There’s no doubt that the roll the F-150 Raptor is on right now may be the most important single contributor to Ford’s bottom line, so it’s all the more of a shame that we can’t get our hands on one at our nearest local dealership.
It’s become a kind of symbol for the company and this idea of semi-accessible brutish performance and bravado, as underlined by this special one-off build that was inspired by the Lockheed Martin F22 Raptor (Ha!) stealth jet fighter, which for a variety of reasons was tragically axed from manufacturing in 2012.
At least, it is in theory, as there’s quite little Ford could have done besides the matte grey exterior finish to really emulate the aircraft. Everything from the red accented decals, roof-mounted light bar, lifted suspension, blackout grille, carbon fibre wheel arches, and mean off-road tyres have nothing to do with aviation. Looks great, though.
This special F-150 Raptor was built by Ford Performance together with EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and will be auctioned at the EAA Gathering of Eagles at the Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin to support EAA’s youth aviation program.
What we’re most interested in, though, are the modifications made to the engine. Under the bonnet of this dark grey hulking truck is the same 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6 that’s used in the standard Raptor as well as in the 2017 Ford GT.
In the case of this F22-inspired unit, though, they’ve added a Whipple intercooler along with other new components that’s allowed them the wiggle room to tweak the turbocharger and engine tune to extract 406kW as opposed to the 335kW in standard form. The peak torque figure, though, was not yet disclosed at the time of writing, but our own estimates peg 700Nm as being very possible.
No changes were mentioned about the rest of the power or drivetrain package so we’re left to assume that drive would be sent through a 10-speed automatic transmission to all four wheels just as before. Nevertheless, the power bump can only make an already very fast pickup even more beastly, which is always an interesting proposition.
EAA also released a video that provides a little more visual aids about the fettled F-150 Raptor, which is fine, but we do object slightly to the tacky music and much more so the falsehood of stating it’s powered by a ‘Supercharged 3.5L Engine’.
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