To prove its toughness, Ford is taking its 2017 Ford Raptor desert racing.
Entering the 2016 Best in the Desert off-road racing series factory stock class does more than let Ford designers cover the courageous new performance truck in racing livery. It allows them to show off just how durable it really is.
And it has plenty to prove. Unlike the last-gen Ford F-150-based Raptor pickup truck, which had a 6.2-liter V8 engine and a six-speed automatic transmission, the all-new 2017 has a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6 and an automatic transmission with 10 — count ’em 10 — speeds. I don’t know about you, but, to me, that sounds pretty break-y … especially in the desert.
That’s because every carmaker to come out with a 9-speed automatic transmission has had reliability issues. This Raptor will be the first on the road with a 10-speed. So, if history has taught us anything, it could be a reliability liability. And, as for the turbos, they don’t typically do so well to hot temperatures and racing abuse.
Moreover, the aluminum-bodied 2017 Raptor will have to show more than its mechanical durability but also its external resilience as well. As you can imagine, desert racing is hard on truck bodies. Granted, the metal surrounding the Raptor is “military grade” aluminum, so it’ll likely be fine. Still, though, I have my doubts.
Ford believes the Raptor, with its fully boxed and extra-strong frame as well as its specially designed suspension, should be able to hold up. Personally, if I were looking at buying it, I’d watch very carefully what happens to the race trucks during this season before I were to plunk down my hard-earned cash for the truck.
Luckily, you’ll have time to wait and see how the racing season shakes out. That’s because the 2017 Raptor won’t be available until late in 2016.