2019 Ford Ranger Raptor: This Is It
With a twin-turbo diesel four-cylinder and tons of off-road goodies, this truck looks awesome—even if it's only meant for the Asia-Pacific market.
Ford has finally revealed the long-awaited Raptor performance version of the all-new Ranger at an event in Thailand. The 2019 Ranger Raptor comes equipped with a twin-turbo diesel inline-four, a 10-speed auto, and a whole bunch of off-road goodies. Sadly for us, Ford stresses that the truck you see here is for the Asia-Pacific market, with no mention of bringing it to North America.
The biggest news is the engine. It's an all new 2.0-liter twin-turbodiesel making 210 horsepower and 369 lb.-ft. of torque. The turbos are sequential, a smaller one for low-RPM boost that gets bypassed when the larger turbo kicks in. The 10-speed automatic is taken from the F-150 Raptor. Towing capacity is 5512 pounds.
Outside, the Ranger Raptor basically looks like a mini F-150 Raptor. It has a blocky "FORD" grille, widened fenders, specially designed BF Goodrich all-terrain tires, a skidplate and tow hooks front and rear. Of course, there are specially-built Fox Racing shocks, with an independent front suspension and coil-sprung Watts-link solid rear axle. The inside is lined with Ford Performance accents including bolstered seats with suede inserts, magnesium shift paddles, and an on-center red steering wheel marker.
Like the F-150, the Ranger Raptor gets six electronically-controlled driving modes—Normal, Sport, Grass/Gravel/Snow, Mud/Sand, Rock, and Baja—to help you drive through virtually any terrain. See here for an in-depth explanation of what all of these modes do.
As for U.S. availability, we're not holding our breath. Road & Track spoke to Jamal Hameedi, head of Ford Performance, at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, who suggested North America may not be on the list to receive the smaller Raptor.
“To me, the most important thing now is that every human being in the world has access to a Raptor," Hameedi told us. "So, if it’s North America, you get an F-150 Raptor; the rest of the world, you get a Ranger Raptor."
Chris Perkins contributed to this report.