Ford to offer Ranger Raptor with diesel, but not for Australia

Ford has pulled the silks off the all-new Ranger Raptor, debuting a new engine.

But while all the hype and fanfare has been about this twin-turbocharged petrol V6 to be fitted to the Ranger Raptor for the Australian and North American markets, Ford will still offer a diesel alternative in some markets.

Speaking with CarExpert at a recent Ranger Raptor prototype event, Ford Performance chief program engineer for Ranger Raptor Dave Burn said while markets like Australia were yearning for a petrol engine, it just wasn’t feasible for some others.

“The V6 petrol was always the motor for Raptor… for this generation of the vehicle the 3.0-litre petrol was always always the motor, but [we’re] recognising there will still be customers that want the diesel fuel economy,” Burn said.

“And so the other end of the bandwidth the bi-turbo [four-cylinder diesel] in some markets is actually going to continue on. Not in Australia, but for some markets where a V6 isn’t appropriate, the bi-turbo [four-cylinder diesel] will continue.”

As a point of reference, the updated 2.0-litre twin-turbocharged four-cylinder diesel produces 154kW of power and 500Nm of torque, mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.

The V6 Raptor on the other hand uses a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged six-cylinder petrol engine that produces 292kW of power and 583Nm of torque – also mated to a 10-speed automatic.

Would you like to see Ford continue offering the smaller diesel engine in Australia as well?