding of the Gen I? Something that most of us have.
Such as... New is better? This is ridiculous. Did the Gen I improve each year that it was in production. Well they certainly offered new things each year. Like cooled seats or beadlocks... totally a improvement in some peoples opinions. But why is it that we own a 2012 that chews through IWE's like it was made to? How about pumps and racks? When the 10's are tanks in this department? 5.4>6.2? Maybe, in some ways. But then they did offer the 6.2 halfway through the first year, they did fix the axle issue. They also reinforced the frames in 2013 but not for the reasons you're assuming.
Now lets talk about Jamal. We got the opportunity to meet him at Snoball 500. Do you know what Snoball is, do you read any posts on this forum that you find so unwelcoming? So at Snoball 500 we got the opportunity to meet SVT. It wasn't the first time for the people of this forum to talk to and question them, it wasn't and hopefully wont be the last. But Yukon and I sat not 4 feet from Jamal armed with a list of questions compiled by members of this forum who couldn't be there. Jamal seemed like a decent guy, he was certainly very very passionate about the Raptor concept. I say concept because what he wanted to give us was a full out trophy truck that was not marketable and the majority of us couldn't afford. So sacrifices were made and we got our amazing first of its kind production off-road truck... bad ass.
Now this is my interpretations of Jamal and his responses, I don't know him, I can't read his mind. I did feel he was rather honest with us. Especially when responses included, "I had to do it that way" Money, regulations, and other factors influenced what we got. I can guarantee those same factors influence the choices for the Gen II. Maybe to a larger extent since SVT is no more, maybe not... i have no idea. I'm not privy to that kind of info.
As for this forums influence on the Gen II and you'll like this.
One of the questions asked to Jamal was if Ford would offer an ecoboost Raptor. I shit you not! But Jamal in my opinion was taken aback by this. His response was "really??" Heads were nodded, then he took a poll, who would buy an ecoboost Raptor. And I can name the people on this forum that raised their hands, but I won't. Does that mean that the offering of an ecoboost had anything to do with that...possibly, my guess is that its more Ford pushing that decision. Does it mean that Jamal is lying about his enthusiasm in that video, no, maybe, only he knows that. Its possible that the engine performed better than he anticipated, its possible that the engine has improved, it was brand spanking new when all this took place. It was not however a part of Jamal's original concept of a Raptor.
Other things that were asked for... more switches...a way to disengage the nannys. He didn't like that, etc. If you are actually interested, you can do a search and see what was asked and how he responded. But I don't assume that you are.
A few other things. Frame gate! I don't think I need to get into this. The basic gist is when we asked Jamal why the frame was reinforced. He said flat out, "because we didn't account for marginal drivers!" A couple people in the room didn't like that so much as they were a part of the frame thing. He also brought up baja and testing and how he thought it was insane that people bent their frames. So no, Ford did not recognize a weakness and upgrade the new Raptor. They recognized that some people think they bought a Trophy Truck and have balls way bigger than their ability. Beefier frame = less liability, and less criticism for his baby. Also we need to consider that the frames on the new F-150s are different than pre 2015. It is possible that the Gen II actually required reinforcement to equal Gen I. I don't know, someone more educated on the new trucks may be able to chim in.
Jamal also expressed disgust with some of our mod choices and some of the recommendations from early vendors. He designed the truck like he designed it.
This is getting long winded and I have twinfants, so I'm just going to wrap it up.
Does the Gen II offer some cool things that we specifically asked for and wanted, yes.
Does Ford monitor these boards and pay attention to us and our mods, apparently. Hi Jamal!
Does Gen II also come with some new fangled goodies that may or may not be better, yup.
Is the GEN II > GEN I or vice versa, not enough data for an answer.
Back to your bickering..
