Ford heard our cries for more power, and rectified the situation with a new 6.2-liter V8 that was adapted for Raptor duty after first seeing action in Ford's Our biggest and perhaps only real complaint with the Raptor when it launched was that its 5.4-liter V8 engine was underpowered for the kind of shenanigans its heavy-duty chassis and beefed-up suspension encouraged. Photos copyright ©2010 Drew Phillips and Jeremy Korzeniewski / AOL It's no secret that we've loved the Raptor ever since our first experience behind the wheel, and now it's better than ever before. Unlike all previous products from Ford's Specialty Vehicle Team, including the F-150-based SVT Lightning, this truck does its best work once the pavement ends and the really nasty stuff begins.
Since late 2009, actually, when FoMoCo unleashed the first version of theį-150 SVT Raptor on an unsuspecting public. Since when did such niceties as in-dash navigation with voice-activated SYNC, a leather interior with heated seats, dual-zone climate control and satellite radio count as standard equipment in a truck that was built primarily for 100-mile-per-hour blasts through the desert? We'd have done the deed even sooner, but our destination – a Baja-style test track in the middle of the desert outside Phoenix, Arizona – was, understandably, far enough out of town that no locals would be able to complain of excessive noise or mini dust tornadoes encroaching on their own tracts of brush-filled paradise.Īfter all, the modern conveniences of day-to-day life just don't mix with such uncivilized activities as seeing how much air you can put between yourĪnd therein lies the beauty of this particular beast. 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor 6.2 - Click above for high-res image galleryĪ scant 30 minutes had passed after taking possession of this 2010įord F-150 SVT Raptor until we had all four of its wheels off the ground.