Customer feedback and business case realities drive huge increase in speed, thirst and price
The controversial decision to swap the Ford Ranger Raptor from diesel to petrol power was the outcome of both customer feedback and good business practice, according to the senior Ford engineer central to the second-generation super-ute’s development.
The new Raptor is based on the all-new 2022 Ford Ranger and made its global debut this evening.
It almost doubles in power output to nearly 300kW and cuts its 0-100km/h acceleration time by as much as 50 per cent as a result of the decision to replace the current model’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder Panther twin-turbo diesel (157kW/500Nm) with a 3.0-litre EcoBoost twin-turbo petrol V6 (292kW/583Nm).
But at the same fuel consumption could double to about 16L/100km and the range between refuelling stops may drop dramatically to as little as 500km – something that will impact on Raptor owners who fancy long remote journeys.
Add other innovations like adaptive Fox Shox, full-time four-wheel drive, BorgWarner two-speed transfer case and twin diff locks to the mix and there’s no doubt it’s more than fuel economy that will be spiralling with the new truck. Pricing is bound to take a big hike from the current Raptor X’s $79,320 plus on-roads.
That won’t become clear for months, until we’re closer to the new Raptor’s local launch expected in the third quarter of 2022.
Ford Ranger Raptor program supervisor Justin Capicchiano told carsales the swap to the higher-output engine was appropriate for a halo performance vehicle like Raptor.
“For the first vehicle we spent a lot of focus on developing the chassis and then the surrounding systems to support it,” he said.
“For this one we really took a lot of feedback. I spent a lot of time with customers, went on a lot of drives, spent time out with them to see how they used their car and what they wanted. And the feedback was pretty clear; they loved the bits that were Raptor and they wanted more of it.
“They wanted a step-up powertrain; they wanted something bespoke and unique, whether it was a V6 or something else. That’s what led us down the path of a V6 petrol.”
Capicchiano was clear the Ford Bronco Raptor being developed in parallel for the North American market with the EcoBoost V6 made the decision to opt for that engine in Raptor Ranger easier.
“Of course that helps,” he said. “You have to make it make sense otherwise you can’t do it. There’s always the realities of doing something like this.”
Mechanically, the Ranger and Bronco Raptor engines are identical, only varying in power and torque outputs slightly because of different emissions protocols in the USA and Australia.
The two vehicles also share their 10R60 10-speed automatic transmissions and BorgWarner two-speed transfer case that delivers torque-on-demand set-and-forget 4Auto to the Ranger Raptor for the first time.
The shift to the turbo-petrol V6 also makes the Ranger Raptor a more likely candidate for US sale for the first time, a plan that is yet to be confirmed by Ford.
Happily for the local development team, Capicchiano says the Ranger Raptor is faster, lighter and more efficient than the Bronco Raptor, although the latter has more off-road capability.
Capicchiano equated the performance improvements from the original Raptor to the new one as equivalent to the shift from an ST- to RS-spec hot hatch. He said that was in line with the ethos of Ford Performance, the Blue Oval’s sports tuning arm.
“We could have left the car as it was and it would still be the best dual-cab pick-up on the market, but if we just stay the same and don’t move forward then from the product perspective we are not moving the needle.
“The bar has been raised by the next-gen Ranger and we have to go with it.”
Capicchiano was not concerned about the reduction in fuel range coming with the new Raptor. Clearly from his research he’s found there are a lot more customers that cruise the city and have only short bush bursts not too far from a bowser.
“There are a lot of customers who bought FPV utes and high-performance V8s who are now moving into utes,” he said. “So there is an acceptance that high-performance comes with an offset.
“We are offering a lot of performance with that offset and I think it’s a good trade-off. It’s an appropriate trade-off.”
While Capicchiano was passionate in his advocacy of a unique engine and other tech spec for Raptor, the reality is the 2.0-litre diesel will continue on in some markets where the tax regime favours that kind of powerplant.
Back when the first Raptor launched in 2018 the 2.0-litre biturbo diesel was described to the media as “the perfect fit” for the vehicle.
Capicchiano estimated the new Raptor’s acceleration time would be equivalent to a hot hatch, which is in the five- to six-second bracket. The current Raptor takes 10.7sec to reach 100km/h. But top speed only bumps 10km/h to 180km/h because of all-terrain tyre limitations.
The new Raptor is also one minute quicker around Ford’s 10km off-road test track at Loveday in South Australia.
Capicchiano said the sheer speed of the new Raptor had created some unexpected mechanical challenges.
“Because we are going a lot faster we are spitting up a lot more stuff so we’ve actually put a metal shield in front of the shocks, because the plastic shield over the piggyback cannisters weren’t protective enough on their own.
“So we now have a shield on a shield. It’s required now because we are so much faster.”
Join the conversation at our Facebook page
Or email us at [email protected]
Keyword: Why the new Ford Ranger Raptor dumped diesel