The Ford F-150 Raptor R tries to assert its dominance on one of the most powerful electric trucks on the planet
5 hours ago
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Drag racing is fun, but it doesn’t tell the whole story when it comes to performance. A U-drag race does a far better job and that’s the competition that a Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 Raptor R just took part in. The results aren’t all that shocking but they demonstrate the vast performance differences between two of the most powerful trucks on the market.
A U-drag race is exactly what it sounds like. Two vehicles race from a standing start through a quarter of a mile but then have to make a U-turn and race back to the start to find the winner. Essentially, this test exposes acceleration, braking, and cornering speed in one neat package.
The Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 Raptor R look almost even on paper too. They both start at around $75,000 and their power-to-weight ratio is within 0.01 lbs/hp of one another. In theory, they should perform very similarly. In the real world, they couldn’t be much more different though.
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From a dig, the Rivian begins to pull away within the first few seconds. It holds that lead throughout the quarter-mile drag race. Under hard braking, the Rivian is composed and calm. The Ford should have the ability to reel in the Rivian in the braking zone since it weighs just over 1,000 lbs (453 kg) less but instead, it’s jittery and unsettled.
In the turn, the Rivian manages a lateral force best of .96 g whereas the Ford can only achieve .84 g. Once the two trucks come out of the bend, the R1T is simply too powerful and too far ahead for the F-150 Raptor to catch it.
The Rivian wins both races without much drama or question about the result and that’s telling but there’s a big caveat to the test in this case. While both trucks use an all-terrain tire, the Raptor uses a 37-inch version which is far less capable at its limit on pavement than the smaller one Rivian uses. In fact, the video below shows the sidewalls of the Ford’s tires flexing as it struggles to manage grip during braking and cornering.
Some will complain about how the Rivian requires more time to charge or how it can’t tow things like an ICE truck but this competition wasn’t about that. It was about performance, and it embarrassed the Ford. What would these two trucks do if this race happened on dirt or gravel? That’s a much better critique of the race.
