Ford Needs to Build an F-150 Raptor with the GT500 Engine

While the Ford F-Series is the bestselling truck and vehicle in America, led by the popular F-150, the large truck segment in the United States is all about one-upping the competitors. The Motor Company has sold the most trucks for some four decades because they pay attention to what buyers want and they build trucks with the features and attributes that people demand. In the case of the current horsepower war that is raging between FCA, GM and FoMoCo, buyers are calling for ultra-high performance vehicles including trucks and SUVs. Within the next year or so, the Ram Truck brand is expected to roll out a Ram 1500 powered by the supercharged “Hellcat” Hemi and to one-up that blown Hemi Ram, Ford could offer up a supercharged, off-road sport truck of their own.

Of course, that truck will be based on the Raptor, but should it come to production, it will likely be the most extreme performance truck ever offered by Ford; if not the entire industry.

Shelby-Powered Raptor
Shelby American and a few other aftermarket companies already offer performance packages for the modern Raptor that introduce V8 power, but according to a variety of reports citing inside sources, Ford will introduce a V8-powered F-150 Raptor at the end of the current generation. More specifically, these reports claim that the V8 Raptor will be motivated by the same supercharged V8 that will power the upcoming Mustang Shelby GT500.

That engine is promised to deliver at least 700 horsepower in the Mustang, so the output could be similar in the Raptor. Mind you, things like chassis-specific exhaust, intake and cooling components could lead to a different official power rating, but if nothing else, this V8 Raptor has the potential to offer more than 700 horsepower.

Aside from all of that power, the V8-powered Raptor will likely have the same basic look, perhaps with some extra cooling ducts up front, along with suspension and chassis tweaks to make the most of all of the power. However, in the long run, it will be a Raptor with a Shelby GT500 engine, but I don’t expect to see the F-150 getting the new dual clutch transmission from the Mustang. The 10-speed automatic that is currently in use should do just fine with some upgrades.

Hellcat Ram
When the Ram Trucks brand introduced the Ram 1500 TRX Rebel Concept a few years back, it featured the same supercharged V8 as the one used in the Dodge Challenger Hellcat, the Dodge Charger Hellcat and the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, but in the pickup concept, out was reduced to “just” 575 horsepower. With the four-wheel-drive Jeep Trackhawk delivering more than 700 horsepower, I expect that a Hellcat-powered Ram 1500 would offer similar power, but with the Dodge Challenger Redeye offering 797 horsepower, we know for a fact that FCA has no problem making big power with their supercharged V8s.

Considering the fact that the Ram team announced quite a while ago that there is a Hellcat truck on the way while Ford has not officially commented on a spicier, V8 Raptor, it seems likely that the Ram 1500 with the supercharged Hemi will arrive first. If that is the case, Ford will be able to tweak the Raptor to make sure that it is more powerful than the supercharged Ram.

See you in the next story titled: 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Packs 760hp, 625tq.

Patrick Rall @TheAutoBeard is the Managing Editor of Torque News. Please follow us on Twitter at @TorqueNewsAuto, Facebook and send us tips. You can also Follow Patrick on Youtube.