Six months after the debut of the fourteenth-gen F-150, Ford finally teased the upcoming Raptor. It will be the off-road truck’s third generation and you can expect a lot of changes. Twitterati obviously couldn’t keep their cool, but there was one interesting reply that caught everyone’s attention. It said “Pop the hood” and it came from Ram’s official handle! Talk about taking the rivalry to the next level!
Ram’s reply to this teaser may look witty, but everyone knows that both the trucks are in different leagues. The F-150 Raptor features a twin-turbo V-6, whereas the TRX comes with a supercharged V-8. The Raptor will certainly continue to offer a V-6 even in the new F-150 Raptor, so this jibe doesn’t sit that well. But, hey, let’s not be spoilsports here and see if this culminates into a fun banter between the two.
The Ford F-150 Raptor hasn’t had a serious contender in the past. When Ram teased the TRX Concept in 2016, enthusiasts started referring to it as the Raptor-killer. Fast forward to 2020, Ram unveiled the production-spec TRX and it turned out to be priced and spec’d in a different category altogether.
The upcoming Raptor will most likely feature the same mill, but in a different state of tune. For the 2021 F-150, the automaker changed the 3.5-liter V-6’s power outputs from 375 horses and 470 pound-feet of twist to 400 ponies and 500 pound-feet of torque. So, expect the Raptor to make at least 30-40 horses and pound-feet of torque more. The same 10-speed transmission is likely to be retained. As for the off-road specs, we could see notable improvements not just in terms of mechanicals and hardware, but also in the tech and features department.
If, in the most unlikely scenario, Ford actually plans to take on the TRX head-on, we could see it plonk the Mustang Shelby GT500’s 5.2-liter, V-8 engine in the Raptor. In the Mustang, the engine produces 760 horses and 625 pound-feet of torque, and takes 3.5 seconds to hit the 60 mph mark.
The current Ford F-150 Raptor starts at $53,455 and the TRX starts at $69,995. The upcoming F-150 Raptor could see a hike of a couple of thousand bucks max.
Ford will debut the new Raptor on 3 February 2021. Do you think the Blue Oval will take on Ram TRX with the new Raptor, or will it continue to cater in the same price segment? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.