Ford Bronco Raptor Rally Test Is Quite Interesting: Video

June 17, 2023 2:03 am

Ford Bronco Raptor Rally Test - Exterior 001 - Front Three Quarters

Ford is no stranger to churning out impressive rally machines capable of blasting across various types of surfaces at high speed, a list that includes models such as the Fiesta and Focus, not to mention its current WRC weapon of choice – the Puma Hybrid Rally1. Even though it isn’t really the same type of vehicle at all, the highly-regraded Ford Bronco Raptor was built to tackle the desert and other types of non-paved surfaces at high speed as well, and its twin-turbocharged Ford 3.0L EcoBoost V6 and high-tech suspension are well-suited for that type of task. Thus, the folks behind the YouTube channel Team O’Neill decided to subject the SUV to a different sort of test to see if it is indeed a capable rally machine.

Following a bit of a shakedown run on its own skidpad and slalom areas, the idea here is to take the Ford Bronco Raptor out to a properly mountainous rally stage to answer the question that we presume no one was asking – will the high-performance off-road SUV rally? On the road and at slow speeds off the pavement, the Bronco Raptor certainly impresses our host, providing a cushy and quiet ride for such a capable machine.

However, with the real test yet to come, our host puts the Ford Bronco Raptor in Sport mode and two-wheel drive with traction control and stability control turned off. Right off the bat, he notes that the big SUV manages to maintain solid speeds around the gravel-covered corners, though he does wish it had a handbrake for such endeavors. However, it rotates with high precision for such a heavy vehicle, regardless.

Ultimately, our host says the Ford Bronco Raptor “feels like a race truck,” which is high praise for a road-legal model. The stopwatch backs up that gut feeling with a timed lap of two minutes and six seconds, which is far faster than he expected. However, he’s also eager to give it another go in four-wheel drive and Baja mode to see if that makes a difference, which we’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for as well.

We’ll have more on the Bronco Raptor soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Bronco news and ongoing Ford news coverage.

By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.