Raptor driving school in Utah - Long with many pics

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EMY92
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I took the Raptor Assault driving school outside of Salt Lake City on Monday. It was an absolute blast.

I decided to go to Utah a few days early to see a few sites.

I landed mid-morning on Friday and immediately departed for Capitol Reef National Park. This park reminds me a little of Big Bend but made mostly of sandstone. This is the least visited national park in Utah and it wasn't too crowded when I was there.






After a little time in the park, I headed South on Utah Scenic Route 12. This is the most amazing drive I've ever taken. The parks are about 120 miles apart, the route takes you through portions of Capitol Reef, Dixie National Forest, and Grand Staircase-Escalente National Monument, before reaching (close) Bryce Canyon National Park.





Bryce was very crowded, I took the NPS shuttle bus into the park. When entering the park on the bus, the entry to cars was stopped due to the lack of parking.

The views in Bryce are spectacular. Enjoy a few photos.






The next day, I headed to Tooele for the driving school. I was shocked at how much punishment the Raptor can take. Due to the extremely dry conditions, the trails were very dusty. We were broken into 4 car pods, the instructor in the lead truck, I was the 4thtruck in our pod. We were told to keep the spacing as tight as possible, it helps you see the truck in front of you, if you drop back, everything gets lost in the dust cloud. There were several times where the truck 30' in front of me disappeared. Not a great feeling when you had no idea where the trail goes.





If you look closely, you can see the Aggie Ring on my right hand below.


I'm in the 4th truck. Another Ag is in the 3rd truck. I had backed off a bit after losing site of the truck in front and going off of the trail.



The views in Utah are usually much better, but there is a ton of smoke from California plus some local fires.



We started the driving school at 8 am. The school began with almost an hour of classroom discussion and telling us what the rest of the day will consist of. There were 19 people in the class. I think 8 were from Texas with the remaining students from various parts of the country. Each truck had two students. The trucks varied between the more basic option package and the fully loaded trucks. The truck I drove had everything my truck has plus the carbon fiber package (and I still don't see the need to pay $1000 for it).

We started the driving by breaking into two groups on the Utah Motorsports complex. My group went to the rock crawling section. Here, we got the truck on a 30 degree side slope. Next, we used 2 pedal driving to control a steep hill climb followed by using decent mode to go down the steep hill without the need to touch the brakes.




Following the rock crawl, we went to a short dirt track. Here, we each took laps with the truck in Normal, followed by Mud/Sand, and then Baja mode, then a final lap in Normal to drive home the difference. The throttle and braking response of the truck is different in each mode.

After this, we left the motorsport complex and headed about 15 miles away to some public trails.

In the non-rocky portions of the trails were incredibly dusty. Some of the portions were the most terrified I've ever been going 25 MPH. When the truck 30' in front of you disappears and you have no idea if the trail goes up, down, left or right, it's disconcerting. Also, you can't slow down or you risk the following groups running you over.

After a couple of miles of terror in the dust, I had never been so happy to a paved road. After moving to the next trail, the other driver got his turn. I then learned that there is something more frightening than the truck 30' in front of you disappearing, it's being in the passenger seat of the trail truck when that happens.




There is a Jeep about 150' down the now capped mine shaft. If you climb out to the center, you can see a portion of the Cherokee. (I'm the one in maroon, the other Ag is to my right)




This was the only graded section we covered, the road was wide enough for us to go 4 wide, so we spread in a way so the wind gave the following truck visibility. This is the fastest we got to go during the day.



And finally, a Ferrari Mondail that I saw at Capitol Reef NP.



My rental Ford Fusion Titanium Hybrid. I put 900 miles on this in 3 days. Got great gas mileage.



And a few cars displayed at the racing school:




The above vehicles are used in the various racing schools, the ones below are not.




That's all!

sts7049
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bad. ass.
KY AG
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You went to SLC and didn't go to the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum. Mega fail.
KY AG
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Awesome pics though.
EMY92
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The park pics are from my cell phone. The Raptor school pics were taken by a professional photographer that they hire. You can see his motorcycle in the pic where we're eating lunch at the mine shafts.

At the end of the day, they gave each of us a flash drive with 880 pictures on it.
easttexasaggie04
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That's so awesome!
14TheRoad
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Nice report and pics. looks like a lot of fun!
JB
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That looks great. Ive always done more crawling, but I did the Wide Open Baja thing a few years back in Ensenada. The go-fast stuff is so much fun.
RynoAg
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Looks like a badass trip! Thanks for sharing.
OXDL45
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AWESOME.
TRIDENT
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Heck yeah!
Naveronski
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green7
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Really cool
Noblemen06
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That looks like it was an awesome experience...and Utah really is heaven for off-roading (or anything outdoors, really)
FIDO*98*
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I hate to admit it, but, now that I don't have a RV I've thought about selling my Super Duty and getting a Raptor
EMY92
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The Raptor makes me smile every time I get in it.

If you do get one, sign up for the Raptor Assault immediately. Spots are limited. There isn't an opening for the rest of the year.

Not a single person in the class regretted going.

They will be replacing the current fleet with 2019 models. Currently all are 2017 or preproduction test models.
Naveronski
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What did your class cover, and what was your off-road experience before it?
EMY92
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The class covered a variety of topics. Many were focused just on the Raptor with instruction on the different drive modes and how they change the truck's throttle and braking response.

For example, in Baja Mode, the power and acceleration is more easily applied, the RPMs will stay higher to provide quicker throttle response. When braking in Baja Mode above 20 MPH, the brake bias will be to the rear of the truck to help you maintain a straight line, below 20 MPH the bias will be 100% to the front wheels to allow you to whip the back end around when cornering.

They also instructed us on how to rock crawl and go up steep slopes using the 2 foot driving. Set the RPM to 1800-2000 RPM, wedge your right foot against the transmission tunnel to keep the steady pressure on the gas and then control speed with the brake. This will prevent you from surging over rocks/logs etc.

I had no off road experience prior to the class. To be honest, there is nothing that we did that was difficult to do, some of that was due to the trail selection and a great deal was due to the Raptor. It can do more than you can imagine.

I thought the most relaxing segment was the Baja Mode runs at the end of the day. This is one of the few times we were required to wear helmets. However, since I was able to see, I found it relaxing. I could have gone much faster than we were allowed to. I am not sure how much faster, we were told that two people who had taken the class went to that section of trail in their own trucks later and flipped them. It's not easy to flip a Raptor.

After the classroom session, then the brief sessions at the Utah Motorsports Complex, we went to the trails. Each truck has a radio in it. The instructor in constantly talking to us via radio giving us pointers as we approached each challenge on the trail.

There are very few trails that we went on that I'd take my personal truck on. We did brush many trees and bushes and added some more desert pinstripping to each truck. However, I would love to do it again in their truck. It's almost worth buying another Raptor to take the class again.
Canyon99
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Awesome experience I'm sure. Thank you for the reports and pics.
HollywoodBQ
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That was awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Naveronski
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Sounds like a great trip!

Need to take it out to west Texas and let it eat!
MyTexasCarGuy
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Great post and pics... what's the cost for Raptor Assault ?
EMY92
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The cost of the class is about $70,000, but it does come with a new Raptor.

The class is free if you've purchased a Raptor, you must sign up within one year of purchase.

They also have classes for the Fiesta RS, Focus RS, Mustang 350, and the Ford GT. The Raptor and GT classes are the only ones where you can't purchase the class, the only way to get in is to buy a new vehicle. The GT class is the only one where you must bring your own vehicle.
CATAGBQ04
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Two if my buddies have done the same school

Utah is amazing!!!
HollywoodBQ
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EMY92 - is the paint on your Raptor Blue?

Taking my parents to church for the 8:30 service on Sunday morning, I saw a Blue Raptor with Texas A&M stickers at 84 & Ritchie Rd.

I was admiring the truck and then as it was driving away, I noticed the Aggie stickers and I realised that there was a good chance it was your truck. Beautiful truck.
EMY92
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That was me going to HEB.
HollywoodBQ
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I figured it probably was you. I commented to my parents, hey - that guy in that blue truck is a HS friend of mine - EMY92. My dad proceeded to argue with me that it couldn't be you because your truck was Maroon.

I was like, dad - he got a new truck. It's him. 82 y/o dad continued to argue that your truck was Maroon.
EMY92
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After 12 years with the maroon truck, I upgraded slightly.
Yesterday
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Very cool experience! Thanks for sharing.
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