Ford will equip a hardcore F-150 Raptor R pickup truck with an engine from Shelby Mustang. Social media users posted photos from Ford’s assembly line showing a 5.2-liter Predator V8 and a matching nameplate with the unit’s name. The author of the post confirmed to CarScoops.com the authenticity of the pictures, which means the Ford F-150 Raptor R will join the lineup for the 2023 model year and will get a compressor engine from the most powerful Mustang GT500.
The regular F-150 Raptor debuted last February, but Ford Performance engineers focused on tweaking the suspension and left the old 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 under the hood. The high-performance version will challenge the 712-horsepower RAM TRX and will probably be even more powerful.
The Shelby Mustang GT500 V8 Predator with a Roots-type supercharger develops 770 horsepower, but that’s not the limit, as special editions have increased the output to more than 900 horsepower, and tuning studios are taking more than 1,000 “horses” off the motor.
American journalists believe that the F-150 Raptor R will debut at the end of the year and will be more expensive than the RAM TRX (costs from $78,000). If the new pickup will be a limited edition, the price could be much higher, and Ford’s flagship truck will be not only the most powerful in class but also very expensive.