Honestly, as cool and ridiculous as it would be to be able to get the GT500 engine in the Raptor to take the HP crown back from Ram and the TRX, I’d still probably get the standard Raptor with the 3.5L HO (hopefully further tweaked) with power boost hybrid. If only it could replicate even 50% of the V8 rumble and sound, but I guess it will never be in the cards for a V6.
Let’s face it, most of our Raptors are likely our daily drivers, and there is nothing daily driver about a 725+hp truck. Not to mention, we’d be back to the days of 9-10mpg and that’s on the highway, won’t even mention with a lift, or larger aftermarket tires or rims. Being able to get low to mid 20s combined mpg in a Raptor would be amazing. All that extra power and loss in daily drivability in the TRX for what’s essentially 1 second improvement 0-60 over the current Raptor isn’t really worth it. Especially since PowerBoost and further refinements could probably eat into nearly half of that performance gain, if not more.
I’m kind of excited about trying out powerboost. Not only because the standard F150 is rated 24/24 mpg (both city and highway), but the ability to use the 7.4kw battery and hookup in the bed is a game changer for tailgating, camping (especially with a bed camper / Pop-up camper) and having mobile power for work (not having to worry about hookups in the marina boatyard, etc). Not to mention, it seems you could even be able to charge an EV like a Tesla (or Mach-E) within 20-30 minutes and leave it with a ~30 mile range in emergencies. It also should work well for towing and regenerative braking, saving your brakes and brake life and probably be able to recapture a lot of power / energy. I’m curious to get some seat time and see if the instant torque and power increase is noticed when WOT from a dig or accelerating / merging on a highway ramp too.
The main thing I want is improvement of interior quality and luxury features. The screen on the new F150 looks nice, maybe not quite as jaw dropping as the Ram or Tesla, but definitely adequate. I’m more hoping for better quality (a $70-80k 802A truck should not still be loaded with plastic and cheap surfaces that scratch easily). Dare I ask for massaging seats? I came from a Mercedes and I miss that “hot stone” massaging seat I had in my S-Class. The limited even offers massaging seats (never tried them to see if they were any good though).
Also, while on the subject of the limited, why not offer the same premium seats as it has. The new 2021 limited seats look great, inspired by the Lincoln Aviator and Navigator for sure. I like the heft of our seats to hold us in while off-roading, but they don’t seem or feel super premium. Why not have adjustable thighs and upper back rests, or a more luxurious design in the seats or color combinations like in the limited or king ranch? I mean, the interior quality and features of the new 2021 F150 doesn’t even look like as good as what Ram offered in their refresh which is going on a few years old at this point.
Lastly, I’m also pretty excited about the rumors of the rear coil over suspension and ditching the leaf springs. The Fox shocks do a pretty good job, but the suspension in the Raptor isn’t truly the best. I’d be excited to see some further suspension updates to improve both on and off-road performance and eliminate wheel hop and make the ride feel a bit more planted.
