Raptor Roundup - July 16, 2011 - New Mexico

[Mike McNellis]

I didn't get a second confirmation email about a photo shoot, but I won't be there until noon-ish anyways.

I've heard about some people who have registered a day or two after I did and they have not received any email confirmations... I'm sure we are at least allowed to bring a "guest" to ride along? Either way, I'm looking forward to going. The temps are supposed to be in the high 90s-100s...meh.

I'm not sure about a 2nd email. When I got my confirmation email there was a button I could hit to forward the email invite to others. If there are other Raptor owners or fans that you know, feel free to send them the note.

Guests are welcome.

 

[CleverGirl]

If there are other Raptor owners or fans that you know, feel free to send them the note.

Guests are welcome.

I figured as much, but it's always a good idea to check. Thanks!

 

[Darke]

Registered for 10 to 12 drive. Looking forward to seeing this many Raptors in one place. Not a ton here in Albuquerque. Hey Bo you guys still coming up?

 

[FX4life]

Here is an article PUT.com did on the event... the comments section is pretty irritating if you read into it..

Raptor Roundup Ropes in Owners and Enthusiasts for Fun in the Desert - PickupTrucks.com News

 

[SOCOMech]

Looks like thay had a pretty decent turnout.......and that they actually went on an off-road run maybe? Wonder how the action on the track was.

 

[Mike McNellis]

Turnout was very solid - not as many Raptor owners in Vegas or Phoenix, but a ton of people who really are interested in getting a Raptor.

The track was much different than Vegas or Phoenix. At both of those locations we were able to utilize the Lucas Off Road short courses. This course was longer than Phoenix and could not have been taken at high speed. We utilized the existing dirt oval to get a little bit of speed, but the heart of the course was much more obstacle based. I'm hopong to have some pictures and video soon to better describe the course.

It was a different experience than the prior 2, but the participants seemed to thouroughly enjoy it. A big part of the deal is getting to see other peoples trucks and mods as well. We had a couple drive in from Houston and another from Dallas. The F150 marketing manager and an SVT engineer were there answering questions and riding allowing with customers. Sue Mead spoke at the pre party and had some great stories. Hopefully we can continue to put these events on with the support of our great dealerships.

 

[CleverGirl]

Looks like thay had a pretty decent turnout.......and that they actually went on an off-road run maybe? Wonder how the action on the track was.

I don't know about a separate offroad run, but the track was pretty cool. Like Mike said, they did use the dirt oval to let people gas up the Raptors a bit more than they could on the course. They would only let you get up to about 35 mph on the course, which was probably a good idea for those in the general public with zero offroading experience. The offroad course was like an over-sized motox track with a series of whoops, tight turns, a few small hills and a big hill to test out the descent.

Most of the Raptors allotted for test drives were Screws except for one '10 Scab, so I got to drive a Screw. My instructor was with VORE (Vegas Off Road Experience) and was SUPER helpful and great to talk to and get info from during the ride. He encouraged me to "hoon it up" a bit once we got on the course- I happily obliged. As in, when I drove up to tight turns, he would tell me to gas it and turn the wheel hard towards the turn. Man that was fun. It didn't feel like I was driving a big, heavy four-door truck. It went exactly where it was supposed to go, took tight corners like a boss and handled the whoops like a champ. The whole ride couldn't have been longer than about 10 minutes (depending on how fast you were going..), but it was worth it to operate a Raptor and test out some of its offroading capabilities. I was really surprised with the Screw's handling, though. So now my Screw vs. Scab debate got a bit tougher...

 

[Badrap]

It was a good time seeing other owners and the track was fun but SLLOOOWWW!
I rode with the VORE guys in April and was really wanting to kick it in but, behaved. I went back the way we came in and got some air and threw a few rooster tails up though.

 

[Rat]

Is that a picture of one of the V.O.R.E. tuucks ? I looked into doing that. If it is one of their trucks what did you think of it ? would it be worth it ?

 

[SOCOMech]

Were the ride alongs in the VORE trucks free or are they still charging for it?