2010 Ford F-150 Raptor
Big, butch, and badly timed.
It's not often that a lifted pickup designed for off-roading is described as nimble, but that's exactly the word that comes to mind as the 2010 Ford F-150 Raptor blasts through the landscape near Borrego Springs, California, racing through desert washes at 95 mph in total comfort. Amazingly, Ford's Special Vehicle Team (SVT), which developed the Raptor, doesn't have any real experience with off-road trucks, and tuning a truck for high performance is quite different once you leave the pavement. Instead of absolute power (the familiar, 310-hp, 5.4-liter V-8 is standard, although a new 6.2-liter V-8 will be available in a few months), the Raptor is all about confidence, whether for 50-mph jumps off-road or 80-mph highway blasts.
BUT WHO'S GONNA BUY IT? Sadly, the Raptor makes no sense outside of the desert racing world, what with the economic collapse and political pressure to stop building gas guzzlers. But you'll forget that as you hit a trail at speed. The Raptor needs to be experienced first-hand, because there's simply nothing else like it on the market-and there may never be again.
- Phil Floraday ...next page >>