There is a new 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor, and it gets a V6 by default. This is the same similarity as the current generation. The difference is that the new Raptor also has a Raptor R model like a V8, like the original. It made me wonder: Did Ford turn on the Raptor engine because the six-cylinder was a dud?
The tricky thing here is that Ford does not sell any F-Series models from the F-Series. Every year we hear what the F-Series ‘America’s favorite truck’ is like and that it’s at the top of sales, but we do not know how many of them were F-450s as opposed to F-250s or what kind of F-150s everyone buys.
This is, annoyingly, the standard practice in the more-is-more world of trucks. GM does the same with all Chevy Silverados, from the smallest single cabin to the largest 3500 and 6500 HDs, GM Authority noted in 2020.
Standard practice, yes. Annoying, yes. I had no good way of figuring out how the second generation Raptor, the one with the EcoBoost V6, compared to the first generation Raptor, the one with the standard V8. All I had to do was this 2013 Edmunds article that says first generation sales did well. It gave no hard figures, but only overall percentages of Raptor sales one year versus another. What I had to do was reach out to Ford.
G / O Media can get a commission
And Ford gave me something I was looking for!
Mike Levine from Ford PR responded quickly at my request for hard or soft numbers on first- and second-generation bird of prey sales:
We do not separate F-150 Raptor sales.
Second generation Raptor sold more than first.
I asked if there were percentages at hand. No dice:
No, sorry. We do not do that.
I wish I had more concrete information about Raptor sales, in terms of V6 versus V8, or in terms of how big the Raptor consists of all F-Series sales. But I do know that the V6 apparently did not hurt the Raptor.
It sounds like the upcoming Raptor R is more of a limited version of fan service than an attempt to fix an image problem for sales. Honestly, I’m glad. America earns more than people who count cylinders.