Can You Drift a 2017 Ford Raptor?

Can Ford’s Newest Performance Pickup Powerslide? Do You Even have to Ask?

When Ford introduces any new performance vehicle, the first question we all want answered is how well it responds to abrupt inputs and a heavy right foot. Being that the 2017 Raptor is equipped with the 3.5-liter version of Ford’s V6 Ecoboost engine that produces 411 Horsepower, we were pretty sure that burnouts and drifts were going to be part and parcel with the truck’s introduction. It didn’t take long for people to put their right foot down and figure out exactly what it was capable of.

First Ford gave one of these trucks to Ken Block to wheel around in winter, and now they’ve carted one off to Southern California for the Motor Trend crew to test out. Likely during a filming session of the magazine’s Monday-morning YouTube program Ignition, their resident vehicle stress testers Jason Cammisa and Jonny Lieberman took the truck out for some long sweeping skids across open pavement.

Cammisa, host of Ignition (and co-host of Head-to-Head with Lieberman) appears to be the nutcase behind the wheel in the videos shown here, swiped from the pair’s Instagram feed. With a liberal application of right foot, and a dab of opposite lock, the Raptor seems quite conducive to long sweeping wheel burning drifts, on the level with Ford’s Focus RS, but a good three feet taller.

While the videos above were filmed on wet pavement, and Ken Block’s shenanigans were performed in the snow, we’re still pretty sure the big off-roading Ford can overpower its BF Goodrich KO2 tires to get things pitched sideways, even when the pavement is dry. However, it would be a bit more fun to find a wide open expanse of desert to do giant donuts in, don’t you think?