Do you want a Ranger Raptor? Ford won’t help ya, so head to Hennessey.
It’s an open secret that your humble author has no problem taking Ford to task about their refusal to bring the Ranger Raptor to America. No market for the thing? Yeah right. Tell that to Chevrolet and their Colorado ZR2, which comes in both regular and extra strength. Toyota and their line of TRD Pro pickups would like a word, as well.
Thankfully, America is the land of the free and home of the modified truck. Speed demon Hennessey Performance (HPE) has taken the 2019 Ranger and built the Raptor version it deserves – you know, the one which Ford won’t bring to America.
There are some power increases, as you’d expect, but we’ll get to those in a moment. First up: the tasty off-road mods added to the 2019 VelociRaptor Ranger.
HPE has upgraded the Ranger with their Stage 1 off-road suspension upgrade, lifting the truck by 4 inches. Combined with Hennessey 17-inch alloy wheels and upgraded BFG off-road tires measuring 285/70/R17, the Hennessey VelociRaptor Ranger is nearly 6 inches taller than stock. A set of meaty fender flares also appear, and they’ve added That Grille. The whole package looks baller.
Rounding out the extra off-road kit is an upgraded front bumper with LED lights and optional winch upgrade. A roof-mounted LED light bar is also available as an option for those who want to light up the dark side of the moon.
“We are so excited to introduce our 2019 Hennessey VelociRaptor upgrades for the 2019 Ford Ranger truck,” said company founder & CEO, John Hennessey. “The demand for our VelociRaptor upgrades for the Ford Raptor truck has been incredible over the past 10 years. We are thrilled to be able to offer increased power, performance – on and off-road all packed in our exclusively branded VelociRaptor package.”
Power? There’s plenty of that, too. HPE sticks with Ford’s 2.3L turbo EcoBoost engine but boosts horsepower to from 350bhp at 6000rpm, up from a stock 270 horses. Torque is also increased by 75lb.-ft to 385 lb-ft of twist. The VelociRaptor Ranger sharpens its claws by improving air flow through a new high-flow air induction system combined with a less restrictive and allegedly better sounding stainless steel catback exhaust system.
The ECU has also been tweaked for increased boost, lowering its 0-60mph acceleration time to 6.1 seconds, an improvement of 1.3 seconds over stock.
Price for the 2019 Hennessey VelociRaptor Ranger upgrade is $64,950 which includes a new 2019 Ford Ranger truck of unspecified trim – we’ll assume it’s at least an XLT and hopefully a Lariat. The company says they’re limiting production to just 500 units but, in reality, there’s an excellent chance they’ll keep making the things if demand is high, which it surely will be.
For those who have already picked up a new Ranger, cost for the VelociRaptor upgrade by itself is $19,950, proving once again that Ford is leaving significant money on the table by not offering a factory Ranger Raptor.