The horizon is blurred by the midday heat, and all I can see in the rear-view mirror is a rooster tail of billowing dust. Not that I care what’s happening behind me: Right now, my attention is firmly focused on the dirt track rapidly unwinding ahead.
In a standard Ranger, there’s no way I would have made the corner. But then, the Raptor is a far cry from your average double cab. Sure, it’s not shy in the power stakes either, thanks to a two-litre, four-cylinder bi-turbodiesel credited with 157kW of urge and 500Nm of torque. That’s the same as a standard 2.0BT Wildtrak — but the secret of the Raptor is how well it applies that urge.
In the Raptor’s case, there’s a Fox Racing damper on each corner, delivering a combination of absorption and stability that’s streets ahead of a standard shock absorber. Right now, I’m on the so-called rally track: A course that meanders its way through and around part of the pan. There’s that long, fast straight, followed by a sharp right. Then some S-bends snaking their way through rock-strewn terrain.
All that focus on the suspension has paid off: the damping is perfectly progressive, soaking up the rough stuff without becoming soggy, and keeping things tidy when normal bakkies would be leaning wildly. Nor do you have to go fast to benefit from the Raptor’s capabilities. The notoriously soft Kalahari sand of the dunes surrounding the pan posed an altogether different challenge.
The four-cylinder’s twin turbos work in tandem to counter lag and smooth out the power delivery. It also has the benefit of being lighter and more compact than a V6 or even V8, which contributes to the Raptor’s inherent balance.
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