The Ford Ranger Raptor is one of our favourite off-roaders of the moment. We'd say pick-up, but it's not much of a double-cab pick-up these days, because the sturdy leaf springs have been chucked out at the back and the whole chassis redesigned, with coil springs and Fox Motorsport dampers, to create a Baja-style rally car. It's ace.
Appropriately, then, we have a Bowler Bulldog, a real-life cross-country rally car to test alongside it. The Bulldog is the product of a small British company with a huge heart and a huge amount of off-road racing experience. This particular Bulldog packs a Range Rover V8 engine making in excess of 540bhp. And with a side-exit exhaust, it is well worth hearing.
Join Matt Prior in Wales as we test the Raptor and the Bulldog in as close to their natural habitat as we can. Plus a bit of time in unnatural habitats, with the Bulldog on a race track. Can an off-roader also be a sports car? Stay tuned.
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Dirt in our eyes: Cross-country rallying in a Bowler Defender Challenge
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Off roading test ...
... but not off roading thrown in. Just bit of easy cruice down some gravel roads. Could have done that in any standard kitted Volkswagen or Ford econocar.
the ranger raptor is a
the ranger raptor is a stupidly priced and definitly over price ugly bject it should have the F-150's v6 and the F-150 should have the GT500 engine.
the second over price is
the second over price is meant to be underpowered becuae 210 hp in a 'performance' pickup doesnt sound all that fast to me.
Bowler handling
In the right hands Bowlers will handle OK on tarmac - one of Autocars other videos . . .
do a search on "youtube bowler caterham"