Got a 2025 Ranger Raptor yesterday coming from a Mustang... whoa

I'm coming from back to back S550 Mustangs, first a '15 Ecoboost then a '19 GT. It was unfortunately time to grow up a little--the Mustang was no longer viable or practical for where I was at in life.

After casually window shopping for 6 months, I got a notification that the blue book on my Mustang shot up $6k (thanks, I guess, US government??) and I knew this was the time to make a move. I ended up with this Marsh Gray 25 that was on the lot for 2 hours before I'd called about a test drive. Turns out it was a special order from a guy that worked at the dealership and had a habit of ordering a high-demand car, driving it for 2 weeks, selling it at a gain, and doing this all over again in perpetuity. Once the RRs started sitting around MSRP again, he evidently declined delivery on this one. Ended up snagging at 1k under MSRP in Orlando, FL.

Marsh Gray wasn't my first pick, but after seeing it in person I loved it. I could do without the graphics package, they might go eventually.

I'd read "oh it's loud, it handles like an offroad truck, it's not nimble," yada yada. Brother, I'm coming from a GT with 20" wheels on it. Other than the fact that provided the fun of being a 6 speed manual, so far this is an upgrade across the board. I am pleasantly surprised with how quick and comfortable it is. I've never driven a vehicle that *prefers* you hit the speed bump going 35. It's wild.

First moves will be tint, a decision between a Bedrug or Line-X, and then that retractable Amazon tonneau cover I see folks yapping about on here. Looks great for the price! Will drive for a few months then probably be itching for the ProCal tune...

Happy to be here and look forward to being on the Helper side rather than the "please help me" side in due time!

You will enjoy it love my Raptor its been one of my best vehicles ever. Hope you have many miles of fun and enjoyment. The performance tune is a must it makes it so much more fun to drive.

Nice truck, enjoy

Don Vandyke said:

Nice truck, enjoy

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Love your Rudy Red Lariat Don Vandyke favorite color wish it was on the Ranger Raptors.

wolf32v said:

Love your Rudy Red Lariat Don Vandyke favorite color wish it was on the Ranger Raptors.

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Hey thanks,yeah I really don't understand what Ford is doing with their options anymore.

theweinerback said:

I'm coming from back to back S550 Mustangs, first a '15 Ecoboost then a '19 GT. It was unfortunately time to grow up a little--the Mustang was no longer viable or practical for where I was at in life.

After casually window shopping for 6 months, I got a notification that the blue book on my Mustang shot up $6k (thanks, I guess, US government??) and I knew this was the time to make a move. I ended up with this Marsh Gray 25 that was on the lot for 2 hours before I'd called about a test drive. Turns out it was a special order from a guy that worked at the dealership and had a habit of ordering a high-demand car, driving it for 2 weeks, selling it at a gain, and doing this all over again in perpetuity. Once the RRs started sitting around MSRP again, he evidently declined delivery on this one. Ended up snagging at 1k under MSRP in Orlando, FL.

Marsh Gray wasn't my first pick, but after seeing it in person I loved it. I could do without the graphics package, they might go eventually.

I'd read "oh it's loud, it handles like an offroad truck, it's not nimble," yada yada. Brother, I'm coming from a GT with 20" wheels on it. Other than the fact that provided the fun of being a 6 speed manual, so far this is an upgrade across the board. I am pleasantly surprised with how quick and comfortable it is. I've never driven a vehicle that *prefers* you hit the speed bump going 35. It's wild.

First moves will be tint, a decision between a Bedrug or Line-X, and then that retractable Amazon tonneau cover I see folks yapping about on here. Looks great for the price! Will drive for a few months then probably be itching for the ProCal tune...

Happy to be here and look forward to being on the Helper side rather than the "please help me" side in due time!

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Congratulations! I recommend a spray in bedliner, but be sure to plug the threaded holes and maybe mask the tie downs. Wish I had gone the bed rug route instead of rubber mat (hard to slide anything in).

Congrats on your "maturing." I am in the same boat, coming from a 2019 GT350 and I've had so much fun in the Raptor that it really did make losing the Shelby bearable. Like you said, it's so nice to not be worried about every little road imperfection, the occasional traffic cone, potholes, rain, snow, gravel, or almost anything one encounters during daily travel. Plus, a quick run over to any dirt trail or offroading of any kind is so much cheaper than a track day with any of the HPDE clubs.

Let's see the Mustangs navigate this:

Wait til the tune is approved for the 2025, gonna be even faster

wolf32v said:

Love your Rudy Red Lariat Don Vandyke favorite color wish it was on the Ranger Raptors.

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Dons twin in SC

theweinerback said:

I'm coming from back to back S550 Mustangs, first a '15 Ecoboost then a '19 GT. It was unfortunately time to grow up a little--the Mustang was no longer viable or practical for where I was at in life.

After casually window shopping for 6 months, I got a notification that the blue book on my Mustang shot up $6k (thanks, I guess, US government??) and I knew this was the time to make a move. I ended up with this Marsh Gray 25 that was on the lot for 2 hours before I'd called about a test drive. Turns out it was a special order from a guy that worked at the dealership and had a habit of ordering a high-demand car, driving it for 2 weeks, selling it at a gain, and doing this all over again in perpetuity. Once the RRs started sitting around MSRP again, he evidently declined delivery on this one. Ended up snagging at 1k under MSRP in Orlando, FL.

Marsh Gray wasn't my first pick, but after seeing it in person I loved it. I could do without the graphics package, they might go eventually.

I'd read "oh it's loud, it handles like an offroad truck, it's not nimble," yada yada. Brother, I'm coming from a GT with 20" wheels on it. Other than the fact that provided the fun of being a 6 speed manual, so far this is an upgrade across the board. I am pleasantly surprised with how quick and comfortable it is. I've never driven a vehicle that *prefers* you hit the speed bump going 35. It's wild.

First moves will be tint, a decision between a Bedrug or Line-X, and then that retractable Amazon tonneau cover I see folks yapping about on here. Looks great for the price! Will drive for a few months then probably be itching for the ProCal tune...

Happy to be here and look forward to being on the Helper side rather than the "please help me" side in due time!

Click to expand...

I feel ya! I came from a 24 Ecoboost Mustang to my 24 Lariat. Definately a great move for me. Keep in mind, I still have my 17 Mustang GT/CS. LOL!

Sonny McGee said:

I feel ya! I came from a 24 Ecoboost Mustang to my 24 Lariat. Definately a great move for me. Keep in mind, I still have my 17 Mustang GT/CS. LOL!

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At this stage of my life I'm very much a one-car solution type so the RR met the needs haha I'm hopeful I'll have another Mustang at some point. That or a Mk2 GTI project car.. but those are all 25k+ now. Who knows. Cars are gonna be weird in 5-10 years.

theweinerback said:

I'm coming from back to back S550 Mustangs, first a '15 Ecoboost then a '19 GT. It was unfortunately time to grow up a little--the Mustang was no longer viable or practical for where I was at in life.

After casually window shopping for 6 months, I got a notification that the blue book on my Mustang shot up $6k (thanks, I guess, US government??) and I knew this was the time to make a move. I ended up with this Marsh Gray 25 that was on the lot for 2 hours before I'd called about a test drive. Turns out it was a special order from a guy that worked at the dealership and had a habit of ordering a high-demand car, driving it for 2 weeks, selling it at a gain, and doing this all over again in perpetuity. Once the RRs started sitting around MSRP again, he evidently declined delivery on this one. Ended up snagging at 1k under MSRP in Orlando, FL.

Marsh Gray wasn't my first pick, but after seeing it in person I loved it. I could do without the graphics package, they might go eventually.

I'd read "oh it's loud, it handles like an offroad truck, it's not nimble," yada yada. Brother, I'm coming from a GT with 20" wheels on it. Other than the fact that provided the fun of being a 6 speed manual, so far this is an upgrade across the board. I am pleasantly surprised with how quick and comfortable it is. I've never driven a vehicle that *prefers* you hit the speed bump going 35. It's wild.

First moves will be tint, a decision between a Bedrug or Line-X, and then that retractable Amazon tonneau cover I see folks yapping about on here. Looks great for the price! Will drive for a few months then probably be itching for the ProCal tune...

Happy to be here and look forward to being on the Helper side rather than the "please help me" side in due time!

Click to expand...

rocsteady said:

Congrats on your "maturing." I am in the same boat, coming from a 2019 GT350 and I've had so much fun in the Raptor that it really did make losing the Shelby bearable. Like you said, it's so nice to not be worried about every little road imperfection, the occasional traffic cone, potholes, rain, snow, gravel, or almost anything one encounters during daily travel. Plus, a quick run over to any dirt trail or offroading of any kind is so much cheaper than a track day with any of the HPDE clubs.

Let's see the Mustangs navigate this:

Click to expand...

I sold my 2018 GT350 Leadfoot Gray to buy my Ranger Raptor. I loved the GT350, but it was impractical and I was terrified of scratching it or it getting damaged, and that is no way to enjoy a car!

I enjoy the Ranger Raptor and I’m happy with the decision I made.

I have been on the fence about the Marsh Gray color, yours is the first Marsh Gray I’ve seen with the graphics, and I think yours looks great!

theweinerback said:

I'm coming from back to back S550 Mustangs, first a '15 Ecoboost then a '19 GT. It was unfortunately time to grow up a little--the Mustang was no longer viable or practical for where I was at in life.

After casually window shopping for 6 months, I got a notification that the blue book on my Mustang shot up $6k (thanks, I guess, US government??) and I knew this was the time to make a move. I ended up with this Marsh Gray 25 that was on the lot for 2 hours before I'd called about a test drive. Turns out it was a special order from a guy that worked at the dealership and had a habit of ordering a high-demand car, driving it for 2 weeks, selling it at a gain, and doing this all over again in perpetuity. Once the RRs started sitting around MSRP again, he evidently declined delivery on this one. Ended up snagging at 1k under MSRP in Orlando, FL.

Marsh Gray wasn't my first pick, but after seeing it in person I loved it. I could do without the graphics package, they might go eventually.

I'd read "oh it's loud, it handles like an offroad truck, it's not nimble," yada yada. Brother, I'm coming from a GT with 20" wheels on it. Other than the fact that provided the fun of being a 6 speed manual, so far this is an upgrade across the board. I am pleasantly surprised with how quick and comfortable it is. I've never driven a vehicle that *prefers* you hit the speed bump going 35. It's wild.

First moves will be tint, a decision between a Bedrug or Line-X, and then that retractable Amazon tonneau cover I see folks yapping about on here. Looks great for the price! Will drive for a few months then probably be itching for the ProCal tune...

Happy to be here and look forward to being on the Helper side rather than the "please help me" side in due time!

Click to expand...

Enjoy that new truck. Marsh gray is sweet.

Love the marsh grey, that was my first color pick but didn't want to wait for the 2025s to arrive so I settled for the Shelter Green, which I also really liked. The Marsh Grey is a really nice color!

Similar to what others have said, I came from a 2016 GT PP with Stage 2 Power Pack, car ate tires like nobody's business and was completely impractical. The 5.0L with Stage 2 FP Power Pack and a Crosa sounded absolutely amazing, and it was a mid-12 second car.

Aside from performance / aural sound and aesthetics, the GT had very little practical use and like others have said, I was always trying to keep it looking its best which was a chore.

With the truck, I already got a small scratch on the rear fender from my daughter trying to lift a suitcase in over the side (no idea why she didn't pull the tail gate down) but wasn't strong enough and dragged it down the rear fender by accident...some small rock chips etc., while I cringed a bit inside...it's all done and over with now. It's now "trucked". Just enjoying driving it!

And for some reason, I actually like driving the RR MORE than the GT even though the GT was much faster and sounded much better. I prefer more low - mid-range torque over high end HP in terms of the driving experience / fun factor and the RR has a nice broad torque band that pairs very well with the 10R60's 7 forward ratios at 20% spacing. It's just always there.

And it's also FAR more utilitarian obviously being a truck! It's just a great all-around vehicle. Road trips with the family, random off-road trails in our area, 0-80 pulls onto highways or 0-60's on back country roads, don't gotta worry about potholes or railroad tracks or gravel roads or dirt roads or rocks etc. It just eats everything up and I'm really looking forward to the sand dunes at Silver Lake Michigan!

I realized I'm a truck guy after spending decades with cars.

Congrats! I too, made the move from an S550 (2017 GT Premium, Performance Package) to a Ranger Raptor. So far, so good. I do miss the Mustang some, but I'm really liking this truck. It's the first truck I've owned, and I think I picked a good one!