Back in January, we reported on “the most powerful street-legal Ford ever,” the 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500. The beating heart of the beast is a hand-built, 5.2-liter supercharged V8 engine, but instead of letting the sports car crowd have all the fun, the automaker is gearing up to transplant it into the F-150 Raptor pickup truck.
That’s according to Car and Driver’s “multiple sources within Ford,” and if they are to be believed, the off-road Raptor will be exchanging a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 that produces 450 horsepower for the V8 which is capable of 700 horsepower. For those who are more familiar with your stock F-150s, the base 2019 model puts out 290 ponies. In other words, when these things start rolling out of the Jurassic Park-esque lab, steer clear.
When, exactly, will that be? According to Car and Driver, this juiced up truck is being developed as a “sendoff for the current-generation F-150, scheduled to be replaced in 2021 or 2022.”
But that may not be the whole story, because on the same day that news broke, the publication also posted spy shots of a Ram Rebel TRX with, you guessed it, a supercharged V8. And they’re betting it’ll be a 707-horsepower Hellcat V8.
In other words, let the Totally Unnecessary Truck Wars begin.
Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company
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