At the 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R launch I asked Ford Performance boss Carl Widdman why the team left one metric on the table: Horsepower.
Why not tune it for just three, or even five, more horsepower to top the Ram TRX? Widdman answered my question with a question (which my Uncle Robert, Unc, did as a child and it was always frustrating): “Why bother?”
It didn’t really matter, the executive explained, and the Raptor R’s significantly lighter than the TRX.
At the time Widdman’s answer didn’t fully resonate with me to the full extent it should’ve. After spending a week, multiple road trips across the Midwest, three tanks of premium fuel, and lots of quality time in the 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor, I now understand Widdman wasn’t just just exhibiting chutzpah. The extra few horsepower wouldn’t really matter.
On paper the Ford F-150 Raptor R and the Ram TRX seem like the same truck with nearly the same horsepower and spec sheet, but living with both has made me realize they are actually quite different. The Ford F-150 Raptor R pulls from Ford’s bag of tricks to be more dynamic and well-rounded than the Ram TRX.
2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R
Pro: Ford F-150 R's split personality
The Raptor R defaults to its Normal drive mode upon startup, and dare I say it makes the 700-hp, 8-foot-wide truck just another loud pickup. Yes, it has a lot of power, but it just goes about the daily business ignoring the fact there’s a 2.7-liter supercharger huffing up to 12 psi bolted to the top of the engine. Flick the drive mode knob to Sport and the Raptor R wakes up, cracking off quicker shifts, opening the active exhaust baffles more, and cranking up throttle tip-in and response. The four-wheel-drive system also shifts from 2WD to 4WD auto for enhanced traction. The result? Sport mode transforms the Raptor R to be the truck that you expect it to be, but that it doesn’t always have to be.
2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R
Con: Ford F-150 R drinks gas
It’s a shock to no one: That 700-hp supercharged V-8 engine is thirsty and it likes premium fuel. Lots of it. EPA fuel economy ratings check in at a stomach-turning 10 mpg city, 15 highway, and 12 combined. In mixed suburban driving I averaged 11.1 mpg. Not great, but in-line with EPA ratings.
I beat the EPA highway rating on three of four highway road trips, when the supercharged monster averaged 16.0 mpg with the cruise control set at well over 70 mph. The fourth road trip added a head wind into the situation and dropped fuel economy to an abysmal 12.4 mpg because it’s an 8-foot-wide pickup truck sailing through the air on 37-inch tires. Budget gas money; this truck has a 36-gallon fuel tank.
2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R
Pro: F-150 Raptor R’s light(er) on its rubber feet
In nearly every day-to-day circumstance the Raptor R feels noticeably lighter in the way it goes about its business compared to the TRX. With about 400 pounds less weight to carry around the Raptor R shifts directions quicker and feels more nimble, without feeling flinty or flimsy.
2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R
Con: Ford F-150 Raptor R’s interior falls short (of TRX)
While those front Recaro bucket seats are nice, and the interior is nice enough, it’s not Ram TRX nice. From the plastics, fit and finish, even the grab handles on the A-pillar, the Ram’s interior is just another level up. The Ford's trick folding shifter still sounds like a bag of marbles being rolled around when folding up or down, and there’s play in that shifter when it’s in gear or in park. For someone as neurotic as me, that play is enough to drive you mad. Like other F-150s you see the edges where the carpet stops, it’s rough cut around the under seat vents, and it’s … a fancy F-150.
2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R
Pro: Ford F-150 R gives up none of F-150’s tricks
Despite having a five-link rear suspension with coil springs, Fox remote reservoir live-valve shocks, 37-inch all-terrain tires, and all the suspension travel, the Raptor R gives up none of the F-150’s best tricks. Three times in the span of a week I found myself needing to get work done in the F-150 Raptor R, and at the push of a button the shifter folded into the console, I flipped the center armrest over, and boom, I had a desk with a cooled Recaro seat. It was great, as long as I didn’t think of the gas I was burning while idling. There's a pop-up bin to contain stuff under the rear seat bench, and there’s holes in the tailgate to mount C-clamps to hold things while working. It’s just a useful truck with creative features that also happens to be capable of running over whoops at 80-plus mph.
2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R
Con: Ford F-150 Raptor R is expensive
The 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor costs $78,670 including an $1,895 destination charge, but opting for the Raptor R and its supercharged V-8 adds $30,575 to the price before adding options. That’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, but even adding in some features that are standard on the R to the base Raptor there’s still a price delta of over $25,000 and it’s about $10,000 more than a comparable Ram TRX. This Ford is a $110,000 pickup truck. Trucks are entering a new realm of pricing, and the Raptor R’s interior certainly isn’t Mercedes-Benz S-Class nice, or even as nice as the inside of the TRX.
2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R
Pro: Ford F-150 Raptor R delivers a sleeper
It’s hard to call an 8-foot-wide vehicle or something this potentially loud a sleeper, but in the entire week I had the Raptor R only one single person realized what it was. Everyone else just assumed it was a Raptor, presumably powered by a turbo-6. With visual differences limited to blacked-out trim, orange tow hooks, a 1.0-inch taller hood vent, and tiny R badges on the grille and tailgate, not to mention R-specific fender and hood graphics (which are optional) it just looks like a Raptor. You have to know what you’re listening (or looking) for to know. If you know you know, and that one dude who saw me from across the parking lot at Walmart knew. He even came up and talked to me; I checked out his restored blue Bronco in the parking lot, and he told me about the Hennessey Velociraptor 500 Bronco Raptor he has on order. He knew.
The Ram TRX is a sledgehammer at all times. Never quiet, and really never relaxed, it’s just always wired. For those seeking peak truck it’s perfect, but the 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R feels more dynamic with its ability to “turn off” being wired thanks to Normal mode, the active exhaust, and features to get work done when it’s not time to play.
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2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R
Base price: $109,245 including $1,895 destination
Price as tested: $109,840
Powertrain: 700-hp supercharged 5.2-liter V-8, 10-speed automatic transmission, full-time four-wheel drive
EPA fuel economy: 10/15/12 mpg
The pros: Has F-150’s bag of tricks, lighter than TRX, not always wired, borders on sleeper Raptor status
The cons: Thirsty and it likes premium, hilariously expensive, TRX interior is nicer
