The extreme Ford F-150 Raptor pickup made its debut in 2009 and became a hit. It turned out that in the States there are a lot of people who want to buy a truck on which they can recklessly bludgeon across the steppes, sands and broken primers. Ford is proud that the Raptor has sold better in the local market over the past four years than the Chevrolet Corvette or all Porsche sports cars combined. Therefore, the new generation super pickup is presented just six months after the base F-series.
The main feature of the 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor is the suspension, so the engineers paid special attention to it. First, there are new omnivorous Fox LiveValve shocks that not only have external reservoirs but also electronically controlled stiffness. And secondly, an original five-link scheme with cunning kinematics has been developed for the rear continuous axle. Suspension travels are now prohibitive: 356 mm in front and 381 mm in the rear! This is a quarter more than the very first Raptor.
The frame has been reinforced, and BFGoodrich All-Terrain T / A KO2 all-terrain tires are standard, and now they are offered not only in a 35-inch outer diameter but also in a 37-inch version. In this case, the ground clearance will be increased from the standard 305 to 333 mm, the entry angle will be 33.1 degrees, and the exit angle will be 24.9 degrees (the overhangs of the pickup are still rather big).
The powertrain is the same – and so far this is the biggest disappointment among fans of the model. The V6 3.5 EcoBoost Biturbo engine on the previous Raptor produced 457 hp. and 692 Nm, and the characteristics of the new model have not yet been announced. The transmission has a ten-speed “automatic” and four-wheel drive with a multi-plate clutch for connecting the front wheels. On the rear axle, a differential with an electromechanical blocking is standardly installed, in addition, you can order the front “self-block” Torsen.
The pickup has a new exhaust system with a controlled throttle: Quiet, Normal, Sport and Baja modes differ in exhaust volume. And the riding electronics have even more presets: winter Slippery, towing Tow / Haul (a pickup truck can pull a trailer weighing up to 3.7 tons), Sport, Normal, Off-Road, Baja, as well as Rock Crawl for rock climbing.
Together with the basic F-series pickup, the Raptor has found a new interior: virtual instruments on a 12-inch screen and a media system with the ability to update “over the air”. By the way, the super pickup will no longer have a “one and a half” cab: only the two-row version of SuperCrew remained in the range. Options include Recaro buckets, as well as a converter for connecting external electrical devices up to 2 kW.
A new generation of 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor will appear at American dealerships this summer. And now it has a direct competitor: the Ram 1500 TRX with a V8 6.2 compressor engine with a capacity of 712 hp recently entered the market. And Ford is already preparing a decent answer: the Raptor R has been announced, which will also have a V8 engine. But such a version will appear only in 2022.
sudharsan has over a decade of experience covering the breaking news in the auto industry and over ten years of experience writing about cars for magazines, automotive websites, and YouTube videos.
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