We know, downsizing still seems to be a trend, however that didn’t stop Volkswagen from shoehorning a whole V6 into the Amarok, and it would seems as though Ford and Toyota are now following suit with V6 diesel motors appearing in due course in both the Ranger and the Hilux. But what is that faint murmur, you ask? Is it perhaps the sound of the peanut gallery, suggesting that someone wedge a V8 into a Ranger? Maybe…
Following the success of the outgoing Ranger Raptor, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that there will be a Raptor variant of the forthcoming new Ranger – that model featured the same 2,0-litre BiTurbo diesel unit as found in other Ranger models, but here’s why things may be different this time round…
It’s no secret that the new Ranger and the delightful Bronco (of which we have been so wrongfully deprived) share a thing or two, and with Ford and Hennessey both having just plopped the 300-odd kW 5,0-litre Coyote V8 into the retro off-roader, what’s to stop them from just, you know, giving us a V8 Ranger Raptor…
Ford’s vice-president of global product development, Trevor Worthington, was noted as saying that the Bronco DR could serve as inspiration for a new Ranger Raptor in a recent interview with Cars Guide.
“There is a lot of that Bronco DR that is standard Bronco, and the underpinning of the standard Bronco and the underpinnings of the Ranger we’re just in the process of releasing is the same architecture,” he said.
Ford Performance motorsports global director, Mark Rushbook, also nodded when asked directly if customers would find appeal in a V8 Ranger, adding that many of the Bronco DR’s features could be transferred to the Ranger without issue at all.
“I’d love to think we could do something like that. No plans at the moment, but we want to work on it.” He then went on to acknowledge that “at the end of the day, it’s got to be sensible and work for the business.”
Not that it matters much to us in South Africa, but Ford are smack bang in the middle of developing a Raptor version of the Bronco. Reports suggest, however, that it’ll have to “make do” with the F-150 Raptor’s pokey 335 kW/691 N.m 3,5-litre EcoBoost V6.
