Tomorrow.

[OUTCAST]

Perhaps if ESAD would have spent a little more time Playing well with others instead of....You Know...

 

[OUTCAST]

Sorry, wrong picture...

 

[NoCaDiver]

I'm a little late to the game here. Congrats Matt on getting your Raptor reviewed for all to see...and spreading the word about svtoffroad.com.

BTW, I think it is a little odd that we have to wait on an editorial to show us pics of your Raptor.

 

[BigJ]

Here ya go J, it's not a close up but, there is a Raptor running Willow Springs, lol. Those brakes were just a little warm too

Thanks SOCO! I love it!!

 

[SOCOMech]

O.k. so I figured I'd give my part of the story for that great day......

As I said before, Mike and Sean were cool as you know what. I knew we'd get along great when I told them to put it on whatever radio station they want and they said "You've got Sirius, if we could put it on Howard Stern, that would be great." So it was just cool to hang out and talk cars and trucks....and thrash a 6.2 Raptor all day with them.

A couple of items that I want to touch on from the review...

Ride and handling different from the 5.4 - It was something that both of them noticed right away. The Raptor was orginally designed around the 6.2 from day one, as such, the suspension was tuned with the extra 180 or so lbs. that the 6.2 carries over the 5.4. That extra bit of weight is enough to cause a noticeable difference in how the Raptor's ride acts. Both these guys have spent a ton of time behind the wheel of Raptor's (Sean pretty much gave me a clinic on how to drive this thing out in the bush.....I did experience a pucker factor but was pleasantly surprised to see my truck just eat stuff up) so I trust their judgement. Is it night and day difference, no, but noticeable.

Power - Like I mentioned in a previous post....they said it's not an instant, jerk your head back kind of power. It's like you're feeling the tq just pull and pull and pull. A couple of times, Sean remarked on how you're at 80, 90....maybe 100 before you even realize it. Now, out in the wash, with offroad mode all the way on and traction control off, it was just a BEAST. NEVER did it bog or anything, it just wanted to haul ass and push through anything......I was super impressed. I did see, and they did too, that you need to hold down both off road mode and traction control buttons, to put you in full off road mode. If you don't, then you will get some traction control kicking in. Other than that, night and day difference between the two.

Dyno - Me? I'm totally happy! I think those numbers are great for bone stock, 87 oct. with 800 miles and running through that big ass running gear. The K&N guys were pretty happy with it as well so, no complaints here.

1/4mi. and 0-60 - This test......I'm not even sweating it. If you could feel the wind Mike was driving into during this, it would've made a Lambo slow down, much less the world's fastest refridgerator. That test was pretty much do the best you can with the conditions that were given. It was even starting to rain. I know there's more potential but, I personally am not concerend with either....especially seeing how perfect it is off road.

We searched all day for a jump to get a sweet picture but, everything we found was either too narrow, too steep, the landing or take off area was iffy.....so we decided not to take a chance. I'm pretty sure that if it was a Ford media vehicle, they would've tried something but, they were kind enough to keep the safety of my own personal vehicle in mind. They were really impressed with it and I think that says alot considering the experience between both of these guys. I of course fell in love with it even more after seeing it action and just how capable it really is. Plus, that engine note and exhaust of teh 6.2 in offroad mode screaming down through a wash was.......well, you know what happens. Anything else you guys want to know, just ask.

 

[OUTCAST]

Had to be a cool experience to hang with these guys as you run the Rap through it paces. Thanks SOCO.

 

[BigJ]

Thanks for the detail SOCO! A couple of questions/notes:

Ride and handling different from the 5.4 - It was something that both of them noticed right away. The Raptor was orginally designed around the 6.2 from day one, as such, the suspension was tuned with the extra 180 or so lbs. that the 6.2 carries over the 5.4. That extra bit of weight is enough to cause a noticeable difference in how the Raptor's ride acts. Both these guys have spent a ton of time behind the wheel of Raptor's (Sean pretty much gave me a clinic on how to drive this thing out in the bush.....I did experience a pucker factor but was pleasantly surprised to see my truck just eat stuff up) so I trust their judgement. Is it night and day difference, no, but noticeable.

I gotta say, this jives EXACTLY with what I felt when mounting up my HiLift jack on my bull bar, and running 1k miles on and off road.



I could swear the truck felt very different with 50lbs cantilevered way out there like that. I can't say which was better feeling, but it was just... different.

I did see, and they did too, that you need to hold down both off road mode and traction control buttons, to put you in full off road mode. If you don't, then you will get some traction control kicking in. Other than that, night and day difference between the two.

Can you elaborate on this? I've obviously heard about holding down traction control to kill it, but this is the first I've heard about holding down off road mode? Did you hold them down together? Individually? In what order? For how long?

Thanks again SOCO. What an amazing experience!

 

[SOCOMech]

When you press the traction control button, the icon shows in the message center. If you press and hold it for about 5 sec. or so, the icon will blink, that's what you're looking for. We pressed the offrode mode button to enable it, but we also held it in for about 5 or sec. as well. It didn't say anything or blink but, with these two things done, the truck was totally different and let you do whatever you want. When Sean and I first went down the wash in offrode mode and traction control just pressed, it was fun but the TC still wanted to interfere at times. We looked at the supplement that comes with the owners manual and just did what it said...boom.....off to the races. Sean was working the wheel but, the best thing that he said and which was also a difference over the 5.4, he steered the truck with the throttle, not slowing down and using the steering wheel. It was like a trophy truck or something, just high rpm on and off the gas to pitch it which ever way, awesome.

 

[Raptor enroute]

SOCO truly a great write up and I could not be happier for you, also appreciate the fact you plugged the forum more visibility we get the more we will all benefit from the combined expertise of the smart folks we already have and ones that may soon come aboard great job my friend.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

When you press the traction control button, the icon shows in the message center. If you press and hold it for about 5 sec. or so, the icon will blink, that's what you're looking for. We pressed the offrode mode button to enable it, but we also held it in for about 5 or sec. as well. It didn't say anything or blink but, with these two things done, the truck was totally different and let you do whatever you want. When Sean and I first went down the wash in offrode mode and traction control just pressed, it was fun but the TC still wanted to interfere at times. We looked at the supplement that comes with the owners manual and just did what it said...boom.....off to the races. Sean was working the wheel but, the best thing that he said and which was also a difference over the 5.4, he steered the truck with the throttle, not slowing down and using the steering wheel. It was like a trophy truck or something, just high rpm on and off the gas to pitch it which ever way, awesome.