The 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R is the most potent Raptor ever, fulfilling a promise made when the third-gen Raptor was introduced in February 2021. True, the new EcoBoost V6 Raptor is no slowpoke with 450 horsepower and 510 lb-ft. of torque, but the monster truck landscape is home to a new breed of animal, the Ram 1500 TRX.

We?re first to admit that the TRX has overshadowed the still-capable V6-powered second and third-gen Ford F-150 Raptor, but all of that is about to change with the Raptor R.

?Raptor R is our ultimate Raptor,? said Carl Widmann, Chief Engineer of Ford Performance. ?When customers experience Raptor R in the desert and beyond, it will make the hairs on the back of their necks stand up ? and they?ll love every second of it.?
Predator V8 Reporting For Duty

We never seriously thought Ford would let the Ram TRX run circles around the Raptor. You see, the R badge has a lineage in the Raptor DNA. The first Raptor to wear the R badge was the first-gen F-150 SVT R, the race-ready version of a standard Raptor built exclusively for the Baja 1000, so you can bet the house Ford is going all out with the all-new Raptor R.

Under the hood is the same 5.2-liter supercharged V8 from the Mustang Shelby GT500, the big daddy of blue oval muscle cars. Affectionately called ?Predator? by Ford, it?s the most powerful engine in the automaker?s long and illustrious history, pumping out 760 horsepower and 625 lb-ft. of torque in the Shelby GT500.

With the 2023 Ford...