A pick-up, especially one like the Raptor, has a load bed situated high off the ground, around 900mm, which is pretty tall, and then there’s the lowered tailgate, 500mm long, to reach across into the bed to retrieve things.
If any loads have slid towards the front of the bed under braking, up to another 1500mm away, I’m not reaching them without walking around the side of the Ford to lean over the top, which is shoulder height, or by climbing up into the bed, to drag it out. (I suppose one could reverse and brake sharply.) Either way, I’m not coming out of it as clean or as dry as when I started.
No wonder that for using around land, compact side-by-sides/UTVs like the John Deere Gator, lower and shorter and narrower and much easier to sling stuff into and out of, are the vehicles of choice. My Defender is probably easier, too, with a lower load bed and a side-swinging door.
Of course they and my Defender can’t do the rest of what a Ranger Raptor will do, which is be a phenomenal all-purpose machine, as happy at a quick motorway cruise for hours on end as it is on rough ground.
The miles are creeping towards its 12,500-mile service interval but probably won’t get there before the truck returns to Ford. In the meantime, if I’m steady, I’m seeing low-20s MPG, but the average is still hovering around 21.
Which is what you get if you drive a car designed for the best of the outback. An Australian mate of mine suggests he could drive a Raptor on loose surfaces until its tank ran dry and might not see another person. Alas, that’s not a feature of Oxfordshire, but for me that hasn’t dimmed the all-round appeal of this incredibly capable pick-up
Love it
Incase of emergency
It’s unlikely that I’ll need it, but there’s a full-size spare wheel under the back of the Raptor.
Loathe it
Tall story
The Raptor is 1930mm tall in the body, and while that clears most multi-storey car parks, the roofmounted aerial can take a beating.
