Ford Ranger Raptor and Bronco to get turbo V6, Raptor heading to USA

The next-generation Ford Ranger Raptor is set to get V6 power.

On the back of our recent exclusive on the hybrid powertrains coming to the 2022 Ford Ranger and Ford Everest, our sources have unearthed more information on the next-generation Ranger Raptor and Bronco.

They’ve confirmed the Ford Ranger Raptor will launch in the USA, where both the Ranger Raptor and upcoming Bronco will offer a turbocharged V6 petrol engine. The Australian market will get a pair of diesels in the Ranger Raptor.

What we know about the 2021/2022 Ford Ranger Raptor

• The next-generation Ford Ranger Raptor will launch in the USA, further bolstering the Ranger line-up for the States
• A leaked screen shot confirms Ford will use a second-generation Nano 2.7-litre EcoBoost turbocharged V6 engine for Ranger Raptor in the USA
• Ford will launch the next generation of Ranger Raptor in Australia with a 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel and 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 diesel
• The Ranger Raptor will pick up the latest generation of Fox Racing shocks with live valve technology
• The next Ranger Raptor will move upmarket in terms of price and interior technology

What we know about the 2021 Ford Bronco

• Ford will take the wraps off the all-new Ford Bronco at a global reveal on July 13
• The Bronco will launch with a 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine
• The Bronco will come with a 10-speed automatic transmission, plus the option of a seven-speed manual with six forward gears and a crawl gear
• A leaked screen shot confirms Ford will introduce the second-generation Nano 2.7-litre EcoBoost engine into the Bronco as an option, or as part of a Bronco Raptor package
• Ford may introduce the Bronco in Australia (as exclusively reported by CarExpert)

Ranger Raptor turbocharged V6 petrol and diesel

Before we get stuck into the meat of powertrains for Ranger Raptor, it’s worth quickly going over the history behind this vehicle.

The Ranger Raptor is based on the T6 platform and uses a modified chassis in comparison to the regular Ford Ranger. The chassis includes coil springs with a bespoke Fox Racing suspension instead of leaf springs, along with disc brakes at the rear and a Watt’s linkage.

A lot of the learnings from the Ranger Raptor were transferred to the modified T6 platform servicing the Ford Ranger in the USA. Currently the Ranger sold in the US market features a 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol EcoBoost engine and a leaf spring suspension arrangement.

In 2018, Ford preemptively registered a design patent for the American-market Ranger Raptor. We know it was for the USA because it featured a rear sliding window (a feature we don’t get here) and the inclusion of an equivalent American patent registration number.

In 2018 I also had the chance to interview Trevor Worthington, who was then Ford’s vice president of product development for Asia Pacific, and is now Ford’s vice president of global product development operations and vehicle programs.

At the time I quizzed him about the potential for Ranger Raptor getting a V6 diesel or petrol engine, and he was convinced there was no interest in it.

“Well, we haven’t looked at that one [referring to a petrol or diesel V6] because as I’ve said this morning, the vast majority of the 200 markets that we sell Ranger, and when I say a vast majority I mean 99 per cent are all diesel markets,” he said.

“It’d be like turning up with something that people wouldn’t even consider buying.”

It seemed potential buyers didn’t really agree with Worthington, with the article attracting over 150 comments, further fuelled by comments elsewhere on the internet supporting a larger engine.

The current 2.0-litre diesel unit in the 2342kg Ranger Raptor sees it cover the 100km/h sprint in around 10.5 seconds, mainly due to the extra weight it carries over the regular 2278kg Ranger Wildtrak.

So that leads us to the three engines that will be available for the Ranger Raptor as part of the 2022 model range.

• Australian and Asian markets will receive the same 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine producing 157kW of power and 500Nm of torque. It will be mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission and will send torque to the rear wheels, with selectable four-wheel drive for unsealed surfaces.
• Australian and Asian markets will also receive the option of a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 diesel engine producing 190kW of power and 600Nm of torque. This engine is currently used in the F-150 and is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission. It will feature permanent all-wheel drive (similar to the Volkswagen Amarok) with a selectable low-range mode.
• The US market will get the second generation of Ford’s 2.7-litre turbocharged V6 Nano EcoBoost petrol engine, which produces 242kW of power and 542Nm of torque. It too will be mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission and will also feature permanent all-wheel drive with a selectable low-range mode.

How do we know Ford will use this engine? A screen shot sent to CarExpert from what appears to be a computer with engine and prototype details. This screen shot is either from a Ford computer or a registration database, and it calls out a 2021 Ranger prototype on the T6 platform.

It goes further by stating the vehicle’s engine, which in this case is a 2.7-litre turbocharged V6 Nano EcoBoost engine. It also mentions left-hand drive, which indicates it’s destined for the US market, and says the vehicle will be all-wheel drive, which suggests it won’t be a switchable setup like the 2.0-litre diesel currently in the Raptor.

We also know this engine is currently being tested in Australia thanks to the VIN printed on screen. The VIN matches earlier ones used for Australian-produced vehicles. It could have been left over, and closely resembles VINs used on the Ford Territory.

And how do we know the Ranger Raptor will be heading to the United States? Ford lodged a patent registration for the Ranger Raptor in 2018 when the vehicle was launched. They also lodged an additional registration that makes specific mention of a matching US design registration. Further to that, the images used in the patent registration show the use of a sliding rear window, which is currently fitted to the US market Ranger, but not the Australian-specification Ranger Raptor.

Ford may have intended to launch the Ranger Raptor in North America earlier, but may have been waiting for the EcoBoost Nano V6 to have been engineered for the T6 platform, which may have led to the decision to hold off launching Ranger Raptor in the US until this next-generation vehicle was ready.

What will the 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor look like?

We’ve been busy creating a computer generated image of what the 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor will look like. It follows on from the design cues of the 2022 Ford Ranger and Ford Everest, but with more hardcore styling elements.

The front-end will feature a honeycomb grille with extensive use of LED lighting. We think the new Ranger Raptor will pick up a multi-beam matrix LED lighting arrangement, similar to some German vehicles and Ford’s higher-end Focus range.

Around the back, LED lighting will also feature in the tail lights. The Raptor insignia and camouflage motif will be available in similar fashion to the current model, but the most exciting part is the inclusion of a sliding rear window.

Flared wheel arches hide the use of next-generation Fox Racing suspension including live valve technology, which is essentially Fox Racing speak for adaptive damping.

It will work a little differently to conventional adaptive damping systems, with the ability to offer a greater deal of travel for off-roading and rock crawling.

It will also feature a ‘jump’ mode that braces the suspension system for a hard impact with the intention of softening the blow for passengers inside the cabin.

Further to that, the interior will feature Ford Sync 4, which will likely take the form of a vertical tablet style screen similar to the new Mustang Mach-E, while ahead of the driver will be a full LCD display replacing the current analogue gauges.

Ford Performance styling is expected to be used throughout the cabin with the inclusion of Recaro seats and bigger paddle shifters for Ranger Raptor models.

Ford Bronco turbocharged V6 petrol

This leads us to the Ford Bronco. The all-new Bronco is set to be unveiled at a global reveal event on July 13.

The Bronco is expected to launch with the same engine currently fitted to the Ford Ranger in the USA, a 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder EcoBoost engine that’s mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.

Our friends over at TFLCar have also spied a seven-speed manual transmission in the Bronco that’s expected to have six forward gears, plus a low-range crawl gear.

Rumours have been circulating for some time about an EcoBoost Nano V6 being used in the Bronco, but the same screen shot from the Ford computer above all but confirms this will happen.

If you look closely, you’ll see mention of a U725 prototype, which is an internal Ford code for the all-new Bronco. Given the Bronco uses a modified version of the T6 platform, it’s only logical that the EcoBoost Nano V6 could be used in both the Ranger and Bronco to achieve economies of scale.

It’s highly likely the Bronco will follow the Ranger in terms of drivetrain configuration, adopting a 10-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive instead of being a rear-wheel drive arrangement with switchable four-wheel drive.

That could preclude the Bronco from being available with the manual transmission in this specification. It could also mean this engine will live in a more hardcore version of the Bronco – perhaps a Bronco Raptor – to make full use of all the power on hand.

Ford Bronco and F-150 right-hand drive

You can read our exclusive story about the potential of F-150 and Bronco coming to Australia as factory right-hand drive vehicles here.

In it we detail an investor slide that shows Ford looking to fix launch executions for the F-150 and Bronco for IMG markets – internal Ford speak for International Markets Group, a subset of around 100 countries including Australia and New Zealand among other right-hand drive markets.

What does Ford say?

We reached out to Ford Australia to see if they had any information on the next generation of Ranger or Bronco, but unsurprisingly, they remain tight lipped.

Ford Australia product communications manager Damion Smy told CarExpert, “We have no specific plans to share on the next generation Ranger at this time. We work tirelessly to ensure we bring products that reflect Australian tastes, needs and expectations.”

Read up on the top 10 best selling cars in Australia in 2021:

• Toyota HiLux
• Ford Ranger
• Toyota RAV4
• Toyota LandCruiser Prado
• Toyota Corolla
• Isuzu D-Max
• Mazda CX-5
• Hyundai Tucson
• Kia Cerato
• Hyundai i30