Ram is coming after the Ford F-150 Raptor with a badass, off-road race version of the Ram 1500, the 1500 TRX. That truck uses Ram’s 6.2-liter Hellcat V8, puts out a staggering 702 horsepower and rockets from 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds. It sounds spectacular, and customers agree; the Launch Edition, price north of $90,000, sold out in just three hours.
But Ford fans shouldn’t fret. The company has just launched the facelifted F-150, and new version of the F-150 Raptor should be soon to follow, either as a late 2021 or 2022 model year vehicle. And according to Ford Authority, the next-gen super-truck will pack a fitting and even more powerful response to the Ram.
The report says Ford will bring back the V8 to the Raptor, which has been using a turnt 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6. And it won’t just be any V8: it will be Ford’s most potent eight-pot, the 5.2-liter Predator V8 found in the Shelby GT500. Per the report, Ford won’t give the Raptor the full-bore 760 hp from the GT500, because would be silly. Ford will tune the truck down to a sedate 725–750 hp.
Ford may not be the only manufacturer to respond to the gauntlet Ram threw down. GM has another Raptor-killer on the way, the Silverado ZRX. The Silverado’s standard 6.2-liter V8, putting out 420 hp and 460 lb-ft, would be reasonably competitive for the current Raptor. But these recent escalations may see Chevy trot out a tuned-up version of the supercharged version of that engine we’ve seen make 650 hp in the Camaro and 755 hp in the last-generation Corvette ZR1.