LISTEN: Ford Ranger Raptor settles fastest bakkie debate

The new Ford Ranger Raptor has hit the local bakkie scene like a nuclear bomb.

Listen to the Pitstop podcast on the Raptor

Predominantly built for off-roading, the Raptor’s 292kW/583Nm 3.0-litre V6 twin-turbo petrol engine has given it serious street credit too. Its power output is almost double the first generation Raptor’s 157kW, while it has an additional 83Nm of torque to boot.

Before Road Test Editor took the new Ford Ranger Raptor for a high-performance test, the fastest bakkie on The Citizen Motoring‘s time sheets is the previous generation 3.0-litre V6 Amarok.

This 190kW bakkie dethroned its 165kW predecessor as the fastest production in Mzansi in 2021. It lowered the best 0 to 100 km/h sprint time achieved by a bakkie from 8.67 seconds to 8.14 seconds.

The new Raptor also quite comfortably beat the discontinued Mercedes-Benz X350d. The much-hyped 190kW 3.0-litre V6 arrived on the scene guns blazing at the end of 2018, but could only clock a sprint time of 9.43 seconds.

Landslide victory

The Ford Ranger Raptor did not disappoint during Road Test Editor Mark Jones’ recent road test. It clocked a 0 to 100 km/h sprint time of 6.90 seconds to become the fastest bakkie we’ve tested, beating the 190kW Amarok by 1.24 seconds.

This time is also more than three seconds faster than the fastest contenders of the Ford Ranger’s great local rivals we’ve tested. The fastest production Toyota Hilux up until now, the GR-Sport, ran a 10.32, while the Isuzu D-Max 3.0TD V-Cross’s best effort was 10.59.

There was one Toyota Hilux that performed better than the GR-S with a time of 7.84 seconds back in 2015, but it was not a production bakkie. Dubbed the “Rex”, this Hilux was powered by a naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V8 petrol engine that produced an almighty 335kW of power and 600Nm of torque.

Ford Ranger Raptor in hot hatch territory

To put the Ford Ranger Raptor‘s time into context, it’s faster than a Suzuki Swift Sport, which recorded a sprint time of 7.67 seconds while weighing 1.5 tons less! And it’s not far off the VW Polo GTI’s sprint time of 6.63 seconds.

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