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American Trucks: Ford Performance Raptor Assault with Justin Dugan

One of the best things about buying a “specialty” vehicle from Ford is the free driving course that’s included with the purchase. The Focus and Fiesta ST get the “ST Octane Academy”, Focus RS gets the “RS Adrenaline Academy,” the GT350 gets the “GT350 Track Attack,” and the Raptor gets the “Raptor Assault.” These schools are designed to show you all the performance of the vehicle in a safe driving environment.

Just recently Justin Dugan from American Trucks [1] got the chance to attend the Raptor Assault school after his purchase of a 2017 Raptor. The event starts with a classroom session designed to get you up to speed on the basics of desert driving. Things like tire pressure, driving position, and vehicle weight transfer are discussed.

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After the classroom session comes the fun part of driving a Raptor off-road. The first obstacle demonstrates lean angle the truck can achieve which is around 30 degrees for this obstacle. Next is a very small hill climb which demonstrates how well the truck can articulate. Following that hill climb is a hill descent were hill descent control will keep the truck at a perfect speed the leaving the driver to focus on steering.

Next up was a short off-road course to demonstrate the trucks high-speed capability. This is where some of that classroom knowledge comes in. Being able to properly weight transfer the truck into a corner is key to keeping it under control while still going fast. After that came a proper trail ride which combines many of the skills the attendees have learned up to that point. Finishing up the day is a high speed run to really show off what the truck is built for.

If you’ve recently purchased a Raptor, attending the Raptor Assault is a great way to understand your new truck and its capabilities. For more information on products from American Trucks, be sure to visit their website [1].