Ford has let its much-anticipated Bronco Raptor out of the cage, and it's a beast.
With a ferocious, 400-plus horsepower engine under its ribbed hood, the Raptor sits on 37-inch tires and a 9.8-inch wider track for high speed off-roading like its big brother F-150 Raptor pickup. Combine that with Bronco's signature, electronic detachable sway bar and Turn Assist for low-speed rock-crawling, and Bronco Raptor sets a new industry standard for off-road bandwidth.
In its escalating arms race with Jeep, Bronco's Raptor lines up against the 470-horse, V-8-powered, Wrangler 392 with 35-inch Extreme Recon rubber. With its all-around capability, the Bronco hellion also becomes the new halo for Ford's Raptor brand. True to that status, it will start at $69,995 — $2,924 more than a Raptor pickup.
While F-150 Raptor is designed for the high-speed desert runs of the Baja 1000, Bronco Raptor is targeted at Ultra4 Racing's King of the Hammers series — North America's demanding, multi-dimensional off-road competition where vehicles tackle courses with everything from high-speed sprints to brutal rock crawls.
"Bronco Raptor is the apex of our off-road lineup," said Ford CEO Jim Farley. "It's the real deal. It's not for show and it's not for everybody. But for people who love to get out in the wild, it's the ultimate."
Due this summer, Bronco Raptor will be hard to miss on road.
Like the Hulk's biceps ripping through Bruce Banner's shirt, its enormous tires stick out well beyond Raptor's fender flares. The grille is stamped with the same "FORD" letters that ID the F-150 Raptor. Three amber marker lights on the bow indicate that Broncos Raptor is more than 80 inches wide (86.9 to be exact) — a regulation that usually applies to heavy duty dually trucks. Amber is the color of the Bronc's signature ring headlights as well.
The design is Ultra4-inspired, and body panels forward of the A-pillar are new — including functional hood vents to feed the turbo-V-6 — except for the bumper, which has been reinforced to weather whatever obstacles are in the beast's way. Body panels aft of the C-pillar are also new to accommodate the wider track. They are made from composites (the standard Bronco is aluminum) for light-weighting and ease of manufacture. The rear swing gate is reinforced with an exoskeleton to carry the larger, 37-inch spare tire.
This being a Bronco, owners can remove body panels and fenders and replace them with modular parts of their choice. When you're done gawking at Bronco Raptor's biceps, check out its tattoos — "Easter eggs," the product team calls them — including the dates of Bronco's Baja 1000 wins (1967, 1969, 1971, 1972) on the hood intake and profiles of three generations of Bronco racers inside the gas-filler door.
Ford introduced Bronco Raptor to media in its natural habitat — a scarred, off-road landscape in Genesee County — dressed in Code Orange, a color unique to Raptor. Ten colors will be offered but body style is limited to a four-door model with a hardtop roof.
Beneath its ripped wardrobe is some serious off-road muscle shared with the F-150 Raptor, America's first super truck.
Bronco Raptor's 116.5-inch wheelbase is significantly shorter than its pickup elder (145 inches) with shorter overhangs to allow batter maneuverability over tough terrain. The front approach angle is an impressive 47.2 degrees while the brute sits 4.8 inches higher than its Bronco sibling with a ride height of 13.1 inches.
It's been reinforced to take extreme off-road punishment — reinforcement that also increases its tow-rating to 4,500 pounds from the standard Bronc's 3,500. Below the removable hardtop, two roll bars have been added at the B and C pillars to increase chassis torsional rigidity by 50% over the standard Bronc — as well as enhance safety. Rock rails are standard; bead locks for the 37-inch BF Goodrich KO2 tires optional.
Performance, live-valve Fox shocks (upgraded over the Bronco's Bilsteins) are shared with the F-150 Raptor and enable up to 13 inches of suspension travel up front, 14 inches rear. Control arms, half-shafts, suspension knuckles — all have all been beefed up. Five skid plates protect the beast's underbelly from hard hits over, say, high-speed King of the Hammers jumps.
Propelling this off-road predator is the 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V-6 — similar to the 400-horse mill stuffed into the Ford Explorer ST. Raptor's horsepower rating is expected to be north of that. It's mated to the Bronco's quick-shifting 10-speed transmission — a manual option is not available.
Bronco Raptor pilots will pull themselves up into the high cockpit with carbon-fiber grab handles. Once strapped into (optional) Code Orange seatbelts, they'll be surrounded by Bronco's electronically-controlled, off-road weaponry — plus a few new toys.
Like the boulder-climbing Bronco Badlands trim, the Raptor's dash is full of hero switches: sway-bar disconnect, Trail Turn Assist, dual-locking differentials, the works. The Code Orange-trimmed, rotary GOAT (Go Over Any Terrain) selector offers seven modes: Normal, Slippery, Tow/Haul, Sport, Off-Road, Rock Crawl and Baja. Drivers can also configure a steering wheel button — just like My Mode in a Mustang GT500 or Z-mode in a Corvette Stingray — to instantly switch to the pre-programmed performance setting of their choice.
The Bronco Raptor comes standard with rubberized washout flooring and heavily bolstered, marine-grade vinyl seats, but — for those who don't intend on getting their interiors muddy — a leather-and-suede or blue-accented leather-suede interior are available.
"The Bronco Raptor interior was designed around what we know hardcore off-road racers want in a vehicle," said design manager Ryan Olsson.
Bronco Raptor will roll off the same assembly line as the Bronco at Ford's Wayne Assembly Plant. It will get its first public viewing Feb. 3 at the King of the Hammers Festival in Johnson Valley, California.
