2021 Ford F-150 Raptor Will Have 700+ HP Supercharged V8 from Mustang GT500: Report

Seems the Hellcat-engined Ram TRX is reordering the off-road pickup market already. Your move, GM.

byPeter Holderith|
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We all should've seen this coming as the horsepower war finally makes its way to pickup trucks. Ram has its new Hellcat-powered TRX, GM has no answer to this because it's GM, and today, we've got a new report from a well-sourced informant who claims Ford is "without a doubt" dropping the Mustang GT500's 5.2-liter, 700+ horsepower supercharged V8 into the new 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor.

That would be a big upgrade compared to the current, 3.5-liter twin-turbo six-cylinder EcoBoost in the Raptor. At 450 horsepower, the V6 is plenty powerful, however, our source tells us that in the new Raptor, the supercharged 5.2-liter will make anywhere between 725 and 750 hp. Perfect for... uhh... I'm not sure. But it should be fun.

“Honestly, we had to counter Ram once we knew they installed the Hellcat in the TRX," a source within Ford told our informant. Considering they'll have the new TRX beat for power, that's definitely a good counter. And along with this update concerning the Raptor's drivetrain, we've also received a new spy shot (seen up top) that seem to hint at the truck's new coil-spring rear suspension—note the extra underbody cladding around the rear axle to cover up where the leaf springs would normally be seen.

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Although Ford hasn't officially said anything about the truck's drivetrain, these leaks come just three days after the reveal of the Hellcat-powered TRX. In a segment as fierce as full-size pickups, Ford likely didn't want to wait around for Ram to eat its lunch. We speculated that a V8 could be heard in the video of a prototype that was shared last week, and though that sparked a fair amount of disagreement on social media, this report is further confirmation of Ford's apparent plans.

There is no official release date for the new Raptor as of yet—Ford also had no comment to make when we contacted them—however, it's rumored that an early 2021 launch is likely. Until then, we'll just have to be happy with combing over spy shots and watching videos of camouflaged trucks burbling around. 

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