The Raptor name has become synonymous with performance in Ford’s truck lineup but that brand’s latest effort with the one that started it all, the F-150 Raptor, doesn’t look so hot in instrumented testing.
Edmunds recently ran the F-150 range through its battery of tests to determine how quick each model is and found some surprising results. The F-150 Raptor’s 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 may pump out 450 hp (335 kW/456 PS) and 510 lb-ft (691 Nm) of torque but it fails to impress on the drag strip against the F-150 Tremor, which makes 400 hp (298 kW/405 PS) and 500 lb-ft (678 Nm) of torque, and the F-150 Hybrid, which makes 430 hp (321 kW/436 PS) and 570 lb-ft (773 Nm) of torque.
The 2021 F-150 Raptor hits 60 mph (96 km/h) in a pretty speedy 5.8 seconds but it’s matched exactly by both the F-150 Tremor and the F-150 Hybrid. Even the previous-generation, 2019 F-150 Raptor completes the sprint in just 5.9 seconds.
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The really surprising part is that both the F-150 Tremor and the F-150 Hybrid do the standing quarter-mile in just 14.1 seconds (at 96.9 mph and 98.1 mph respectively), whereas the F-150 Raptor takes 14.3 seconds, the exact same amount of time as the last-gen Raptor, to complete the run.
Even when it comes to other performance measures, like handling and braking, the supposedly high-performance F-150 Raptor is found wanting. Whereas it slows from 60 mph (96 km/h) to zero in 149 ft (45 m), the F-150 Tremor takes 142 ft (43 m) to do the same, and the Hybrid puts in an impressive performance at 138 ft (42 m). Those two trucks also manage 0.74 g on the skidpad, turning harder than the Raptor, which can only manage 0.71 g.
Surprisingly, it seems to be the weight that is the performance truck’s biggest enemy. Heavier even than the Hybrid (thanks partially to its optional 37-inch tires), the F-150 Raptor has just one lb-ft of torque for every 11.69 pounds of weight. The F-150 Hybrid, meanwhile, is slightly better, weighing just 10.29 pounds per lb-ft of torque, and the F-150 Tremor weighs just 11.04 pounds per lb-ft.
It all goes to show that horsepower isn’t the only metric that matters and that Ford may want to hurry up and release that supercharged V8-powered F-150 Raptor R sooner rather than later.
