Ford Ranger Raptor Spied With The Right Stuff To Take On Chevrolet Colorado ZR2
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The Chevrolet Colorado has nearly been a lone wolf in the mid-size pickup truck segment. Save for the Toyota Tacoma, not much else has come in the way of hot Colorado sales—that is until Ford arrives on the scene.
General Motors and Chevrolet have a substantial head start on Ford, but Ford may be preparing an all-out assault with a potential Ranger Raptor to take on the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2. Recent spy shots, as reported by Ford Authority, show a heavily camouflaged Ford Ranger test mule rocking some serious suspension upgrades. Ford went as far as camouflaging features underneath the truck to hide what’s really going on.
However, this clearly isn’t a standard issue Ranger. It boasts a raised ride height, wider fender flares and 17-inch wheels with BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A tires.
Like the Colorado ZR2, Ford may also pack diesel and gasoline-powered engines, too. Previous Ranger Raptor prototypes reportedly packed a diesel engine, though spy photographers say this most recent truck was sporting an Ecoboost engine.
The real question is what a Ranger Raptor would be to Ford. Would it be akin to the sand-dune smashing F-150 Raptor? Or would it truly take a page from the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 and be an avid rock crawler? That’s something we won’t know until 2019 at the earliest.
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I was holding out hope for some sort of legacy styling; which the Bronco must don to be the home run it could be.
I think from the camo it will be more like the full size truck vs retro.
I suspect the new Bronco will make half happy and leave half disappointed.
I hope I’m among the happy half.
Too bad GM refused to put the 4.3L in a least the ZR2. That motor with the 8spd. auto surly would have pushed the ZR2 to the win over the Power Wagon (and the Raptor) in MT’s off road truck test!
My thoughts exactly !!
I expect Ford will use the 2.7L TTV6 in the Ranger Raptor, an engine, that currently at least, GM has no answer for. Ford also offers the F-150 Raptor with cloth interior and fewer options to keep the base price just under $50K. I expect they will do the same with the smaller truck. The base price will include all the go-fast and suspension upgrades, but a few less creature/luxury features and the base price will start with a “3”.
Ford may use the 2.7 because they make so many they can reduce the cost.
The GM TT is much lower volume and is hard to make that cheap. Now if GM adds this to the new full size….
Also I do not expect Ford to decontent as that is were all the profits come from. Decontented model show little profit.
This is why we do not see gutted Camaro or Mustang models too.