We've known for quite some time now that “the” Ford F-150 Raptor R is coming - it has actually been delayed once already. We also know that it will be offered with a V-8 engine - as the company itself confirmed. The only problem is that the list for that V-8 engine is quite long and includes the 5.0-liter, V-8 Coyote up to the 7.3-liter, V-8 Godzilla. One thing is for sure, no matter what it was, it needed to be something powerful enough to compete with Ram TRX’s supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 engine. A new leak has exposed Ford's plans for the Raptor R and they are bigger than you think.

Thanks to a picture of a leaked build rotation sheet for the Raptor R, that once-exhaustive list of engines has been narrowed down to just one engine: the 5.2-liter, V-8 Predator - yes, the same engine that powers the Shelby GT500. Of course, we can't expect Ford to confirm the authenticity of this picture, but, from an output point of view, it actually makes sense for the Raptor R to be offered with the Predator engine.

It is the most powerful engine Ford currently has - something Raptor R really needs if it wants to stand a chance in front of the TRX. In the GT500, the engine delivers a total of 760 horsepower and 625 pound-feet of torque, but we expect it to offer a little bit more torque in the truck. It needs at least enough to put it right next to the 650 pound-feet of twist offered by the TRX. But, no matter what, with 760 horsepower under the hood, the Raptor R will be significantly more powerful than the 1500 TRX which "only" delivers 702 ponies.

Also, if this is the engine destined to be offered in the Raptor R, this will make it a lot more powerful than the current F-150 Raptor. The latter is powered by a 3.5-liter, twin-turbo V-6 EcoBoost that delivers 450 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. That means the R version will be 310 horsepower and at least 115 pound-feet of torque more powerful - numbers that will considerably improve its performance figures.

No matter what, we will find out the answers to all our questions pretty soon, as the Raptor R has been rescheduled to launch for the 2023 model year. And with the 2023MY ordering bank for the Ford F-150 opening on July 18th, we expect the Raptor R to be unveiled before that.

As for how much the Raptor R will cost remains to be seen. But with the TRX starting from about $70k, we expect the Raptor R to start from $75k - and that's only because we expect the Ford truck to be superior in many aspects.