Ford has given its best-selling vehicle with a mild refresh for the 2024 model year. The F-150's face is more square, and at the back, some trim levels get the trick Pro Access Tailgate. But you don't care about that. You care about horsepower, and now we finally have the final piece of the 2024 F-150 puzzle. 720 of them, actually.
That's what you'll get under the hood of the newest Raptor R, which needs no introduction as Ford's high-speed off-road rig. It has 20 hp more than the outgoing model, and 18 hp more than the 2024 Ram TRX, which retires this year along with its 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat V8. Whether Ford's power increase is related to the Ram's departure, we have no idea. But the timing is convenient, as it ensures the TRX will not go down in history as the most powerful gas-powered pickup truck of all time.
How does Ford get the extra oomph from the Raptor's supercharged 5.2-liter V8? The official press release highlights a new engine calibration and "reduced air inlet losses," which Ford further explains as changes to the hood and body close-out panel for more airflow to the air filter. The result is the aforementioned 720 hp and a wider torque curve, though peak torque remains the same at 640 pound-feet.
Of course, the engine is a derivative of the 5.2-liter mill used in the most recent Mustang Shelby GT500, where it made 760 hp. When the V8-powered Raptor R debuted in 2022 with 700 hp, Ford said the engine was retuned with improved low-end power for better use in a truck application. The trade-off was peak output, but now it seems Ford engineers have found some middle ground.
As with other F-150s, you'll identify the 2024 Raptor R primarily by the new headlights with daytime LEDs forming a half-square around the outside edge. You won't notice anything new inside, save for a heads-up display that's optional for the first time in the F-150 family. Raptors ride on new dual-valve Fox shocks, but if a $110,000 pickup isn't your jam, less-expensive F-150s now have a standard-issue 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 making 325 hp.
