Get ready for an F-150 Raptor with the GT500’s snarling supercharged V-8
The Ford F-150 Raptor has been the top of the factory off-road truck heap since its introduction in 2010. Now Ford is setting itself up to raise the bar once again by stuffing the Shelby GT500’s supercharged V-8 under the hood for a special-edition supertruck.
The news comes from Car and Driver, citing sources within Ford indicating that the uber-Raptor will headline the sendoff for the current-gen F-150 pickup in 2021-2022. Though final details are yet unknown on the GT500’s V-8, Ford promises it’ll crank out north of 700 horsepower from 5.2 liters of displacement, pressure fed by a big honkin’ supercharger. The current Raptor packs a twin-turbo V-6 powerplant making 450 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque, which would make the V-8 a big horsepower upgrade. It would sound a helluva lot meaner too.
The Raptor won’t be the only insane high-output pickup, though. Ram is expected to build the Rebel TRX pickup concept on the new truck’s platform, complete with a Hellcat-sourced V-8 making at least 707 hp. The Raptor is more than just engine though—its desert-racing-tuned suspension makes the Raptor an off-road bruiser. In other words, Ford set a high bar for the TRX to match.
Car and Driver also indicates that the current Raptor’s 10-speed automatic, co-developed with GM, should be able to handle the increase in power.
If you’re thinking that no one demanded horsepower wars in full size off-road pickups, that’s not entirely true. Buyers have been able to snap up more powerful Raptors for a few years now thanks to Roush, Shelby American, and Hennessey. So if you want to skip the middleman and stick to factory muscle, you might soon get your wish.
Does the world need more street legal trophy trucks? Probably not, but Ford clearly thinks there’s demand, and a 700-hp Raptor sounds pretty wicked.
