The Raptor brand has been remarkably successful for Ford, heightening the performance of trucks across its range. And the brand could continue to expand into the F-Series Super Duty family, but only if customers demand it. Speaking to Ford Authority, Aaron Bresky, the engineering manager for the Super Duty range, said that, if the idea of a high-performance heavy-duty truck appeals to Ford customers, it wouldn’t hesitate to make it happen.
For 2023, the F-Series Super Duty range is
offered with a variety of off-road packages, though, they are all less extreme
than the Raptor trim offered on Ford’s smaller trucks. The XL Off-Road package,
for instance, adds 17-inch wheels with 33-inch tires, a raised air dam, skid
plates, and more. The most extreme off-road-focused package, though, is the
Tremor. It adds 18-inch wheels, 35-inch Goodyear tires, a front lift, a
uniquely tuned suspension, a Dana front axle, a limited-slip differential, as
well as a number of trail-focused driver assistance systems.
While that all sounds pretty good on its
own, Ford would likely add even more off-road gear to the truck and a more
powerful engine to turn it into a Raptor. The F-150 Raptor, for instance, gets
24-inch coil springs, Fox Live Valve shocks, a Torsen front limited slip diff,
and optional 37-inch tires. The F-150 Raptor R is also sold with the same V8 as
the Mustang Shelby GT500, making 700 hp and 868 Nm of torque. That’s considerably more than the F-Series Super Duty’s 7.3-liter V8
is expected to churn out, but tuners have managed to get as much as 965 hp out
of the engine with some modifications.
