2023 Ford Raptor

[MUSIC PLAYING] EMME HALL: I'm sorry. Did you want to have a relaxing morning? Because it's not happening. Hey, everyone. I'm out here in beautiful Johnson Valley, California. And it's going to be a good day in the desert. Because I get to drive the brand new Ford Bronco DR. I know. This is a dream come true. This is Ford's turnkey race car that you can buy right off the factory floor and go off and race it in offered races like the Baja 1,000, the Mid 400, whatever you want. Because it can take it. So I got my helmet, I got my Hans device, I got my kidney belt, I am ready to fly. The Bronco DR has all the safety equipment you're going to need to race. There's a full cage in here along with a 65-gallon fuel cell. Sparkle race seats are included, along with multi-point harnesses. And you'll get full communications and a fresh air pumper to keep you from breathing in all that dust. I can't believe Curt LeDuc is going to sit in the right seat for me. This is amazing. Yep, you heard me right. Pro driver Curt LeDuc is riding right seat with me. This guy is a Baja champ, an inductee into the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame, and he's just an all around great guy. Me, I'm just a dilettante buggy dork who raises a few times a year if I'm lucky. I really hope I can live up to his standards. Jesus Christ, Curt. What am I doing? CURT LEDUC: We'll go through the gate [INAUDIBLE]. EMME HALL: OK. This is nuts. CURT LEDUC: Not yet. EMME HALL: I know, but I just love it. The Bronco DR is wearing 37-inch BFG mud terrain KM 3 tires. Now larger tires, of course, lead to greater ground clearance and some pretty stellar geometry. Here, I've got an approach angle of 47 degrees. A departure angle of 37 degrees, and a breakover angle of 33 degrees. Yeah, I think this thing will go over and climb up pretty much anything. You tell me when I can go go. Now when it comes to suspension travel, it's not quite as long as a trophy truck. But listen, you guys. It is still nothing to sneeze at. Front suspension travel is at 15.8 inches. And in the rear, you're looking at 17.4. The DSSV shocks are the business. I mean, I brace for a hole but the DR just cruises through it like it ain't no thing. The Bronco DR feels really solid and planted. I mean, this is such an easy vehicle to drive. It feels good. CURT LEDUC: Great job. EMME HALL: Thank you. But once we get to Soggy Dry Lake, all bets are off. And it is hammer down on the smooth surface. [MUSIC PLAYING] Now I can't look at my speed, I'm going too fast. But Curt, he doesn't even get a glimpse of it. So what was that? What was that speed across the bed? CURT LEDUC: I was afraid to look. EMME HALL: Curt LeDuc. Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame Baja champ. Whatever. As I turn the Bronco around, I, well, I run over a bush. But listen, I am an open OHV here. So I do not have to stay on the marked trails. And frankly, this is something I've done about a million times in my air-cooled Volkswagen race car. But driving a buggy, well, I guess it ain't like driving a Bronco. I hate them in the 16 car all the time. CURT LEDUC: I know. But here's the deal. Where's the motor? EMME HALL: Oh, it's in the front. CURT LEDUC: Where's the radiator? EMME HALL: In the back. CURT LEDUC: OK, Emma. So that's that car's style, right, where you're just-- EMME HALL: Yeah, yeah, yeah. CURT LEDUC: No trail? But eventually, the bushes will start to plug the coolers and all that. EMME HALL: OK. In my little class 1,600 car here, I'd likely be doing maybe 30 miles an hour maximum. And it would feel like a continuous car crash. But here in the Bronco DR, I can clear 70 plus miles per hour without much thought. The manual brakes, however, are pretty new to me. And you really have to stand on them to get this 6,200 pound rig slowed down. So I guess every day is going to be leg day at the gym. I feel like I'm doing a-- getting a leg workout. OK. But remember, you guys, just because you've got good amount of travel, line choice is still important. And this one is probably not the best option. This isn't a road. I mean, someone's been through here. But I am not getting out of this driver's seat until I jump it. Whoo. Whoo. Yep, that's me giggling like a maniac as soon as I leave Earth's gravity. It is just the best feeling in the world. But I think there's a few more things that y'all have to know about this Bronco DR. Oh my gosh. OK, you guys, that was really-- whoo. That was really fun. So 105 out here on the dry lake bed here at Soggy Dry Lake. That was pretty awesome. It's amazing how much it just soaks up the whoops. I mean, I was doing 70 through some pretty deep whoops. And there was still a lot of pedal underneath my foot. If I had been a little bit more confident in my abilities, definitely, this car is probably a little bit too fast for where I am. But it's pretty awesome. OK, so what do we have here? We've got a 5-liter coyote engine that is a V8. Now Ford has not told us how much horsepower is here. But they're aiming for right around 400. And I got to tell you, having driven it, I'm going to say that's probably true. What's great is that you still have these stock 10-speed transmission out of the Ford F-150. And I really love that transmission because it's super responsive. It's always in the right gear. It's never really feel like it's searching. So I'm very, very happy with that. The best thing about this vehicle, absolutely the best thing, are these multimatic shocks. Now these are some crazy spool valve technology. It's going to give you three distinct places in the shock where you can have that damping and rebound. And it just basically soaks up everything. So you can hit things a lot harder than you think you can. And this truck just takes it. It just wants it. It wants you to dig in to those whoops. Now this is actually a body in white. So when you get this vehicle, you will not get this wrap. You can make it your own. So if you were to buy this vehicle, what class would you race it in? Well, you could raise it in scores class seven, except for that motor. That's just not going to work. You might be able to race it in class three. There's a bunch of different classes that it could fit into. But Ford is telling me that they're hoping to kind of create a class that this would sit in. And then maybe, we could get some competition from Jeep and Toyota entering performance vehicles of theirs. And wouldn't that be cool to see all the manufacturers battling it out down in Baja? We got to jump it, we got to go super fast in the whoops, we got to turn it a little bit. My only thing is that the brake pedal is-- there's not power brakes. So you really, really, really have to stand on it. And my lady feet are so dainty that it was hard to actually reach them. So if I were to buy this vehicle, I would definitely need to kind of modify those pedals so that it would fit my feet a little bit better. But having said that, turnkey performance race car, I mean, sure. It's over $200,000. But you know what? You're going to spend more than that building your own vehicle. So if you have the means, I would highly recommend you pick one up. SPEAKER 1: I love driving it. It is so choice. EMME HALL: However, they're all spoken for. So too bad, so sad. Maybe Ford will make more. Now that we're finished up, I'm going to get a hot lap from my co-driver Curt LeDuc. Curt is a legend in off-road. And I guarantee you, he's going to be going a lot faster than I did. And this is going to be real fun. So hang on, Hall. So if you want to learn more about the Ford Bronco DR, you can go to edmunds.com. We've got more words and pictures for you over there. SPEAKER 1: You're still here? It's over. Go home. Go.