First of all, let’s get this out of the way. It is perfectly clear to everyone that nobody is looking to buy a Ford Bronco Raptor for fuel economy reasons. It’s an absolute monster of a machine built to go fast on rough terrain and take just about any sort of abuse one could throw at it.

In my quest to put this Ford Bronco Raptor in its element, I wound up driving this monster of an automobile a little over 500 miles over the course of a couple of days. According to the trip meter, my fuel economy average was a whopping 16.1 miles per gallon. That sounds pretty bad, right? It is! That is, by modern efficiency standards. However, it’s pretty dang good when you stack it up to its Bronco brethren.

How many miles per gallon does the 2023 Ford Bronco Raptor get?

My average was right on the money. According to the EPA, ratings for the Bronco Raptor are 15 MPG city and 16 MPG highway. Great! With a twin-turbocharged Ecoboost 3.0 V6 that churns out 418 horsepower, you wouldn’t expect much in the world of efficiency.

So, let me explain why I’m effectively applauding this fuel economy.

In my haste to find a way to enjoy the Bronco Raptor experience without the pre-markup price tag of over $80,000, I started looking at other trim levels. What I found about their fuel efficiency was a bit shocking.

Every 2022 Bronco model year (aside from the Raptor) is available with the Sasquatch package. This adds a set of beadlock wheels and massive off-road-ready tires to any Bronco model. It also adds a substantial drop in fuel economy. Bronco models with the 2.7-liter Ecoboost V6 (315 horsepower) see EPA ratings of 17 MPG for both highway and city. Even crazier is that the 2.3-liter four-cylinder Broncos with the seven-speed manual transmission only see 16 MPG city and 17 MPG highway.

All things considered, that’s some impressive fuel economy

Now, take into account that the Raptor is spinning massive 37-inch tires and has over 100 more horsepower than the most potent 2.7-liter Bronco. This is an off-road weapon that weighs nearly 6,000 pounds and can sprint from zero to 60 MPH in under 6.5 seconds.

It’s always good to keep some perspective. That being said, the big elephant in the room between the Bronco Raptor and its lower-level counterparts is the price. While many Bronco options come with an MSRP under $60,000, the Bronco Raptor starts at $86,000. With markups, they’re routinely selling for around $100,000 at the moment.

Ultimately, though, if you’re considering buying a Bronco Raptor and the fuel economy scares you off, don’t worry! The other Bronco bros will be joining you in wallowing in your terrible fuel economy. The outstanding difference is that you’d be blowing the doors off of them with all that extra power.