I clearly remember the day my husband came home enamored with the Ford Raptor. It was odd, considering that typically being within a one mile radius of any vehicle manufactured by Ford causes him to recoil in disgust. He’s a Chevy man; what can I say? The Raptor, however, caught his attention due solely to its off-road ready status straight from the factory.
In 2013, Ford has re-vamped the Raptor a bit to take this modified F-150 to even an even further extreme – right off the showroom floor. Equipped with a 6.2 liter V8 that puts out 411 HP, the truck has plenty of power for the daily driver, and combined with lifted suspension, 35” BF Goodrich tires and Fox shocks to accommodate 13.2 inches of rear and 11.2 inches of front wheel travel – this truck is the real off-road deal.
Considering this, there are two ways to view the Raptor. One, being that true off road rigs are built, not bought. It’s easy to see why hardcore do-it-yourselfers are appalled at the thought of buying an off road ready rig right from the dealer. However, it’s equally as simple to understand why the Raptor is attractive for folks who don’t want to spend the time or money on modifying a truck from the ground up – especially if you’re someone who already fancies an F-150.
If you’re one of those folks who finds yourself on the side of option two, Ford has taken the next step to woo you into the Raptor. Get this: a full-on, specialized F-150 Raptor off-road school. Hey, if you’re going to own one of these things, you may as well have the skills to show off what it can do to your friends without wrecking it.
The Ford Racing Raptor Assault Program (catchy name, right?) is hosted at the Miller Motorsports Park in Toole, UT. With different packages available, Raptor owners, or those simply fascinated by this unique production ride, can test out all the features of the Raptor for a price tag of $300 to $1395. The experiences differ as much as the price, it seems, with one option allowing you to simply take hot laps riding alongside a professional driver. Or, you can opt to drop a grand and spend time riding around at high speeds in the truck and playing with it on the facility’s hundreds of acres of rock crawling and desert racing courses.
The idea of a Raptor-based driving experience is an innovation in line with the forward thinking of the Raptor itself, and it’s a cool gift idea for those who are curious about what the Raptor really is.
