Ford Ranger Raptor 2024 long-term test

In other markets (such as Australia, where it was largely developed, this engine is allowed to make 392bhp, but for the UK, where we have petrol particulate filters and EU regulations to skirt around, it's limited to 288bhp.

That's enough for a 0-62mph time of 7.9sec, and I will admit that, on British public roads, that's enough. There are times exiting roundabouts when it wouldn't hurt to have more comph to push past a Volkswagen ID 3 driver who will accelerate quickly but stop at 60mph, but there's only so much power and torque the BF Goodrich rear tyres can deploy anyway, especially in the wet or extreme cold.

The Raptor has four-wheel drive, of course, and seven driving modes too, but in its default normal operating mode, it's rear-driven. Presumably that makes it more fuel efficient (although these things are relative) than it is when the front wheels are driven too.

More on how all of these change the rough-road demeanour in a later report, then, but it has coil springs, not air suspension, so the ride height is set and unchangeable, thus offering a tremendous ground clearance and wade depth and approach angle.

The long wheelbase and overhanging load bed reduce the breakover and departure angles to merely very good, but be in no doubt that the aggressive design and the graphics of this Raptor are backed up by its hardware.

Other than a tall clamber into the cabin via a chunky side step, you wouldn't know so much from the inside about the car's ruggedness. Materials and fit are of good quality. Until recently, you wouldn't have said the finish was up to a car of this price, but an electric Vauxhall Astra is £40,000 these days and a Range Rover Sport as much as £170,000, so this Raptor can pass for £60,000 easy.

To me, it feels more like an uprated performance saloon than an uprated pick-up inside, and the standard equipment list is generous too. It means that the list price before options of 260,064, or £63,544 as tested, might seem expensive in the first instance, but given the amount of hardware and software and soft furnishings and sheer metal that you get for the money, and considering what everything else around it costs, it seems far more reasonable.

Anyway, I will talk more about the off-road hardware later, but for now I'm happy to say that it's the on-road performance I'm particularly taken with. The Raptor has a separate chassis and body, but there's very little evidence from inside the cabin that this offers reduced torsional rigidity in a way that separate-chassis vehicles so often have.

There's no body shake, the interior mirror doesn't shimmy over lumps and bumps and as a result it's refined. Even though it wears potentially very noisy knobbly tyres (which would hum audibly into the cabin on cars like a Jeep Wrangler), the Raptor is quiet at speed and has excellent bump absorbency with it.

The steering is relatively heavy for a modern car (and you can make it even heavier if you push the right buttons), but it takes up weight and feel nicely and its straight-line stability is excellent. There's also a 10-speed automatic gearbox to reduce revs at speed.

As a result, size aside, it's an exceptionally relaxing car to spend time with. I'm not the first to notice its good refinement.

Chatting to my colleague Steve Cropley the other day, he thought he would have a Raptor and the change over a Range Rover, because it's so complete and so compelling. After my initial miles living with it, I'd be tempted to agree that I'd take it over a Range Rover too, regardless of whether or not I got the change.