The 2017 Ford Raptor F150 Won't Have 600 Horsepower

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In the past few weeks, I have seen people posting in discussions about the 2017 Ford Raptor F150 that the 3.5L EcoBoost under the hood is the same 600+ horsepower mill from the new Ford GT supercar – but that isn’t going to be the case.

This 2017 Ford Raptor F150 rumor is one of those that many people will laugh off, but since I am seeing more and more people post about this on Facebook, I thought that I would put together a piece explaining why this internet fable is too good to be true.

2 Different EcoBoost V6 Engines
The 2017 Ford Raptor F150 is powered by a 3.5L EcoBoost V6 and the 2017 Ford GT supercar is also powered by a 3.5L EcoBoost V6. The 3.5L EcoBoost V6 in the 2017 Raptor is expected to be based on the 3.5L EcoBoost engine already in use in the F150 lineup. Ford hasn’t stated the official horsepower, but company officials have stated that it would have 450 horsepower. The 3.5L EcoBoost V6 in the Ford GT supercar is based on the 3.5L EcoBoost endurance racing engine, with obvious changes to make the engine street legal and emission compliant. Ford hasn’t stated the official power specifications of the new GT, but they are promising upwards of 600 horsepower.

Now, at some point, someone online took the estimated horsepower of the Ford GT supercar and insisted that since the Raptor F150 has the “same EcoBoost engine”, it will also have more than 600 horsepower. While a 600 horsepower Raptor would be amazing, it would be too extreme for the masses and - most importantly - it would be far too expensive.

The Ford GT is expected to have a price tag around $400,000 and while that high price tag is far more than just the engine, it is safe to assume that the 3.5L EcoBoost V6 in the new supercar will be the most elaborate and expensive EcoBoost production engine to date. The Raptor has always been a fairly high volume vehicle and Ford surely wants to keep it that way with the 2017 model. Using the high performance Ford GT EcoBoost would push the pricing through the roof, which would have a major impact on sales figures.

While it might be romantic to think about a 600 horsepower Raptor F150 ripping through the woods, mudding slinging high into the air in its wake, everyone expecting the 2017 Raptor to have 600 horsepower is going to be disappointed when the official figures are released.

Now, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Ford built a GT-powered Raptor show vehicle in the future, as a 600 horsepower Raptor seems like the perfect SEMA Show truck, but when the 2017 Raptor F150 hits showrooms later this year, expect closer to 450 horsepower. It will still be an amazing performance truck, but there has never been anything from Ford to suggest that the Raptor will have 600 horsepower, so let’s put that rumor to rest.