Road trip with a family of 5 over 3500 miles and 12 days. How does the Raptor hold up?

[BalorGrayJax]

We got back early in the week from our adventure taking the 3 boys and wife from MN down to FL. Stopping for a couple days in St Louis, Atlanta, Nashville, and Gurnee.

I’ve taken a few different vehicles on long road trips with the family in excess of 2500 miles. This would include:

2020 Subaru Ascent
2018 Tesla Model X
2017 Ford Explorer
2018 Jeep Wrangler JLU

I have another road trip on the docket for the Rivian R1S coming soon. For now, my best comparison to the Raptor for comfort is the Model X we drove down to Texas.

Pros:
1. Smooth ride
2. Lane keep assist worked well for 95% of the trip and kept my fatigue to a minimum
3. The recaro seats were amazing and kept great comfort
4. The rear seat has enough shoulder and hip room to where my boys rarely complained about proximity.
5. 540 to 600 miles of range between full ups
6. Quiet mode made the exhaust note of zero concern or annoyance

Cons:
1. Obviously some road noise due to tires being 37s. They also have over 20,000 miles on them.
2. Besides my Jeep which was a mistake for the road trip, the other vehicles had 3rd row seating.. I think overall I prefer the 3rd row but the positives from driving the Raptor made up for it.
3. It’s a truck and the bed was full so getting to items as needed at stops when applicable was more of a challenge than from an SUV. Again another obvious one.
4. Blue cruise… or lack there of… it’s really too bad this truck doesn’t have it. 50 of the 65 hours I was driving this thing I definitely wish it was a feature available.

Some day I want to own a new Land Rover Range Rover 7seater, I’m curious how our Rivian will fair, I’m also a big fan of the new Sequoia TRD Pro which I’d like to get for my wife. Overall, the Raptor ends up topping my list for road trips due to comfort, size, range, and the ability to take it anywhere on the trip off road. There probably isn’t a perfect family road trip vehicle, but this seems close outside of a motorhome.

 

[Zybane]

I just did a 12 hour road trip in my new Raptor 37. It did exceedingly well.

Before I bought it, I really compared everything out there to see what would be the best road trip vehicle that can still be good at off road and have enough room for two adults, two german shepherds, our luggage and off road gear.

Really nothing compares to the overall package as the Raptor.

 

[Bozz]

and if the kids get cranky.....there's always a 'bed'......

 

[ToadSmasher2K1]

Might check out the Sequoia third row before you get too excited. It’s very disappointing

Nice road trip though! I’d like to take my truck to the beach.

 

[FordTechOne]

Might check out the Sequoia third row before you get too excited. It’s very disappointing

Exactly. They regressed in design with the new model. They went cheap and carried over the solid rear axle from the Tundra instead of developing a multilink IRS, so the rear passenger and cargo room is worst in class.

Can’t go wrong with the class leaders, the Expedition Timberline and Suburban Z71 are both amazing.

 

[ToadSmasher2K1]

Exactly. They regressed in design with the new model. They went cheap and carried over the solid rear axle from the Tundra instead of developing a multilink IRS, so the rear passenger and cargo room is worst in class.

Can’t go wrong with the class leaders, the Expedition Timberline and Suburban Z71 are both amazing.

My brother in-law bought one in January, I didn’t think it looked too bad until I looked in the third row… Wow almost unusable

Might work if your passengers are amputees

 

[engineer]

I replaced my 2020 Range Rover with a new Raptor (35" tires), which is also the first truck I've owned. Quick thoughts after a 500 mile drive yesterday:

- The Raptor's ride quality is almost as good as the Range Rover's, which blows my mind.
- Interior noise is also almost as good as the Range Rover. Slightly more wind noise in the Raptor, but likely due to the geometry of the front of it and the side mirrors. Also blows my mind.
- Adaptive cruise + lane keep = low stress during long drives. My Range Rover only had ACC and it wasn't the best, so the Raptor has been a huge step up in this regard.
- Range Rover had a large 27.5 gallon tank and I could squeak out ~450 miles on long trips getting 17-18mpg highway. Raptor having nearly 10 more gallons and getting the same fuel economy means an extra ~150 miles of driving range, which is amazing.
- Raptor handles significantly better than the 2016-2022 Range Rover. The body roll on that gen of Range Rover is atrocious and drove me insane. New ones are significantly improved, but they're also like $150k+ lol

Range Rovers are nice (I've owned 3 2016 or newer ones), but rest assured the Raptor is an amazing vehicle and has no business being this well-rounded. Fingers crossed Ford comes out with a Raptor SUV--I will order it in a heartbeat.

 

[MRV99]

I replaced my 2020 Range Rover with a new Raptor (35" tires), which is also the first truck I've owned. Quick thoughts after a 500 mile drive yesterday:

- The Raptor's ride quality is almost as good as the Range Rover's, which blows my mind.
- Interior noise is also almost as good as the Range Rover. Slightly more wind noise in the Raptor, but likely due to the geometry of the front of it and the side mirrors. Also blows my mind.
- Adaptive cruise + lane keep = low stress during long drives. My Range Rover only had ACC and it wasn't the best, so the Raptor has been a huge step up in this regard.
- Range Rover had a large 27.5 gallon tank and I could squeak out ~450 miles on long trips getting 17-18mpg highway. Raptor having nearly 10 more gallons and getting the same fuel economy means an extra ~150 miles of driving range, which is amazing.
- Raptor handles significantly better than the 2016-2022 Range Rover. The body roll on that gen of Range Rover is atrocious and drove me insane. New ones are significantly improved, but they're also like $150k+ lol

Range Rovers are nice (I've owned 3 2016 or newer ones), but rest assured the Raptor is an amazing vehicle and has no business being this well-rounded. Fingers crossed Ford comes out with a Raptor SUV--I will order it in a heartbeat.

I am going to disagree with this. I have a 2017 Range Rover sport supercharged with the 3rd row. I did a Chicago to Destin Fl trip. And I have done plenty of 1500 mile trips in the raptor.

1) I am not sure wha t you mean by ride quality. They are two different vehicles with completely different characteristics. One is a sporty feel and one is a pickup truck.

2) road noise is much more in the raptor over the Range Rover. Much quieter

3) no comment on cruise control.

4) as for mpg, I averaged 20mpg at 90mph. If I drive the raptor anything over 70 the mpg just dumps. 16mpg if I am luck on 100% highway

5) there is zero body roll on the RR. Maybe the Sport is a better platform but the body roll is mint there. The raptor has a great deal more

We use the Raptor on road-trips because of the amount of room and the ease of filling the bed with the tonneau cover and it’s easy. I do not even try to compare the two because they are soo different vehicles.

 

[engineer]

I am going to disagree with this. I have a 2017 Range Rover sport supercharged with the 3rd row. I did a Chicago to Destin Fl trip. And I have done plenty of 1500 mile trips in the raptor.

1) I am not sure wha t you mean by ride quality. They are two different vehicles with completely different characteristics. One is a sporty feel and one is a pickup truck.

2) road noise is much more in the raptor over the Range Rover. Much quieter

3) no comment on cruise control.

4) as for mpg, I averaged 20mpg at 90mph. If I drive the raptor anything over 70 the mpg just dumps. 16mpg if I am luck on 100% highway

5) there is zero body roll on the RR. Maybe the Sport is a better platform but the body roll is mint there. The raptor has a great deal more

We use the Raptor on road-trips because of the amount of room and the ease of filling the bed with the tonneau cover and it’s easy. I do not even try to compare the two because they are soo different vehicles.

I am comparing the Raptor to the Range Rover not the Range Rover Sport. RR and RRS are quite different from each other. I've owned two Range Rover Sports (2016 V6 with KO2s, 2017 V8 with Cooper AT3) and a Range Rover (V6 with Cooper AT3 4S).

1) I mean isolation from bumps/imperfections, and general smoothness/comfort of the ride. The Range Rover is a much smoother ride than the Range Rover Sport (I've owned both for years) and the Raptor is comparable to the Range Rover, which puts it on-par with the Range Rover Sport (or better). They've done a fantastic job of tuning the suspension on the Raptor.

2) Maybe there's something wrong with your Raptor? M/T tires? Older/worn KO2s? Full size Range Rover has a noticeably quieter interior than the Range Rover Sport and the Raptor is comparable to the Range Rover, which puts it on-par with the Range Rover Sport (or better).

4) The 20mpg you're reading out on your dash is anywhere from 12-20% off (I believe default "offset" is 18% from the factory--you can change it with FORSCAN type tools). Calculate your actual miles driven and divide that by how much fuel you put in to see what you're really getting. My display would regularly read 21-23mpg highway (while driving 75mph), but with actual calculations I'd be getting 17-19mpg in reality.

5) Zero body roll on the Range Rover Sport. I'm talking about the Range Rover, which has obscene, borderline nauseating amounts of body roll. My Raptor feels like a sports car through corners compared to the Range Rover.

 

[Wichadicha]

Supercharged RR getting 20mpg at 90mph. LOL