Yes, I know that is a weird comparison to discuss a Mercedes family hauler vs. this off-road beast in the same sentence, but here in East Texas, it is a real possibility to see both in neighboring driveways around town. The price point is such that you have to be of a certain means to buy either, but they are clearly aimed at different audiences.
I don’t think we talk about price competitors enough in the automotive world. So often we get set on segment competitors that we forget that price is an equally big determining factor of what ends up driving us home as well. The fact that this Ford 5-seat “SUV” and this Mercedes-AMG 5-seat SUV are equivalent in price for the 2023-2024 model years means you have two vastly different ways to spend nearly $100K on a rig to drive you around town.
And that is what this review is all about; on-road performance and living with the Bronco Raptor NOT in its off-road happy place. Clearly, this thing was built to do some amazing things off-road (which we did, video coming soon), but I would bet that a majority of these are going to spend a majority of time on pavement.
To that end, this is not a bad vehicle to have as an on-road-only vehicle, you just make some large sacrifices for its off-road chops. The tires are big, heavy, loud, and expensive ($450 a piece, and you would be buying 5) nor were they optimized for anything other than dirt and rocks. The extra width of the “BRaptor” is great for having a good stable base for jumping it off road or taking corners at speed, since it is also lifted, but wouldn’t you rather take a winding back road in something that has to fight physics less? The removable top is excellent for quick, open-air fun, but has long been the Achilles heel in the Bronco manufacturing and supply chain (to the point Ford switched suppliers).
Inside, the leather and suede are nice, and the color combo makes this Houston Astros fan very happy, but on a hot East Texas day I would love to have ventilated seats to ease the suffering of sitting and melting at a standstill. Power seats are a nice touch, one that the Jeep Wrangler did not get until the 2024 model year. Who said competition isn’t a good thing?
Storage space is great in the back thanks to the giant boxy shape of the Bronco, but due to the wider rear fenders which extend onto the rear doors, I don’t believe all four doors will stack in the back like on other models (I could be wrong).
The power of this is great, in line with the “regular” F-150 Raptor that spurred variants of the Dino theme onto this Bronco and the Ranger platforms as well. 418 horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque from Ford’s 3.0L Ecoboost V6 makes for a lot of fun when you mash the tall pedal. Ford even offers 2WD for some epic burnouts of those large off-road tires if that is how you decide to destroy them. That power and the rest of the off-road goodies on this Raptor mean you not only pay a price to the dealer but also at the pump every time you fill up (which will be frequent). The EPA rates the Bronco Raptor at 15 MPG city, 16 highway, and 15 combined. We hovered around 13 in our week of testing.
Ford did what they could to save weight on this variant versus the “normal” Bronco models. A four-door Badlands model with the Sasquatch off-road package tips the scales at 5,109 lbs, while this lifted Raptor weighs in at 5,733 lbs. Believe it or not, there are some extreme weight-saving methods on this that I have not seen others talk about, including replacing all the body panels from steel to aluminum. I don’t even think I had seen that news in a press release, it was only when I went to affix my logo magnets on the rear fenders like I had recently done in the Everglades trim we tested, only to find it would not stick. I see what you did, Ford. Taking the same practices from F-150 and employing them on the smaller Bronco. Will this make it to all Broncos in the future to help with economies of scale? Probably not.
All around, this was a fun vehicle to have over the July 4th week, and we were most definitely sad when it drove away (except for what Ford left with us in its place, stay tuned). We saw a couple of these around town while we had ours, though ours was the only one with good old East Texas red dirt on the tires and scuffs from actually off-roading. As an on-road-only vehicle, you make sacrifices with this for sure, and the interior build quality definitely falls short of the Benz we had alongside this one, but WHEW the Bronco Raptor sure was fun.
Stay tuned if you want to see us take this off-road to its intended environment. Holli will also give her thoughts on living with this in her driving review later this week as well.
2022 Ford Bronco Raptor Specs:
3.0L Ecoboost V6 Engine
418 Horsepower
440 lb-ft of Torque
10-speed Automatic Transmission
2-speed Transfer Case 4x4 with Automatic On-demand Engagement
High-Performance Off-Road Stability Suspension (HOSS) 4.0 System
FOX Live Valve Shocks with Position-sensitive Damping
FOX 3.1 Internal Bypass Semi-Active Dampers Uniquely Tuned at the Front and Rear
Integrated Reservoirs in Front
Remote reservoirs in Rear.
Approach Angle: 47.2º
Breakover Angle: 30.8º
Departure Angle: 40.5º
Ground Clearance: 13.1 inches
Maximum Water Fording Depth: 37 inches
Full Underbody Protection, including:
Engine
Transfer Case
Fuel Tank
Shin Guards
Front Bash Plate
Seven G.O.A.T. Modes
Normal
Slippery
Tow/Haul
Sport
Off-Raod
Rock Crawl
Baja
Electronic-Locking Rear Axle
Electronic-Locking Front Axle
Front Stabilizer Bar Disconnect
Trail Control
Trail Turn Assist
Heavy-duty Powder-coated Modular Steel Front Bumper
Four-wheel Disc Brakes
17-inch Dark Carbonized Gray Alloy Painted, Beadlock Capable Forged Wheels
37x12-inch BFGoodrich K02 All-Terrain Tires
Seating for 5
Heated Front Seats
Leather and Suede Seats
Heated Steering Wheel
Upgraded Digital Gauge Cluster
12-inch SYNC® 4 Infotainment Screen with Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Dual-zone Automatic Climate Control
LED Headlights
LED Taillights
Blind Spot Information System with Cross-traffic Alert
Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Emergency Braking
Lane-Keeping System Includes:
Lane-keeping Alert
Lane-keeping Assist
Driver Alert
Rearview Camera with Backup Assist Grid Lines
35.6 Cubic Feet of Rear Cargo (without optional slide-out tailgate)
77.6 Cubic Feet of Cargo with Rear Seats Folded
Proximity Key with Push Button Start
EPA Fuel Economy 15/16/15 (city/hwy/cmb)
Starting Price: $68,500
Price As Tested: $81,085
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