Desert Test: Ford F-150 Raptor 6.2 SuperCrew Prototype

MotorTrend

Editor-in-chief Angus MacKenzie takes an Ford F-150 Raptor SuperCrew prototype out to the desert for some pre-production torture testing...

Transcript

00:00 We're deep in the Southern California desert, close to the Mexican border.

00:16 It's hot, dry and dustier than a rattlesnake's belly.

00:24 We're here to join the Ford SVT engineering team for the last leg of a thousand mile durability

00:29 test.

00:30 The final step before the new 2011 Ford F-150 Raptor SuperCrew is signed off for production.

00:38 Other than the fact it rolls on the 145 inch wheelbase common to Ford's other short bed

00:43 crew cab F-150s, we can only guess what the Raptor SuperCrew actually looks like because

00:49 every inch of the exterior is covered in heavy black plastic camouflage.

00:54 The SVT guys have even built a false canopy over the bed to make it look like a full size

00:59 SUV.

01:00 But there's no disguising the 10 inches of ground clearance and the alloy wheels shot

01:05 with meaty BF Goodrich tyres.

01:08 Or the long travel Fox Racing shocks internal bypass dampers under the fenders.

01:13 Just as well, because this is no ordinary durability run.

01:18 We're going desert racing.

01:20 [Music]

01:22 [Music]

01:24 [Music]

01:26 (upbeat music)

01:28 (upbeat music)

01:31 (upbeat music)

02:00 - It's unbelievable.

02:01 This is a 6,000 pound truck.

02:05 And we were hitting 90, 95, I saw 99 miles an hour

02:10 on the GPS display in front of me.

02:12 This thing is incredible.

02:14 The shocks just soak up every lump and bump in the road.

02:18 You're going across rooty deuce that would tear the wheels

02:22 off any four wheel drive I've ever been in.

02:24 Yet this truck just goes straight through.

02:27 It's really, really impressive.

02:29 And the best bit is, now it's my turn to drive.

02:32 (upbeat music)

02:35 (upbeat music)

02:38 (upbeat music)

02:40 (upbeat music)

02:43 (upbeat music)

02:45 (upbeat music)

02:48 (upbeat music)

02:53 (upbeat music)

03:02 (upbeat music)

03:07 (upbeat music)

03:13 (upbeat music)

03:16 (upbeat music)

03:20 (upbeat music)

03:27 (upbeat music)

03:31 Now I gotta tell you, I think this thing's doing it

03:41 a lot easier than I am.

03:43 This is pretty rough terrain.

03:45 This Crew Cab Raptor prototype has done 850 grueling miles

03:50 around this loop over the past couple of days.

03:52 And it's got about another 150 to go

03:55 before the SVT development team have finished with it.

03:59 It's ground pounding stuff, grueling on every component.

04:03 I've never been around this course.

04:04 There were a couple of bumps I hit,

04:05 I thought I was gonna put the shocks

04:07 through the top of the fenders.

04:09 Didn't happen.

04:10 In fact, this truck's almost idiot proof

04:12 when you're out in this country.

04:13 The Raptor Super Crew will only be available

04:20 with Ford's new 411 horsepower, 6.2 litre V8.

04:25 And it's built using the biggest brakes

04:27 and strongest half shafts in the F-150 parts bin,

04:30 along with the heavy duty rear axle.

04:32 The Raptor Super Crew sure is one big, fast, tough truck.

04:37 You could call it a real desert stormer.

04:40 (heavy metal music)

04:43 (heavy metal music)

04:46 (heavy metal music)

04:50 (heavy metal music)

04:53 (upbeat music)

04:55 (whooshing)

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