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Ford's engineers managed some kind of miracle getting the new Bronco Raptor to drive so well in town.

Everyone expected the new Bronco Raptor to absolutely crush all off-roading competition. But even if Ford exceeded those expectations and rendered the Wrangler all but obsolete, probably the most important question for potential Bronco Raptor owners to ask themselves was whether an SUV hopped up on big power gains and 37-inch tires might possibly drive well on-road, rather than off.

Of course, when Ford loaned me a so-called "Braptor" for a week, I went straight out to the dirt to test out the four-wheeling capabilities. But the biggest revelation arrived in town and on the highway, where the Bronco Raptor shines as a vehicle that doesn't need to sacrifice road dynamics despite the obvious off-roading enhancements.

The Bronco Raptor arrives carrying a lot of pressure from Ford to overthrow the Wrangler amid Detroit's escalating off-road wars. Ram took the F-150 down a notch with the TRX, Jeep unveiled the V8-powered Rubicon 392, and now Ford has brought out the big guns with a Bronco that essentially takes everything from an F-150 to create an absolute monster.

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For customers who truly plan to off-road the Bronco Raptor, probably the most important detail arrives beneath the massive fender flares: a set of 37-inch BFGoodrich All-Terrain K02 tires. Ford made sure everyone knew that no other SUV in history ever left the factory wearing such enormous shoes—and yet, even despite measuring 12.5 inches wide, the BFGs don't actually make a ton of racket or dampen dynamics too terribly.

At lower speeds, a bit of tread noise crops up when turning (especially with the windows down and, therefore, presumably with the top off) but overall, Ford's decision to go with the A/T tires instead of legit mud-terrains specifically caters to the large percentage of buyers who will spend almost all of their time driving places not covered in grit and grime.

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Of course, a big power boost also helps—and becomes almost necessary due to the diameter of those 37s. The 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 might not displace quite as much as the F-150 Raptor's engine but still pumps out a hefty 418 horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque. We know a V8 fits in that engine bay, too, so maybe Ford plans to pull a fast one and release a Bronco Raptor R to match the forthcoming F-150 Raptor R someday in the future.

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The EcoBoost's low-end grunt pairs perfectly with the 10-speed automatic that Ford and GM developed together. At least, it does in town—while off-roading, I definitely came to love the paddle shifters for controlling the gearbox, since it tends to want to shift far too often in low-traction situations, which leads to even more slips and lurching.

Even with the 10-speed, though, the Bronco Raptor gets terrible fuel economy. Buyers need to just resign themselves to around 11 or 12 MPGs in real-world driving, as I experienced.

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Other than the drivetrain, of course, all the shock damping from Fox emerge as the real star of the show that together make the Bronco Raptor such an absurdly capable off-roader for a truck with independent front suspension. Ford also cribbed a ton of parts from the F-150 Raptor to beef up the suspension other than the LiveValve 3.1-inch shocks within steel spring coilovers, too.

Best of all, the shocks can firm or soften up via buttons on the Bronco Raptor's steering wheel, in addition to using the GOAT dial to select Sport mode. And even in the canyons, somehow this 5,733-pound rig that rides as high or higher than just about anything else on the road manages to handle closer to a sports car than a pickup truck, despite weighing only nine pounds less than its F-150 sibling.

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The controls for selecting individual settings on the steering wheel also include throttle response and exhaust valving, plus steering weight. And a set of big piano-style buttons atop the dash provide the Bronco Raptor with off-road goodies like a disconnecting front sway bar, locking differentials, and the nifty trail turn assist.

None of those really come up while driving around in town, though actually seeing over the big hood and tall dash does emerge as one of the Bronco Raptor's challenges. Where I could use the retro-styled hood handles on the lower-spec Broncos as something of a flag for the square body's corners, the Raptor version gets enormous fender flares that create an even larger footprint in tighter city environments. I actually ended up moving my seat up and forward regularly—not just while off-roading—to get a better view of the whole truck throughout the week.

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The Raptor package also includes upgraded seats, which provide much more bolstering and comfort than the base Bronco—even though the lack of air-conditioning ventilation emerges as a huge oversight and mistake. Apparently, Ford believed that the holes for ventilation might get clogged by dirt while blasting around with the roof off. But blasting around with the roof off on a hot day sounds so much more fun with ventilated seats!​​​​​​​

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Another strange detail that I noticed while living with the Bronco Raptor involves the sheer dimensions. Because the aggressive design includes both a metal body flare and the plastic fender flares—both necessary to cover up the huge tires, in addition to the styling—the square interior ends up feeling especially tiny. On a base Bronco, the backseats seem reasonable and the trunk adequate, but on such a big Raptor, the proportions create a cramped sensation.

And yet, all things considered, the Bronco Raptor will undoubtedly end up competing with a number of other luxury SUVs—especially the Mercedes-AMG G-Wagens and Land Rover's new Defender. Given dealer markups creating easy six-figure price tags for this monstrous off-roader, the number of trucks that will end up making grocery runs to Whole Foods only increases. While that seems like a shame for everyone (including me) who loves what the Bronco can do off-road, Ford definitely built the Bronco Raptor to serve as an excellent mall crawler—and to a certain respect, the on-road driving dynamics actually impress more than the four-wheeling capabilities.

Sources: ford.com, youtube.com, bfgoodrichtires.com, and ridefox.com.

Michael Van Runkle grew up surrounded by Los Angeles car culture, going to small enthusiast meets and enormous industry shows. He learned to drive stick shift in a 1948 Chevy pickup with no first gear and currently dailies his 1998 Mitsubishi Montero while daydreaming about one day finishing up that Porsche 914 project. He's written in various media since graduating from UC Berkeley in 2010 and started at HotCars in February 2018.