The 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor is ready to get dirty. Based on a factory-stock model, this Ford Performance-tweaked Raptor will compete in the upcoming Best in the Desert off-road racing series through the rest of this year. The truck’s first race will be this weekend in Parker, Arizona, after which the truck will compete in five more Best in the Desert events through the end of the year.
Though it will face grueling challenges, the 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor is pretty much stock. It’ll use the same 3.5-liter EcoBoost twin-turbo V-6 engine and 10-speed automatic transmission as the Raptor you’ll soon find in Ford showrooms, as are the front differential and 17-inch beadlock wheels. There are only mild changes for the Raptor, including new suspension springs with a higher ride height, a unique racing tuning for the Fox Racing shock absorbers, a roll cage, and safety gear like LED light bars, a racing fuel cell, and GPS data loggers.
The F-150 racing truck is backed by Ford Performance, and it will be campaigned in Best in the Desert by Arizona-based Foutz Motorsport.
“This is the most stock truck I’ve ever seen in my time building Ford race trucks,” Foutz owner Greg Foutz said in a statement.
The regular 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor will go on sale this fall, although pricing and official power outputs have yet to be revealed. Ford says only that the EcoBoost V-6 will make more power and torque than the 6.2-liter V-8 in the outgoing Raptor, which packed 411 hp and 434 lb-ft, while also returning improved fuel efficiency.
