Don't understand this truck

[ATOLightning]

Some of you guys that are complaining about the Raptor and why SVT built it need to look at it from someone else's perspective...

Just imagine if you weren't into drag racing or something and you truely enjoyed off-roading, trail riding, and general 4x4 action. Your options in the past were to heavily modify a regular 4x4 F-150...or Chevy Z71 or whatever. I believe SVT and Ford recognized that and developed a "new" type of "performance vehicle" to fill this niche (because that what performance vehicles are...niche vehicles). Now, these people can go to a dealership and purchase a highly capable FORD off-road vehicle, drive it off the lot, and go ANYWHERE they desire with outstanding off-raod performance (and keep a waranty). We sometimes are narrow minded. I was disappointed at first because I would rather have a Lightning, but we all have the opportunity to buy (if we wanted them) two generations of L's, a Ford GT, several Cobra generations, a Focus SVT, a Contour SVT, and to some extent Taurus SHO's (I realize they are not "official" SVT cars, but they might as well be). It's time the other guys have their chance...not all performance vehicles drive 1/4 mile at a time.

 

[mkkrs1]

well said :beer:

 

[FortLewisCobra]

Some of you guys that are complaining about the Raptor and why SVT built it need to look at it from someone else's perspective...

Just imagine if you weren't into drag racing or something and you truely enjoyed off-roading, trail riding, and general 4x4 action. Your options in the past were to heavily modify a regular 4x4 F-150...or Chevy Z71 or whatever. I believe SVT and Ford recognized that and developed a "new" type of "performance vehicle" to fill this niche (because that what performance vehicles are...niche vehicles). Now, these people can go to a dealership and purchase a highly capable FORD off-road vehicle, drive it off the lot, and go ANYWHERE they desire with outstanding off-raod performance (and keep a waranty).

:rollseyes I've seen 2, Ill say again 2 full size trucks "offroading" ever. Im not a diehard jeep guy, I only spent an occasional weekend out at Land Between the Lakes on trails, but I saw plenty of jeeps and the occasional Tacoma. Keep in mind this is in southwest KY the heartland of lifted trucks... Full size lifted trucks are for the malls or if they're lucky somebody's muddy field. They flat out wont fit on most trails. The Raptor seems solidly marketed towards folks that would like to look like they go offroading.

On the other hand the business means SVT's future is guaranteed, between the markups people will pay for the shelby name and this truck their probably doing better $ wise than they ever did before.

 

[birdman941]

The Raptor is nothing more than an F150 4x4 5.4 3V w/4.10 gears
and extra shocks.
Oh, and stickers!
I drove one and was not impressed.

 

[ON D BIT]

No truck oem or aftermarket has the electronics on this truck. Working locker up to 100mph is cool too!

 

[mkkrs1]

The Raptor is nothing more than an F150 4x4 5.4 3V w/4.10 gears
and extra shocks.
Oh, and stickers!
I drove one and was not impressed.

I am not impressed with your lack of knowledge about the raptor :nonono:

 

[J-Rod76]

the raptor blows the lightning out of the water! oke:

Seriously... on pavement a Lightning will own a Raptor, off road the Raptor will own the Lightning... two different machines built for two different groups of people.

Last time I checked, my Lightning was basically a no frills F150 with what amounts to some bolt ons and a trim package added to it. I love it because of what the entire package is, what it does and how it does it. The Raptor is the same deal, it's just built with a different purpose in mind.

Check your facts, the Lightning is a little more that a "no frills F150" (suspension, transmission, drive line, ect... if you want to see what a no frills F-150 is, check out a "red carpet special" version), just like the Raptor isn't a 4x4 with a body kit and off road tires.

I personally like both of the vehicles and will probably own a 6.2 Raptor in the not so distant future. I'm just worried about parking it...

As far as a Gen III Lightning goes, until they put the F150 on a diet or come up with a better power plant, they need to leave it on the drawing board to avoid embarrassment from the turbo diesel crowds IMHO.

 

[ON D BIT]

Seriously... on pavement a Lightning will own a Raptor, off road the Raptor will own the Lightning... two different machines built for two different groups of people.

Did you read my entire post? I basically said the Raptor has had far more engineering and r and d than the Lightning had. And because of this the Raptor is a true SVT Vehicle. The only thing I was comparing was the amount of technology in both trucks.

 

[J-Rod76]

Yep, I read the whole thing... so SVT took three years playing in the desert developing the Raptor and suddenly it blows the lightning out of the water. If you want to believe that, more power to you.

While the Raptor was being developed Ford was having financial issues that they weren’t when the Lightning was being developed. SVT had many more members and more money to throw at the development, so naturally it went to production faster. Unfortunately, the Lightning wasn't without its issues and more changes were implemented and put into the following production years, 2001 having more HP & TQ and 2003 having minor cosmetic, suspension and cylinder head modifications.

Hopefully the three years spent on the Raptor will mean that many of the little nuances that plague some of the earlier Lightnings won’t be an issue on the Raptor.

 

[ON D BIT]

Yep, I read the whole thing... so SVT took three years playing in the desert developing the Raptor and suddenly it blows the lightning out of the water. If you want to believe that, more power to you.

While the Raptor was being developed Ford was having financial issues that they weren’t when the Lightning was being developed. SVT had many more members and more money to throw at the development, so naturally it went to production faster. Unfortunately, the Lightning wasn't without its issues and more changes were implemented and put into the following production years, 2001 having more HP & TQ and 2003 having minor cosmetic, suspension and cylinder head modifications.

Hopefully the three years spent on the Raptor will mean that many of the little nuances that plague some of the earlier Lightnings won’t be an issue on the Raptor.

Wow. I did not expect that. What exactly are you disputing?

Motor, driveline, suspension, and brakes made the lightning one hell of a truck! Is that not enough for you?

 

[BlackBolt9]

:rollseyes I've seen 2, Ill say again 2 full size trucks "offroading" ever. Im not a diehard jeep guy, I only spent an occasional weekend out at Land Between the Lakes on trails, but I saw plenty of jeeps and the occasional Tacoma. Keep in mind this is in southwest KY the heartland of lifted trucks... Full size lifted trucks are for the malls or if they're lucky somebody's muddy field. They flat out wont fit on most trails. The Raptor seems solidly marketed towards folks that would like to look like they go offroading.

On the other hand the business means SVT's future is guaranteed, between the markups people will pay for the shelby name and this truck their probably doing better $ wise than they ever did before.

Hmmm, pretty sure there is more to off-roading than just crawling through the hills. Even been to the dunes on the west coast? Or in Michigan? That was the primary objective of the Raptor and it performs extremely well for that segment. Hence the reason they ran a modified one in the Baja 1000 with pretty decent success. It should do alright in the mud as well but it definitely isn't meant for the slow tight twisties of a rock laden trail. If you think that's what Ford was shooting for, you are wrong.

The Raptor is nothing more than an F150 4x4 5.4 3V w/4.10 gears
and extra shocks.
Oh, and stickers!
I drove one and was not impressed.

Ignorance is bliss, did you do any off-roading with the truck? My guess is not, which is why you wouldn't have been impressed. The fact that it seems like a normal truck on the street yet can handle the off-roading that it can is a testiment to just how much work the Ford engineers put into this vehicle.

 

[FortLewisCobra]

Hmmm, pretty sure there is more to off-roading than just crawling through the hills. Even been to the dunes on the west coast? Or in Michigan? That was the primary objective of the Raptor and it performs extremely well for that segment. Hence the reason they ran a modified one in the Baja 1000 with pretty decent success. It should do alright in the mud as well but it definitely isn't meant for the slow tight twisties of a rock laden trail. If you think that's what Ford was shooting for, you are wrong.

Thats the fail. If you have to go a few hundred miles to possibly use this truck for its actual purpose than whats the point? I won't argue, its a good truck for something like the baja. But its incredibly difficult to find legal trails much less the terrain for that vehicle.

Been to MI btw, f@ck sand! Not my cup of tea at all lol.

 

[BlackBolt9]

Thats the fail. If you have to go a few hundred miles to possibly use this truck for its actual purpose than whats the point? I won't argue, its a good truck for something like the baja. But its incredibly difficult to find legal trails much less the terrain for that vehicle.

Been to MI btw, f@ck sand! Not my cup of tea at all lol.

The point is, I have to drive an hour and a half to get there, so to me, it makes perfect sense. There are obviously many other people that are in the same situation as I am. My neighbor has a cabin at Silver Lake and spends all summer long at the dunes. That doesn't even cover the millions of people that live in the Southwest and live everyday in that environment.

Just because you don't like it doesn't mean nobody does. You must be one self important prick in real life to not realize there are other people with other interests in this world. Ford is just making something for that part of the population.

Have fun with your Jeep in the woods.

 

[FortLewisCobra]

Just because you don't like it doesn't mean nobody does. You must be one self important prick in real life to not realize there are other people with other interests in this world. Ford is just making something for that part of the population.

I'm sure sand is fun but its not for a cherokee with stock tires and an open dif (at the time). You have to put it in perspective though. Dune buggies are a small minority of the "offroading" market. There's just more woods than sand even in MI. Ford isn't marketing toward such a small percentage of an already small market. Like I said before, most of these will be bought by people that want to look like they'll go offroad while their at the mall. Don't worry jeep owners have been dealing with this for a while, a 40K Wrangler Unlimited FTW.

Have fun with your Jeep in the woods.

Haha I will if I can ever get it out there again.

 

[ON D BIT]

Ford isn't marketing toward such a small percentage of an already small market.

Its not so small. All over Cali and Az you see lifted full size trucks everywhere! Ford has just built a truck that not only looks great but handles great on road. Which in itself is much more than the lifted aftermarket can say. And they did this for a price thats less than a well equipped full size superduty. Job well done Ford.

Its just a bonus that the Raptors true calling is flying in the offroad environment. And to those who have never driven off road at 80+ mph....one gentleman has already stated its as fun as driving his heffner twin turbo Ford GT.:rockon:

 

[steeltoe]

Ummm SVT stop working on the Cobra after the 93 and didn't start again until the 02 prototype which got canned and the 03/04 Cobra. The 94-01 was handled by the Mustang engineers. This was stated in the book Iron Fist Lead Foot: John Coletti and Ford's "Terminator"

 

[BlackBolt9]

I'm sure sand is fun but its not for a cherokee with stock tires and an open dif (at the time). You have to put it in perspective though. Dune buggies are a small minority of the "offroading" market. There's just more woods than sand even in MI. Ford isn't marketing toward such a small percentage of an already small market. Like I said before, most of these will be bought by people that want to look like they'll go offroad while their at the mall. Don't worry jeep owners have been dealing with this for a while, a 40K Wrangler Unlimited FTW.

And Ford built my Lightning to go fast yet I mostly drive it on the street and it only sees the track once or twice a year. Maybe they shouldn't have build the Lightning either because I could just drive a regular F-150 around on the street too

They decided to build a truck for a different market and did an excellent job of it. Just because it doesn't fit your perfect niche or may get used in a way that Ford didn't design the truck for, doesn't mean a hill of beans as long as they sell.

Ummm SVT stop working on the Cobra after the 93 and didn't start again until the 02 prototype which got canned and the 03/04 Cobra. The 94-01 was handled by the Mustang engineers. This was stated in the book Iron Fist Lead Foot: John Coletti and Ford's "Terminator"

Interesting, I'll have to let me friend who worked for SVT know that he didn't actually work on the 2000 Cobra R. :nonono:

 

[rickp57]

Does anyone know when you will be able to get the 6.2 motor in the Raptor?

 

[04SolidSnake]

Does anyone know when you will be able to get the 6.2 motor in the Raptor?

The current word on the street is early spring at best.

 

[ON D BIT]

Does anyone know when you will be able to get the 6.2 motor in the Raptor?

Ford started accepting orders for the 6.2 a little more than a week ago!:beer: