Ford has had a busy few weeks with their latest Everest launching shortly after the hot version of the Ranger was revealed. The thought lingering in the automotive world’s mind is if the Ford Everest Raptor will ever become a reality.
Ian Foston, global chief engineer of the T6 platform (that of the Everest and Ranger) stated that a sporty SUV isn’t on the agenda but Ford may change its mind should enough customer interest make it worthwhile to produce in volume. Considering how popular the outgoing Ranger Raptor fared locally, we think an Everest Raptor might garner some serious interest indeed but unfortunately it is up to the bean-counters at the Blue Oval.
Since both Ford models share their mechanical underpinnings with each other, it theoretically shouldn’t be too hard to give the SUV the special Raptor treatment. The models destined for the nameplate would simply require the hot components to be slotted in place of the generic bits it would normally receive, including the red coloured interior trim too.
If things do eventually kick off from sufficient demand like Foston states, the Ford Everest Raptor would share all mechanicals from the latest super-bakkie, that would mean equipping the SUV with a 3-litre EcoBoost V6 which puts out 292 kW and 583 N.m. The suspension would also receive some aggressive treatment with Fox shocks and knobbly tyres lining all four corners of the new body-on-frame SUV. Have a look at the previous generation Everest with an F-150 rework here.
For the time being we have a render by SRK Designs using the exterior aesthetic of the new Ranger Raptor transferred onto the new Everest.
