The public has received the current Ford Raptor favorably, with sales of about 35,000 units so far. This Ford F-150 is undoubtedly not your father’s. The buyer of a Raptor wants the highest level of performance, possibly the ability to tow a few jet skis or a runabout boat, but not necessarily the kind of heavy-duty work that a typical Ford truck buyer might put their truck through.
There have been rumors that the upcoming redesign of the Raptor will include a smaller displacement EcoBoost engine. This has made many a Raptor loyalist a little nervous that the Raptor will maybe lose some of its, “meanness” or attitude. Fear not, devoted Ford fans; we have seen the future, and it is good for the Raptor model. You can undoubtedly relax after taking a quick look at the numbers.
The most recent information was provided directly by Ford’s head of global product development, Raj Nair. Nair gave up on the idea that the 2017 Raptor will be driven by a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 engine with somewhere around 450 horsepower. Keep in mind that the current 6.5-liter behemoth motor produces 411 horsepower. Yes, it has a smaller engine. It goes without saying that a smaller engine will be lighter, improving the power to weight ratio. We anticipate that the new Raptor will accelerate, to put it mildly, quite quickly.
The new Raptor will have an aluminum body like the rest of the new Ford F-150 pickup trucks, which will reduce overall weight by about 700 lbs, as we already know from previous articles on the F-150. Given that there will be fewer trucks to move around, all of this weight savings should really be felt and seen in the acceleration numbers and towing capacity.
A four wheel drive/all wheel drive system that should appeal to both types of customers will be another piece of technology on the redesigned Raptor. Customers who want the truck to automatically switch to 4 wheel drive when necessary and those who want to control when it does so.
Most truck enthusiasts will undoubtedly agree that the new, redesigned Ford Raptor will continue to appeal to the most discerning high performance truck buyer when all of this is wrapped up in a really cool, aggressive body and a list of options that should please even the pickiest buyer.