Ford F-150 Raptor R Likely Getting Shelby’s Ridiculous V8
Photo: Ford
It’s been a good 15 months since Ford warned us that the F-150 Raptor R was coming. And with a whole bunch of developments happening over the last few days and weeks, it sure feels like that day is coming sooner rather than later. And that the F-150 Raptor R is getting an insane V8 that puts down well over 700 horsepower.
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Back on May 16, theraptorconnection on Instagram shared a leaked image of a build sheet for the upcoming super truck. The sheet indicates that the 2023 F-150 Raptor R will receive a 5.2-liter V8. This would almost certainly be the same supercharged flat-plane crank V8 under the hood of the 760-horsepower Mustang Shelby GT500. For comparison, the current Ford F-150 Raptor puts down 450 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque.
It’s been rumored for over three years now that Ford is absolutely going for Ram’s wig with a higher-powered, limited-edition version of the Raptor. The goal? To surpass the Ram TRX and its 702 ponies just because Ford can. The 5.2-liter V8 has been the much-discussed engine with which Ford might just do that very thing. So the probability of this all bearing out to be true seems to be pretty high.
Possible Raptor R spotted out in the wild
TRC followed this up with a barrage of posts including images of that beefy engine wearing a Raptor badge and a window sticker confirming the supercharged V8 as well as 37-inch tires and a Recaro interior. Most recently, theraptorconnection shared footage of what appears to be a mostly un-camouflaged Raptor R out in the wild.
Beyond what it’s rocking under the hood and putting down, the most likely follow-up questions are how much and how many. We know this will be a limited-edition truck, so you can probably expect a pretty healthy price point and quite a spirited scramble from folks eager to get their mitts on one.
Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.