It’s not the Super Duty’s V8, but Ford may meet performance enthusiasts halfway.
The Ford F-150 Raptor is plenty impressive with its 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6. With its stock powerplant, the truck manages 450 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque. Still, for some that isn’t enough. Companies like PaxPower can get you a sort of aftermarket V8 Raptor, but now it seems like Ford itself is going to take a crack at it.
Thanks to Car and Driver, we have some information that Ford is looking to once again slot a V8 under the F150 Raptor’s hood. In this case, it’s the supercharged 5.2-liter V8 engine from the upcoming Mustang Shelby GT500. It’s more or less a swan song for the current generation Raptor, which is due to be replaced by 2022.
Of course, Ford hasn’t officially confirmed this yet, nor do we know what sort of performance benefit that will bring. We know the Mustang GT500 is supposed to get over 700 horsepower. On that basis, it’s not a stretch that this mega Raptor would see similar performance. One question mark we have is whether Ford would mate that up to a 10-speed automatic. It would make sense, but the Mustang GT500 has a 7-speed Tremec dual-clutch in that application. Still, the 10-speed Ford and GM co-developed is seeing high-performance applications in cars like the Camaro ZL1.
Fending off the Ram TRX
With recent news of the Ram 1500 TRX out testing in the wild, Ford may be looking over its shoulder. More to the point, it doesn’t want Ram stomping on its turf with a more powerful alternative to the F-150 Raptor. FCA’s Raptor fighter looks like it will get a supercharged Hellcat V8, so this rumor makes sense, as Ford wants to keep the high ground here.
We’re not sure exactly if, or more importantly when, Ford will bring a high-performance Raptor to market. The Ram 1500 TRX should debut sometime next year, and it wouldn’t be wise of Ford to wait much longer to respond. Again, the current F-150 is getting long in the tooth by now. We may end up seeing a V8-powered Raptor by late 2020 or early 2021.
How much will it cost? The current Raptor is not cheap, by any means. Base models start at $54,450, and slotting the running gear from the Mustang GT500 should send the price way north of that. Expect this truck to start somewhere in the region of $70,000-75,000.
