Cinder Hills Meetup: Raptor vs. Raptor R

Last week we took a trip to Cinder Hills in Northern Arizona to wheel around in our 2024 ADD Raptor build alongside a customers' build of his 2025 Raptor R. Be sure to check out or recap video at the end of this article! While they are both high-performance trucks, we got to experience firsthand the different tiers they each occupy. Let's break down the key differences and build features between the trucks:

Differences We Noted

First Impressions

Raptor R with Bomber Front Bumper spins up black cinders with ADD Raptor in the background.

The first thing you notice when driving both Raptors around is their sound. Both Raptors can absolutely rip (especially in Baja mode), but their engine designs create two very distinct sounds. On our ADD Raptor with the twin-turbo V6, you can hear the turbos sucking in air during acceleration and then hear the blowoff valve giving its classic ‘pshhh’ when the driver steps off the throttle. On the other hand the Raptor R, with its supercharged V8, had a deeper tone with an audible whine from the supercharger under throttle & at higher RPMs, the Raptor R absolutely screams.

Handling the Terrain

Raptor R with Bomber Rear Bumper demonstrates it's power driving through deep loose cinders.

When it came to traversing the terrain, both trucks were incredibly capable. The Cinder Hills are made up of old cinder cones, craters, and lava fields formed from ancient eruptions, leaving behind loose volcanic rocks (cinders) that act like loose sand under the tires. This terrain means off-roaders need to look out for tires sinking in, losing traction, and getting dug in with excessive wheelspin. During our trip we covered a lot of terrain in the area, ranging from more wooded trails to wide open cinder flats, all of which the trucks handled flawlessly.

The Raptor R pulls ahead of the ADD Raptor in a race across the flats.

Suspension between the trucks seem similar enough on paper, but the FOX Dual Live Valve shocks on the Raptor R are noticeably smoother in person. With their more aggressive approach to controlling compression and rebound in real-time, the experience of crossing rough terrain at high speeds is noticeably smoother. 

Head to Head

The ADD Raptor managed to out-pace the Raptor R on this run.

We of course did some head to head racing across the cinder flats, and were pretty surprised at the results. We did a couple runs with the trucks lined up and gunning it across the flats. It should be no surprise that the Raptor R beat our Raptor off the line almost every run. However, we were surprised how often our Raptor was able to catch up on some of these runs. Driving in the cinders is extremely similar to driving in sand or the dunes, requiring skill in momentum management, flotation, and careful throttle input. Ultimately the Raptor R would probably win 10/10 times on the pavement, but we were surprised how close the performance was during our trip.

Synopsis

Both Raptors parked side by side; the Raptor R with it's amber Baja Designs lights and the ADD Raptor with the clear Rigid Industries lights.

Both trucks are fantastic, but the Raptor R does clearly have an edge against the standard Raptor. Ford wouldn’t offer a top-tier performance truck if there wasn’t any room to improve upon the standard Raptor, but obviously there is a price jump to experience those benefits. What we really learned on this trip is that in off road scenarios what matters the most is practice and becoming a skilled driver in off road terrain. Our team and the customer we met up with are all skilled and practiced drivers in off road terrain which means that despite the differences in the trucks, we all got to fly around the cinders and have a great day.

Check out this video to get a look at our experience, and we hope to see more of our customers out on the trails in the future!