Here’s my initial feedback from the Raptor Experience at the Mt Potosi Bronco Off-Roadeo. I had the opportunity to attend the Off-Roadeo at Horseshoe Bay last year and can state that this is an experience at a different level.
In short it’s the most fun I’ve had behind the wheel of a vehicle…ever. Don’t get me wrong by my time behind the wheel of 911s, AMGs, R8s, McLarens and other sports cars have been a lot of fun but this is just another level. The adrenaline from hitting the trails with almost no concern about damaging the vehicle, bending a rim or injuring yourself/others is just different.
Location/Raptor Basecamp:
The Raptor Experience is on the same overall property as the Bronco Off-Roadeo but a completely separate building tailor-made for the Raptor. It’s not that it’s nicer, just unique. The merchandise section also has a large qty of items unique for the Raptor so I spent more than I probably should have over there knowing that I probably won’t get access to those items again without a return trip.
Raptor Fleet:
There were 2 groups for the day (8A & 9A) and about 14 total attendees in totaL (not counting +1s). While the vehicles were in ‘good‘ condition there were clear indicators of the hard-life they were living. Many had the front panel that sits below the grille (sorry, loss for words of the proper term) that had come loose on the corners. The instructors commented that they have learned that the flex of the frame was causing some of the trim clips to break so not body damage. The rattles from inside the vehicle was much more pronounced than I get in mine. The roof had more road noise and decent rattles from the rear cargo area.
As for overall reliability, the one item that they commented was a key learning was the Fan Relays would fail regularly until they determined the cause. Basically the high dust from the landscape was building up in the fan causing greater stress on the motor. They eventually figured it out and now blow out the fan at the end of every day and no longer have these failures.
We did have 3 vehicles go down of the 8 in my group…and I caused 2 of them
. My vehicle was just fine all day until we arrived at Raptor Valley. After a 90is minute drive the CEL went on. They determined while we were out there that it was related to Sta-Bar disconnect issues, so I moved to another truck. Well that one went into Limp Mode 1/2-way through my first run of the Ultra4 course with no real understanding of the cause at the moment. I finished the day driving the recovery vehicle (named so as it was carrying all of the recovery gear).
My take on the issues is that these things are pounded week after week and should almost be expected to need some help from time to time. What I didn’t see were any issues with fender flares, undercarriage damage or other items. We drive them hard and they kept asking for more.
My group instructor for the day was Kai. Really cool dude that I’d love to have had the opportunity to spend more time with. I started the day as the lead vehicle with him so we got to chat a lot about every topic. Mid-way through the ORX course he needed to shift to another vehicle as that couple needed that hands-on guidance in order to not slow down the entire group too much.
V-Box Option:
If you can, opt for this option as you’re able to capture your drives on video with overlays of the driving data. I’ve included some of those clips below. I also brought my Insta360 Action Cam and will be going through that video later in the week to see if there’s anything all that different/better than the V-Box videos but not really expecting much other than a couple of drives that didn’t seem to get captured properly.
ORX Course:
Mid-Grade Trail/Rock-Crawling course that’s apparently built specifically for the Raptor. I’m sure a Sasquatch could make it though this course but not nearly as easily as the Raptor tackled it. You really get a feeling of the various tools available in terms of Modes, Hero Switches, Mirrors, Spotters and overall Driver Input. It’s a good way to get the day started and start developing understanding if not confidence of the capabilities of the BRaptor. I’ve spent some decent time rock-crawling previously so nothing that was very un-nerving.
Trail Ride to Raptor Valley:
I’m not going to say that this was my favorite part of the day, but it was close. Really aggressive drive through various landscapes that demonstrated the unique functionality of the BRaptor to take these types of trails at speed. I didn’t get my BRaptor for rock crawling but rather to push some speed across some of these off-road trails. This part of the day justified the difference of the Raptor suspension and my choice to purchase one. I even got mine up over 50 mph in a couple of sections. Here’s a couple of videos from this section:
Raptor Run Course:
This was a decent bridge between the ORX and Ultra4 courses. Some really slow crawling which we used the Trail Control feature mixed with some aggressive driving across some whoops and finishing with a Rock Waterfall section. This part was interesting but not necessarily a favorite part of my day.
Ultra4 Course:
Star of the show…what we’re all there for. Even though I have a decent amount of high-speed or off-road experience there’s still some anxiousness going into this course. First of all, the instructor-driven lap shows you just how much you can push these and makes you wonder if you can come anywhere close. Secondly you want to get big-air on that first jump. While my first pass wasn’t tentative, I wasn’t satisfied with my aggressiveness nor my jump. I think I took care of that with pass number 2. I need to double-check the video but think I cut 5+ sec from my time and certainly got more air on the jump than my first pass. I’m awaiting the pictures to come in for final judgement but hopeful.
As it turns out, my instructor for the Ultra4 round was the same guy (Tony) that was onboard when that Raptor blew the airbags a few weeks ago. Apparently what happened was the guy gunned it at the top of the slope when he needed to come off and the rear tires bounced into the top of the slope which caused the entire vehicle to over-rotate forward. He said that Gittin wanted them to have this section as a 2nd jump to be done at 35+ mph but it’s just too much for most drivers (the BRaptor can handle it all day with the proper technique).
Summary:
If you haven’t already been, the find a way to attend. You will not be disappointed. Unless The weather gets really cold, just wear shorts and whatever shirt you’re comfortable with, if not layers. I started in a tee-shirt but swapped to a long-sleeve sun shirt just for some added sun protection. Purchase the V-Box Video option If you have any interest to watch it again if not share your experience. And lastly be willing to put yourself in uncomfortable positions…push yourself, learn and improve.
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. I could do that every day. Now I need to get mine flying sometime as well.
