Formula D’s Vaughn Gittin Jr. Talks Ford Raptor’s Terrain Management
The pro drifter professes his love for the Ford Mustang, but says he would rather daily drive an F-150 Raptor.
Formula D superstar Vaughn Gittin Jr. may typically be found inside his wildly modified Ford Mustang for the Formula D racing series, but he isn't a stranger to the Raptor. The last time we heard "Gittin Jr." and "Raptor" in the same sentence was when the pro-drifter wheeled the half-ton off-roader around the twists and turns of the Nurburgring Nordschleife. As a result, it may appear that Gittin Jr. may actually be developing a bit of a crush on the ol' Raptor, or so we deduce from a brief chat we had with him.
Gittin Jr. recently spent some time at the wheel of the new Ford F-150 Raptor at the King of the Hammers off-road endurance race, and needless to say, he learned quite a bit about the pickup truck's various features and its stellar off-road prowess. More specifically, he learned how its Terrain Management System operates.
The Drive: Vaughn, what would you say is your favorite feature, trick or capability of the F-150 Raptor?
Gittin Jr.: It's impossible to narrow it down to one thing, but my overall favorite thing about the Raptor is the fact I can go off-road, hit whoops, jump, slide around, climb crazy terrain and then drive it home to pick my wife up and take her out to dinner in style, and enjoy a comfortable ride on the way there.
TD: If you could only daily-rive one of them, which one would it be: Ford Raptor or Mustang?
Jr.: I live in Maryland, so we actually have four seasons and I have toys that require towing. The Raptor would be my choice...and you better believe there would be a Mustang in the trailer hooked to the Raptor on the way to the track quite often!
So there you have it, folks, Gittin Jr. seems to really love the F-150 Raptor.
As this video shows, the Baja-inspired Ford pickup features six different driving modes that are designed to alter the truck's behavior depending on the driver's preferences, or the terrain he or she might encounter. These settings include a Normal mode designed for regular street driving, a Sport mode that amps-up everything from throttle response to the transmission's behavior, a Weather mode for icy or snowy conditions, a Mud-Sand mode for, well, mud or sand, a Rock Crawl mode for traversing oversized boulders, and last but not least, the famous Baja mode, which allows the truck to slide the rear end with confidence.
