Oh yea! It appears that the off-road super truck war is getting into a full swing! Here we have spy images and a video clip of a next-generation 2021 Ford Raptor prototype with a claimed 5.2-liter supercharged V8 under the hood. You can watch the video below and listen to the exhaust note. The audio is not of a very great quality, so we need your help. Do you think this is the next twin-turbo V6 or could this be a V8?
2021 Ford Raptor
We are still calling this upcoming truck the 2021 Raptor, because we do not have any more official information from Ford that specifies exactly when this truck will go into production. Ford did say that “the next Raptor is coming.” We take it to mean that the Raptor is not going on a 1 or 2 year hiatus while the new 2021 F-150 lineup is being introduced.
The supercharged 5.2-liter V8 is also referred to as the “Predator” V8. The source says that the engine may be rated at 725 horsepower for the use in the Raptor. The current Ford Mustang GT500 engine is rated at 760 hp @ 7,300 rpm and 625 lb-ft of torque @ 5,000 rpm. If this engine is converted for truck duty, we expect the torque rating to be a little higher (possibly at a lower rpm).
This prototype still has some camouflage on the outside and underneath. Still, the wide fenders can be seen. The Rear suspension is obscured because (we think) there is a new coil-spring rear suspension there. This solid rear axle setup may have a similar configuration to that of the new 2021 Ram TRX. The TRX uses a rear coil spring setup with a 5-link system.
The source tells us that Ford is working to put this powerful V8 engine under the hood of Raptor as a direct response to the new Hellcat-powered TRX. The 6.2-liter TRX engine is rated at 702 hp @ 6,100 rpm and 650 lb-ft of torque.
This is a crazy interesting time to be living in. We are still very curious as to how or if GM / Chevy, Toyota, and Nissan respond to this. We know that Chevrolet is working on a special off-road truck to compete against the Raptor (referred to as a ZRX), but we have not seen any production-ready prototypes or information about it yet.
