New Ford Ranger Raptor teased

The high-performance off-road flagship of the all-new Ford Ranger line-up – the 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor – will be revealed in February next year and looks set to dispense with diesel power for a force-fed petrol V6.

Confirmation of the launch date was made towards the end of the livestreamed global reveal of the new-generation Ford Ranger overnight in what was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment.

11:45 minutes into the livestream, the camera pans away from a warmly lit campsite and looks into the dark of night before a set of new-gen Ford Ranger headlights illuminate in the distance and a subtle sweeping light highlights block capital ‘FORD’ badging across the grille.

Diehard fans will instantly pick this as the signature badging of the Ranger Raptor – as seen on the outgoing model – but the plot thickens when a six-cylinder petrol engine is revved just a single time and a QR code appears above the shadowy vehicle.

Scanning the code takes us to a dedicated landing page on the Ford Australia website where we find a standalone clip of an angry six-cylinder – the same one as in the livestream – revving several times and a flickering “02.2022” graphic.

While angry, the engine has that signature muffled note resulting from the presence of turbochargers.

Outlets around the world, including carsales, have speculated for months now that a petrol V6 would find its way into the new-generation Ford Ranger portfolio.

Most likely is the twin-turbocharged 2.7-litre EcoBoost mill available in the US under the bonnet of the Ford F-150 and Bronco, the latter built using the same ‘third-generation T6’ platform as the new Ranger.

In both Stateside applications, the force-fed bent-six develops 242kW of power and 542Nm of torque – more than enough to see off any other ute in the class in terms of sheer performance, including the current 157kW/500Nm 2.0-litre biturbo diesel Raptor.

Also in contention is the bigger and electrification-friendly 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol engine powering the Ford Explorer large SUV, which is available in two states of tune: 272kW/515Nm and 300kW/563Nm.

Those outputs are elevated to 331kW/841Nm when hybrid tech is thrown into the mix.

The move could prompt Toyota to ensure its highly-anticipated next-generation Toyota GR HiLux is fitted with a version of the LandCruiser 300 Series’ force-fed 3.5-litre biturbo V6 (305kW/650Nm) petrol engine offered overseas, let alone the 3.3-litre twin-turbo diesel.

Given the new Ranger isn’t due to launch in Australia until mid-2022, the new Raptor isn’t expected to arrive until later next year.