We had our first glimpse of Ford’s new 2017 Raptor earlier this year at the Detroit Auto Show, and we’ve even seen versions of it since then, but this is the first time we’ve seen one testing out on roads in what we expect will be its production body.
The key difference between this production Raptor and the one previewed in Detroit is that the giant ford lettering has been removed from the rear. Maybe Ford thought this was a bit excessive considering they already had it up front, or maybe it’s looking to change the styling after other brands have made similar moves (such as Ram’s Rebel).
Ford plans to features a specially-tuned version of its 3.5-liter Ecoboost V6 to replace the 6.2-liter V8 in the previous model, with this updated engine to produce near 450 horsepower. The Raptor will also be one of the first vehicles to receive a new 10-speed automatic transmission being developed by Ford and GM. We also expect to see that transmission to be used on other platform across Ford’s truck lineup soon.
Similar to its previous incarnation, the 2017 Raptor will feature off-road upgrades that include Fox racing shocks and larger, more aggressive tires. We also have learned Ford plans to include terrain management system on the new Raptor as well.
The 2017 Raptor should be on sale around the summer of 2016.