Ford Bronco Raptor pops out

Time flies, because it’s been a year and a half since Ford revived the Bronco. The wonderfully retro-designed off-roader immediately managed to get their hands on one another, but an extreme Raptor version was still missing. However, Ford has not been idle since then and is now pulling the curtain on the Bronco Raptor. It’s largely what you could have hoped for. We say largely because contrary to some rumors, the Raptor doesn’t have a V8 up its nose. More on that later.

Where the normal Bronco already has to present itself as a very capable off-roader, the Raptor naturally goes a step further. That starts with the increased ground clearance: the Bronco Raptor is 33 cm above the ground, which is more than 12 centimeters more than with the regular Bronco. It is also a lot wider on its wheels. The track width grew by almost 22 cm. I can see that.

The suspension is also a bit different than usual. Ford worked on it with Fox and provided the Bronco Raptor with a similar modified chassis to that of the F-150 Raptor. Semi-active dampers with a thickness of almost 8 centimeters should ensure that the Bronco Raptor – depending on the chosen driving mode – absorbs the blows as well as possible and keeps things controllable. The Bronco Raptor also features special trailing arms developed by Ford Performance and 33cm of front and 35.6cm of rear travel. Ford has also worked on the stiffness of the body, giving the Bronco Raptor about 50 percent higher torsional stiffness than usual.

That Ford has managed to do that is quite commendable. The Bronco has both removable doors and a partially removable roof. As you can see in the photo above, you can ride the Bronco Raptor quite stripped down. This, in combination with the characteristic Raptor grille with Ford fully written in it, the wider wheel arches, large skid plates and no less than 37-inch all-terrain tires on the 17-inch wheels for an impressive picture.

The interior of the Bronco Raptor is largely familiar, although there are certainly differences with the normal Bronco. You take a seat in chairs that offer extra support when things get rough and are surrounded by orange accents. That ‘Ford Performance Code Orange’ belongs completely to Raptor versions and we also know it, for example, from the F-150 Raptor. We also see paddle shifters to manually control the resistance.

And now an answer to the question that has probably been on your mind from the beginning of this article: what’s in the nose? Well, as we expected a bit, Ford spoons a 3.0 biturbo V6 into the Bronco Raptor, which is linked to the well-known ten-speed automatic transmission. A block that will really comfort those who had hoped for a V8 in terms of power. The V6 stamps out ‘more than 400 hp’. Ford does not specify a precise power yet, but you can bet that it makes a beast of the Bronco Raptor. In any case, Ford itself (see the photos) manages to get quite a bit of ‘air time’ with the Bronco Raptor, even on an unpaved surface. That is promising.

In March, Ford will open the order books in its home country of the United States. It is not yet known what the Bronco Raptor will cost. It may not be very relevant either, since we see the Bronco pass us by at all, let alone the Raptor.