Okay, so folks always ask about the Raptor, right? And one of the first things they usually bring up is the gas mileage. “Man, that thing must guzzle gas!” they say. Well, yeah, it’s a big truck with a powerful engine, nobody’s buying one expecting Prius numbers. But I got curious about what I was actually getting, day-to-day.
Getting Started – The Plan
So, I decided to track it myself for a while. Didn’t want to just rely on the fancy screen telling me numbers. Felt like doing it the old-fashioned way, kinda. My plan was simple:
- Fill the tank completely.
- Reset the trip odometer to zero.
- Drive like I normally would – work commutes, weekend errands, maybe a longer trip if one came up.
- Next time I needed gas, fill it up completely again.
- Note down the miles driven on the trip odometer.
- Note down how many gallons I just put in.
- Divide the miles by the gallons. Boom, MPG.
Doing the Thing
First few times, I was pretty diligent. Got my little notebook out at the gas station, scribbled down the numbers. Felt a bit like a detective, haha. I also kept an eye on the truck’s own MPG calculator on the dashboard just to see how close it was.
I started noticing patterns pretty quickly. When I was doing mostly highway driving, cruising along, the numbers were… well, not amazing, but better than I thought they might be. Definitely saw figures creeping up towards the higher end of what people generally report online.
But city driving? Oh boy. Stop and go traffic, short trips… that’s where you really see the needle drop, or rather, the calculated MPG figure plummet. Lots of idling, lots of accelerating that heavy beast. It definitely likes to drink when it’s working hard in town.
I also found my driving style made a huge difference, which isn’t exactly rocket science, I know. If I was feeling a bit frisky, enjoying that engine sound, the MPG would obviously suffer. Keeping a light foot, accelerating smoothly, anticipating stops – that definitely helped nudge the numbers up a bit. It’s kinda common sense, but seeing it reflected in my own tracked numbers made it more real.
The Results (Sort Of)
After tracking it consistently for a few months, filling up maybe 8-10 times and doing the math, I got a pretty decent average. It wasn’t wildly different from what the truck’s computer was telling me, maybe off by half an MPG here or there, which was reassuring.
What did I learn? Well, the Raptor is thirsty, no doubt. Especially if you drive it hard or do mostly city miles. But on the open road, driven sensibly, it wasn’t quite the catastrophic gas hog some folks make it out to be. It’s all relative, of course. Compared to a small car, it’s terrible. Compared to other big, powerful trucks? It’s kinda in the ballpark.
Honestly, I stopped meticulously tracking after a while. Got a good feel for it. You don’t buy a Raptor to save gas. You buy it for the fun, the capability, the way it makes you feel. Knowing the exact MPG down to the decimal point doesn’t really change that. It was interesting to see the real-world numbers for myself, though. Confirmed some things, maybe busted a myth or two in my own head. Now, when someone asks, I can just shrug and say, “Yeah, it uses gas, but it sure is fun!”