Hark! Is That a V8 Inside the 2022 Ford F-150 Raptor?
With the Ram 1500 TRX assumed to arrive with a V8 making oodles of power, Ford’s F-150 Raptor may round out the year with egg on its face. In 2017, the Blue Oval ditched the model’s 6.2-liter V8 for a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 and added a quartet of gears — pissing some die-hard fans of the model right off. Baja boys bemoaned the decision to put a more complicated motor into a vehicle that’s designed to be abused largely off-road, while others were just mad they were missing out on that V8 sound. However, most of those who weren’t obsessed with SVT badging agreed the changes hadn’t ruined the truck and that the second-gen suspension upgrades ultimately made for a better off-road vehicle.
That said, Ram dumping a model onto the market that targets the same audience, and with a V8 on board, is bad news for Ford. But it doesn’t have to be, especially if the noises we hear coming from the tailpipes of the latest test mule are what some listeners claim.
On Friday, F150Gen14 shared a video clip of a camouflaged F-Series pickup (h/t The Drive) sounding as if it’s packing a V8 beneath the hood. The footage features genuinely terrible audio throughout, but there are several moments where you can hear the vehicle pull away clearly (especially with headphones) and it doesn’t sound like the stock V6.
We already know Ford plans to equip some 14th generation F-150s with the brand’s 395-horsepower 5.0-liter V8, so it’s totally plausible the company hurried to whip something together for the Raptor once they knew Ram pulled the trigger on the TRX. But the outlet suggested this is to be the 2021 model year Raptor, despite Ford previously telling us the unit would take a year off. That was before leaked info, as well as some helpful VIN decoding that made it seem as though the pickup actually would be with us in 2021 — possibly equipped with a hybridized gas-electric V6.
Still, that seems like a lot of complicated components (and weight) to put into a truck whose greatest strength is flying off sand dunes. There’s plenty to speculate about here, but we’re mostly interested in borrowing your ears to help us decided weather we’re hearing a V8 in the video, or if Ford just outfitted the truck with a trick exhaust to keep everyone guessing.
[Image: Ford]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
More by Matt Posky
Comments
Join the conversation
Meanwhile over at GM:
The Raptor and its Fiat and GM competitors are not "real" off road vehicles. They are too big. Way too big. Unless you are running around in the wide open deserts of the American SW chasing illegals. If, like I, you lived in CO and spent a lot of time on the old wagon roads and railroad grades in the Rockies that have become jeep trails, then you know that these Raptor and Raptor-like behemoths are non-starters. You want a two door Wrangler or equivalent. That aside, so long as Ford makes the Raptor as an F150 and not as an F250 (as it should), the 5 liter V8 should be adequate. Or maybe Ford should consider resurrecting the supercharged 5.4L v8 it made for a while. Now that would be a nice engine for a Raptor ...