The 2020 Ford Transit Shares Critical Component With Ranger Raptor Off-Roader
Considering the new Transit shares an optional propulsion system with the Ford Ranger Raptor, does that mean we’re getting the truck?
One of the cool new features on the 2020 Ford Transit is the availability of a 2.0-liter EcoBlue diesel engine. This bi-turbo engine is one of the first of its kind globally for Ford, and it comes from a very special global pickup truck that’s in all of our hearts—the Ranger Raptor.
During a secret event talking about the Transit before the public sees it at the Work Truck Show, The Drive chatted with Ray Eyles, the chief program engineer for the Transit in the United States. One of the things we talked about was the 2.0-liter diesel engine. The bi-turbo setup, he told us, is the same engine that appears in the Ranger Raptor in global markets.
There is now officially one key component to the Ranger Raptor on U.S. soil that could be an indicator that a Ranger Raptor is coming. If the diesel has been federalized for sale in the U.S., it'd mean that they wouldn't have to do much work to put that bad boy in the Ranger as part of the of Ranger Raptor conversion.
Of course, this is all speculation. Ranger Raptor is different from the U.S. Ranger is a few key ways. Yes, one is the engine, but the global Ranger Raptor also uses a different frame design with coil-link rear suspension instead of leaf springs. From our understanding, it'd be no simple process to make the Ranger Raptor happen.
Also, a diesel engine might not even be used at all when or if the United States gets a Ranger Raptor. Diesel is accepted globally as the engine of choice, but for high speed desert running, a turbocharged gasoline engine makes much more sense. That's why the full-size Raptor uses the high-output 3.5-liter EcoBoost—because it's better.
There is no official word yet from Ford on Ranger Raptor, other than it's not currently planned. But it is fun to speculate, and this engine coming to the U.S. definitely fuels that speculation.
