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Over the years, the Ford Special Vehicles Team built its reputation on how well its performance-tuned cars and trucks carved up the road. But the latest product from Dearborn's in-house skunkworks, the 2010 F-150 SVT Raptor, takes a sharp turn off-road and into terrain that its predecessor--the street-fighting supercharged F-150 SVT Lightning--never dared to tread.
Like any SVT vehicle, the Raptor is capable of mundane tasks such as flying to the grocery store or winging through commuter traffic.
But this SVT truck is at its best when it's swooping down the desert floor at full speed, dodging rocks and sailing over whoop-de-dos.
Based on the F-150 pickup, the Raptor body is widened by seven inches to accommodate honking 35-inch-tall desert tires and extra wheel travel--11.2 inches front and 13.4 inches rear. From the A-pillar forward, it gets all-new SMC body panels that wrap around the stock three-valve, 310-hp, 365-lb-ft, 5.4-liter Triton V8 (320 hp and 390 lb-ft on E85, if they sell it in your part of the Mojave). The black Raptor grille is wider than the stock F-150 grille, and the skid plate angled below the bumper replaces the stock air-dam lower panels.
The Raptor launches like no other truck.
The Raptor comes in the five-seat, SuperCab 4x4 configuration, with rear-hinged rear-access doors opening wide to a racy orange-trimmed leather interior. We hear that a full four-door model is in the works, but for now, the extended cab is the only offering.
Engineers are proud of the fact that they kept all of the electronic programs: electronic locking differentials, AdvanceTrac with roll-stability control, even trailer-sway control and tow/haul mode. To those they added hill-descent control, which automatically applies the brakes to individual wheels for creeping down really steep trails safely, and a new off-road mode, which tailors the throttle map and shift schedule for off-road driving. There's even an auxiliary switchboard for easier installation of the 43 lights you'll want to wire into your light bar.
Like any SVT vehicle, the Raptor is capable of mundane tasks such as flying to the grocery store or winging through commuter traffic.
But this SVT truck is at its best when it's swooping down the desert floor at full speed, dodging rocks and sailing over whoop-de-dos.
Based on the F-150 pickup, the Raptor body is widened by seven inches to accommodate honking 35-inch-tall desert tires and extra wheel travel--11.2 inches front and 13.4 inches rear. From the A-pillar forward, it gets all-new SMC body panels that wrap around the stock three-valve, 310-hp, 365-lb-ft, 5.4-liter Triton V8 (320 hp and 390 lb-ft on E85, if they sell it in your part of the Mojave). The black Raptor grille is wider than the stock F-150 grille, and the skid plate angled below the bumper replaces the stock air-dam lower panels.
The Raptor launches like no other truck.
The Raptor comes in the five-seat, SuperCab 4x4 configuration, with rear-hinged rear-access doors opening wide to a racy orange-trimmed leather interior. We hear that a full four-door model is in the works, but for now, the extended cab is the only offering.
Engineers are proud of the fact that they kept all of the electronic programs: electronic locking differentials, AdvanceTrac with roll-stability control, even trailer-sway control and tow/haul mode. To those they added hill-descent control, which automatically applies the brakes to individual wheels for creeping down really steep trails safely, and a new off-road mode, which tailors the throttle map and shift schedule for off-road driving. There's even an auxiliary switchboard for easier installation of the 43 lights you'll want to wire into your light bar.
