A car like a wall. The grille sits upright at shoulder height, alongside evil LED blinkers. Gigantic air outlets and inlets, of course. The whole thing in satin black. Martial. There is no other word for the Raptor.
It doesn't have to, because the powerful pickup is just that: an off-road monster. What the GT at Le Mans and the Shelby GT350R on Trackday can, the raptor can do that anywhere. For example, where you immediately get a flat tire on your mountain bike, you break your knuckle after less than five meters on foot. Only that he ironed over it with 160.
He has been given a completely new framework for this. Strongest, high-strength steel and plenty of wall thickness. The new aluminum body is built on this - the light house saves a good 250 kg, by the way - and new FOX Racing dampers hang below. They now measure 3 inches in diameter and, thanks to improved bypass technology, ensure that the Raptor does not penetrate even with the roughest use. Incidentally, the more than 300 mm of spring travel also help very well.
The all-wheel drive is also refined. It distributes its power variably and is commanded by various electronically controlled off-road modes. On request, you can even order a Torsen diff for the front axle if you want to dig through the mud even more. By the way, you can also rummage in the gearbox: for the first time there are shift paddles in the Raptor - only: their use should be quite exhausting with 10 (!) Forward gears.
But: the new record in translations is also due to efficiency. That is why the engine is new. No more with 6.2 liter V8 cast lumps, instead EcoBoost - a statement whose weight can hardly be grasped in Europe. Not only the GT, but also the F150 Raptor, they screw the 3.5 liter twin turbo into the backbone. It shows how determined you are in Detroit. And above all: because it happens in this consequence, the last Ami is shaken awake. Look and calm down, the thing works. Better than anything before. You have to understand the direction of this roughly.
There is no performance data yet, except that it will be more than the 411 hp of the predecessor. In view of the 600PS that the engine in the GT makes, a durable yet powerful off-road variant should be easy.
The only problem with the Raptor: it will not come to us. Which is a shame. It's a shame.