We received this question from many of you. Will the next Ford Raptor use the 7.3L gas V8 engine? There is no final word on this from Ford yet, but the company recently announced a crate engine version of its 7.3L “Godzilla” V8 engine. This engine is available from Ford Performance Parts. Ford released a short video introducing the engine with many Mustang Cobrajet dragsters nearby. Additional questions about the Raptor came up because there is a 2nd-gen Raptor truck in the background with its hood open and the front bumper section apparently removed. Is this a mild hint about the next off-road truck?
There is a little more mystery here. Ford says they are working on a “super-secret” engine project named Megazilla. This new engine will offer more power than what’s available from the factory-based 430 horsepower Godzilla V8. Ford did not specify if the Megazilla will be supercharged or how it will deliver more power. Suffice it to say that the rumors put the Megazilla engine power at “about double” of the 430 hp mark. We will have to wait for Ford to reveal more details about this secret engine.
The current Godzilla crate engine is still rated at 430 hp, and it is offered with a 10-speed heavy duty transmission that is currently available in the Ford Super Duty. Ford did say that they are working to offer a manual transmission pairing to the Godzilla crate engine soon. This statement was made in the context of the performance crate engine, not in reference to production Ford trucks.
Once again, they did not say the V8 engine will be making it into the next production Ford Raptor. We all know that Ford will have to contend with the 702 horsepower Ram TRX when the next Raptor is expected to launch next year.
