Ford officially teases Bronco Raptor

Wednesday, 22 September 2021

The Bronco is getting a high-performance Raptor version.

Ford has confirmed it is nearly finished developing the latest member of the Raptor family, a high-performance Bronco.

The Bronco Raptor was confirmed in a 17-second video posted to Ford CEO Jim Farley’s Twitter account, which showed a new grille with thick ‘FORD’ lettering, yellow LED daytime running lights, three extra lights at the top of the grille, and a lot of dust.

Ford has released a surprise look at the next-generation Ford Ranger in action.

Expect a wider body with off-road-oriented bashplates and tyres, tougher suspension potentially sourced from Fox Racing, better brakes and more power under the bonnet.

It probably won’t be a V8 powering the Bronco Raptor, with rumours instead leaning towards the F-150 Raptor’s 335kW/691Nm 3.5-litre V6 or the new Explorer’s 272kW/515Nm 3.0-litre V6. It could also be a tuned version of the 231kW/542Nm 2.7-litre V6 already available in vanilla Broncos.

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The Bronco Raptor could even share some hardware with the next-gen Ranger.

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Whatever the engine is, expect it to be paired with a ten-speed automatic.

There’s even a chance Ford could use the plug-in hybrid powertrain destined for the next-gen Ranger, a turbocharged 2.3-litre petrol four-cylinder with a single electric motor to generate 270kW and 680Nm of torque. That would make a bit of sense, considering the Bronco is based on the Ranger, and we’ve already heard rumours about a plug-in Bronco Raptor.

Mention the upcoming Ranger, it’s future Raptor version is expected to get the latest generation of Fox Racing shock absorbers, similar to what holds up the 2020 F-150 Raptor.

This includes a new ‘jump mode’, which uses an internal ride-height sensor to variably adjust suspension damping depending on the road conditions. The system should end up offering a more rigid ride with added flexibility when driving over rocks or doing jumps.

It sounds like an easy pick for the Bronco Raptor, although we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the real tech specs.

The video confirmed a 2022 release, although Ford is having a few production woes with the Bronco so it could end up being closer to 2023 than January next year.