Is the Ford Raptor Pure Beast, or Can it Play Beauty Too?

Motor Authority spends a week with the Raptor and answers the question on everyone’s mind: How practical is the truck as a daily driver?

Everyone has seen videos of the 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor flying through the air, jumping over massive sand dunes with ease, and climbing steep hills that would make any other pickup-truck owner blush. But at the end of the day, the Raptor is still a regular car with four wheels and an engine. So what’s it like to live with on a daily basis? Motor Authority wracked up 287 miles in one week to find out.

With its off-roading prowess, one would expect the Raptor to bode well on pothole-ridden roads, and unsurprisingly, it does. “It generally rides well,” says Motor Authority. “The Fox shocks can handle any bump, rut, or pothole Chicago has to dish out. In fact, the Raptor may quell the sharpest bumps better than any vehicle on the market.”

Another upside to the truck is its powertrain. “The 450-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6 offers plenty of punch to get out ahead of traffic or even leave most cars in our dust,” says Motor Authority. The 10-speed automatic transmission is also a gem as it “delivers imperceptible shifts and uses the full range of its 10 gears.”

‘The Fox shocks can handle any bump, rut, or pothole. In fact, the Raptor may quell the sharpest bumps better than any vehicle on the market.’

The Raptor, while an impeccable machine on and off-road, isn’t without its faults. The massive BF Goodrich All Terrain tires, for instance, may be good at trudging through inhospitable terrain, but isn’t really good in inclement weather. The “tires that are so good at paddling through the sand and mud are borderline dangerous in the rain,” according to Motor Authority. In fact, the outlet even highlights a sketchy moment where the Raptor’s tail came out of line at 60 mph on a 50-mph curve. Scary stuff.

It’s not just the tires that Motor Authority found fault with. The interior is filled with cheap plastic pieces and during the week of driving, the outlet only managed to get 13.6 mpg. Even with a smaller, turbocharged engine, the Raptor isn’t exactly fuel-efficient. But these are minor flaws and the Raptor, as Motor Authority found, can act both as beast and beauty.