Tested: 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R Brings the V-8 Fury

The day began with weather to scare Gordon Lightfoot, when the gales of November came early at Michigan's Silver Lake Dunes. Eventually, the rain abated, but the towering dunes were so thoroughly soaked that there was almost too much traction. Not too much for the guy in the rental Buick Encore, we guess, but enough to make even the steepest of dunes but a minor inconvenience to the 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R. When you've got 700 horsepower and 37-inch beadlocked tires, wet sand may as well be a foot-thick lane of interstate slab.

The Raptor R is the long-awaited but maybe not inevitable zenith of the Raptor brand. In a world with no Ram TRX, would Ford drop a Shelby GT500 engine in a Raptor? Science tells us that the mere act of observation influences outcomes, and we have to think Ford observed Ram selling all the $90,000-ish trucks it could build and said, "You know, maybe we should do that." And while Ram won't say how many TRXs it has sold, the Stellantis trophy truck had a healthy head start on the Raptor R—we're closing in on 40,000 miles in our long-term TRX.

So it's a little bit curious, given the obviousness of the Raptor R's competition, that Ford didn't go for horsepower bragging rights. With the TRX making 702 horsepower, why not give the Raptor R 703? That would have been hilarious, and probably something Ram might do. Instead, Ford arrived at an even 700 horsepower at 6650 rpm, and its powertrain engineers make complete sense when they say that you can't tell the difference between 700 horsepower and a little more than 700 horsepower. But trucks like this aren't about making sense, unless you commute to Mike's Sky Ranch in Baja. They're about big numbers and loud noises and taking dirt that was over here and throwing it way over there, and then doing some sweet jumps. The Raptor R is spectacularly well equipped to handle all of that, even without horsepower bragging rights.

For Raptor duty, Ford's supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 gets a truck tune that fattens up the torque curve, delivering 640 lb-ft at 4250 rpm. The blown 5.2 gulps air so ferociously that Ford had to reinforce the Raptor's intake ductwork because the EcoBoost-spec plumbing was distorting under heavy throttle. A new supercharger pulley gets the boost ramped up sooner, all the better for spinning those four 37-inch BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO2 tires. Because the V-8 adds 100 pounds to the front end, spring rates are increased, and there are some beefier frame brackets, but the suspension mostly carries over. The base Raptor, with its 450-hp twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6, is available with either 35-inch tires or 37s, but the Raptor R gets only the 37s. That costs it an inch of front suspension travel but delivers 13.1 inches of ground clearance and, Ford admits, just helps it look awesome. The 35s are rational, but the 37s say it's “Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!” And even though your ticket buys the whole seat, you'll only need the edge.

The Raptor R, like its EcoBoost counterpart, is gloriously adaptable to whatever terrain you care to assault. The transfer case offers rear drive, auto four-wheel drive, high-range four-wheel drive (physically locked front to rear), and low-range four-wheel drive. You can also manually lock the rear differential, though not in two-wheel drive. The steering effort, Fox Live Valve dampers, and exhaust sound all are independently adjustable via steering-wheel buttons, which include an R button for your favorite preset modes. And there are drive modes galore to tailor responses for the situation at hand. Baja is our favorite. Wandering into Tow/Haul mode occasions a shock of recognition—oh yeah, this is a truck, a useful thing that can tow and/or haul! It's not just for sending the Raptor R into low orbit off Silver Lake Dunes, although it's mighty good at that too. But so is an EcoBoost Raptor.