2026 Ford Ranger Raptor review

You can't get enough of the Ford Ranger Raptor.

According to data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), in 2025 nearly one in eight of all Ford Ranger utes sold in Australia was the high-performance Raptor.

Interestingly, while the Raptor claimed 12 per cent of all Ranger sales, the more environmentally responsible Ranger PHEV plug-in hybrid scored 2 per cent of Ranger sales. Score that match 6:1 to the Raptor.

Of course, the upshot of this is that Ford is looking nervously at the bill it's being presented with courtesy of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES). The Raptor's 262g/km of carbon dioxide emissions place it firmly on the naughty side of the NVES ledger.

It means that for 2025, every Raptor sold saddled Ford with a fine of $4406. In 2026, Ford Australia will face a $7406 NVES bill for every Raptor sold, and in 2027 that jumps to $10,406 per unit.

So, either Ford eats that cost – which is unlikely – or it passes it on to you, the customer. This second-gen Raptor has already increased by $10K since it was first introduced in February 2022, so it'll very much be a case of testing what the market will bear. It could get very expensive, very quickly, but sales still seem relatively strong, largely because there's really nothing else like the Raptor.

We booked one for a test to see whether the formula that once seemed so fresh has worn a little thin, given that it's now no longer in its first flush of youth.

After all, we now live in an era where this $90,690 (plus on-road costs) Ranger Raptor with 292kW will get dusted away from the lights by a 321kW BYD Shark 6 that costs $57,900 before on-roads, and does so while consuming a tiny fraction of the fuel the Ranger demands. Has the world moved on?

Well, given the healthy sales figures, a decent proportion of you lot clearly don't seem to think so. The Ranger Raptor will go places and do things that would have the BYD waving the white flag pretty quickly, so there is a lot of capability that the Ford keeps in reserve.

There's not a whole lot of new news regarding the Raptor. At the tail end of 2025, Ford offered a $5990 Raptor Desert Pack that featured an ARB sports bar, four roof-mounted ARB Nacho Quatro lamps, Desert Pack decals and Ford Performance floor mats. When specified on a new Raptor, this lifted the vehicle's price into six figures. Other than that, it's as you were.

You might well wonder why, if this T6.2 Ranger Raptor is so popular, a slew of imitators hasn’t flooded the market. In effect, it's because the Raptor was such a huge engineering job for Ford of Australia. It needed a showcase project and really went to town on the Raptor.

You can bet your bottom dollar that every one of its key rivals has looked at replicating this formula, but totted up the costs of engineering an entirely new rear subframe, specifying the hugely expensive Fox 2.5-inch live valve internal bypass (or equivalent) dampers, widening the tracks, reinforcing the body, and strengthening the diffs, and just realised that they couldn't make the sums work in their favour.

In effect, Ford started with the capability requirements, developed the tyre and suspension specifications to deliver that capability, and then worked on the engine, transmission, body, software, driveline and so on to support that requirement. To a bean counter, it's a ridiculous way of going about developing a vehicle, but it has worked.

It's worked because in Ford's bid to become 'the Porsche of off-road racing', the Raptor badge is what the customer sees in the showroom. It's Ford walking the walk, the very point of that particular spear. So, yes, it's kind of a big deal, and it's why Ford can bring this vehicle to market where others wouldn't see the business case. And it's why the Ranger Raptor remains a one-of-one.

Right now, however, I'm trawling through Melbourne traffic and I'm nowhere near the ideal use-case. Ford designed the Ranger Raptor for high-speed off-roading, and it excels at it. Thing is, most will never be used for that.

I’d bet more Porsche 911 GT3 RS owners use their cars as intended – namely for circuit driving – than Raptor owners do. And that's only part of my contention with this vehicle.

When I did take it for a little blat up a series of tracks near me, it returned a faintly horrific fuel figure of 46 litres per 100 kilometres and the ride quality wasn't particularly great. Washboard sections caused it to skip in and out of phase, no matter how quickly I went to try to smooth them out.

I was a big fan of the old diesel Raptor. That was nowhere near as quick, but because of that, the suspension tune was far softer and more accommodating. It felt onside. Because it’s faster – and, well, physics – this newer petrol Raptor needs firmer tie-down and delivers a fussier ride. There's no more devalued commodity than power, but the old Raptor's magic carpet suspension was a genuine one-off.

I know I'm in a minority with that opinion. I know most of you would much rather have 292kW than 157kW, reasoning that a lot more power and a slightly worse ride is still a win. It's true – the old Raptor was so slow, you seemed to run the risk of being overtaken by a particularly perky tectonic plate.

Ford would obviously point to the fact that the latest-spec car can do all manner of high-speed desert racing-y things the old one couldn't, and I'm not about to dispute that. Perhaps I'll get off this particular soapbox now.

During my time with this Raptor, I never really found a scenario where I felt it made a great deal of sense. Its prodigious fuel thirst made me gentle with the throttle pedal, defeating the point of the chunky 292kW power output. By contrast, a BYD Shark 6 encourages you to gun it without the guilt, and I liked that.

On back roads, it felt cumbersome and extremely tyre-limited. Throw in a damp surface and you need to manage your corner entry speed very carefully.

Off-road, it was capable, but you're always aware of its sheer width. It's hard to go anywhere without bushes pinstriping its flanks.

The Raptor's meagre 717kg payload is the reason you never see a professionally built-out one. When towing 2500kg that would leave only 391kg of payload capacity, for people, accessories and luggage. Yep, you probably see the issue there.

Around town its sheer bulk and enormous turning circle made it a pain to park, with every manoeuvre taking a couple of bites and a hand in apology to drivers tut-tutting as you blocked the way.

There were elements that I did like. The multi-mode exhaust offers a great raspy soundtrack when you gun the Raptor towards its redline. The steering feel is meaty and positive. Body control is good for such a big vehicle. There's also a lovely moment when you're using almost everything the Raptor can give to foster the impression that you've cancelled out its massive 2479kg kerb weight bulk. So yes, there are moments of big reward here.

But that's what they seem: moments. I'd love those moments to extend into minutes and hours, but I can't make that happen.

When I look at the Raptor dispassionately, I see that almost all of the good bits that matter day in and day out – such as the practical cabin and the lovely ergonomics – come from a garden-variety Ranger V6 diesel.

You even miss out on the Ranger diesel’s towing ability: the Raptor can haul a 2500kg braked trailer versus 3500kg for the V6 diesel. Don’t even get me started on the new Ranger Super Duty’s 4500kg rating. Indeed, the Super Duty looks to be the Ranger model that actually delivers in the real world rather than the world of fantasy dune-bashing.

Despite all of this, and despite myself, I like the Raptor. It's annoying.

I normally hate anything that's so prodigiously profligate, but the Ranger Raptor somehow gets away with it because it's so wilfully naughty. You can't really take it seriously and that element of 'nod and a wink' suffuses the vehicle, despite its very serious engineering.

I can absolutely see why the sensible choice might be a Ranger 3.0-litre V6 Sport, and some may well reason that given that you only live once, why not go the whole hog and get the Raptor? It's something that would put a big smile on your face every time you spotted it in your garage. That's hard to put a price on.

I love the demented drive modes, I love the traction disadvantage of its rear-drive mode, and the way that the traction control seems to get temporarily distracted whenever you punt it in rear-drive.

The longer I spent with the Raptor, the more I see the point. And the point is that it's pointless fun. If you can stomach the bills that come with this very specific sort of payoff, then it's easy to see why you would. To try to frame the Ranger Raptor in an objective review is to miss the point and doing so serves to take the essential element of fun out of it. Nevertheless, I still come away from the Raptor with as many questions as answers.

For all the Raptor's undoubted charisma, I think this vehicle's moment is probably in the past, and that a smarter, more efficient and more effective model would be a winner for everyone. It's still a fascinating and singular thing, but technology – and legislation – waits for nobody. NVES could conceivably price it into extinction.

Ford has recently had its fingers burnt with the poorly received Ranger PHEV and clearly needs to learn lessons from that exercise. Nonetheless, a hybridised Raptor that retains its naughtiness but cuts back the wastefulness could be the comeback we all needed.

Andy brings almost 30 years automotive writing experience to his role at Drive. When he wasn’t showing people which way the Nürburgring went, he freelanced for outlets such as Car, Autocar, and The Times. After contributing to Top Gear Australia, Andy subsequently moved Down Under, serving as editor at MOTOR and Wheels. As Drive’s Road Test Editor, he’s at the heart of our vehicle testing, but also loves to spin a long-form yarn.

Read more about Andy Enright