Ford Ranger Raptor long-term test: report 11

The car Ford Ranger Raptor 2.0 EcoBlue 210 4WD auto | Run by Max Edleston, senior photographer

Why it’s here To provide grin-inducing entertainment and practicality in equal measure

Needs to be Unstoppable on-road or off-it, reasonably sensible to run, and practical enough to be used as a working vehicle

Mileage 18,660 List price £57,064 Target Price £57,064 Price as tested £59,824 Test economy 26.1mpg Official economy 25.4mpg

8 October 2024 – Helping myself

If you’ve been a regular reader of my long-term reports, you’ll have become used to me and my car being roped in to help friends and family shift everything from farm equipment to furniture. This time, however, I needed my Ford Ranger Raptor to help me – specifically, help me to move house and dispose of some unwanted clutter at the local tip.

I’d followed the internet’s advice and thrown away anything which didn’t spark joy during my moving process. This meant I could fit everything I wanted to take with me into the removals van – but also meant there was a substantial pile left behind which I needed to get rid of.

Loading those items into the load bed of my Raptor before heading to the local tip was an easy process, but the height of the assembled clutter meant that I couldn’t use the car’s roll-top cover to secure it all. Fortunately, my Raptor has three sets of lashing points in its load bay, meaning I could use ratchet straps to secure it all down.

I also filled the back seats of the Raptor, and was impressed at how well the leather-like material which covers them is holding up despite having covered almost 19,000 miles. 

Although there was a notable drop in performance getting to my local recycling centre, I was grateful for the low-down pulling power of my Raptor’s 2.0-litre diesel engine. The journey also revealed a downside to the plastic coating of my Raptor’s load bay. This coating makes the inside of the load area feel durable, as well as being easy to clean, but it’s also rather slippery, and despite using straps to secure most items, there was still a fair amount of sliding about from smaller items on the way to the tip.

Reversing my truck back into the narrow unloading bays of the recycling centre, I was also grateful for the Raptor’s reversing camera, since my view out of the rear window was blocked by an old table. 

With the truck in position, myself and my Dad climbed aboard to unload everything – a feat which we soon found requires a strong back due to the sheer height of my truck.

Still, the Raptor again proved its worth by being every bit as spacious and practical as you’d hope a pick-up truck would be. And I was happy that, this time, it was myself reaping the benefits rather than anyone else.

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