Ford F-150: SVT Raptor Project In the Flesh

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UPDATED 11/4/08!

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THE RAPTOR IS HERE

LLN.com
Ford has now moved into its final, confirmation prototype stage on the next-generation F-150, as a slew of production-finished trucks have hit the streets.

The F-150 program appears to be going at full-throttle, as spies spotted three distinct prototypes on the move — standard short-cab, extended-cab, and four-door crew-cab — all roamed the streets of Detroit. It seems likely that Ford engineers are doing their best to avoid a slow, staggered roll-out of the various F-series cab configurations.

The latest prototypes are, not surprisingly, covered in thick camouflage which hides many of the most telling details. Our close-up shot of the tail-light reveals two or three inches of foam padding along the bed rail, giving the false impression of an unusually tall, deep bed. Additional foam inserts are strategically placed around the truck, to obfuscate the varied sheetmetal turns. We managed a close-up front-end photo that manages to cut through the camo a bit, revealing a large three-bar grille, which likely gives us at least an approximation of the the next F-150's face. The headlights appear to have avoided the tall, stacked treatment found on the new Super Duty pickups, in favor of something more familiar to the F-150 faithful.

Ford engineers were careful to keep the interiors obscured with custom-crafted dash covers, so our interior shots are not all-revealing. However, this first look inside the next F-150 reveals a generous center armrest with ample storage, four visible cup-holders, and what appears to be pleasant interior materials. The current F-series interior was a real breakthrough in design and quality, so this new design appears to be more of an evolutionary change.

Ford is obviously eager to get these pickups to market, to battle the new Toyota Tundra and the redesigned trucks from GM. Just how quick they can be in showrooms is the big question. We wouldn't be surprised to see these pickups take an official bow at Detroit's North American International Auto show, next January.

ImageShack is being difficult today, so please check out the images here...

Preview:

spied-2009-ford-f-150.jpg
 
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Looks cool from what I can tell. 👍 That thing looks pretty big though. As in, bigger than the current F150.

Speaking of big, have any of you seen the new F450 on the road? That thing is huuuuuge.
 
The F-150 is a Full Sized pickup. The Super Duty is XXXXXXXXXL-Sized. And thats for the F-250.

The F -450 is XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLXXXXXXXXXXXLLLLLL-Sized. :dopey:

EDIT:
Long Truck is looooooooooooooooooooooong.
 
Stop making the side panels on the bed so damn tall! Stop it already! Stop!
 
Looks pretty similar to the current one. I notice the shift lever has returned to its rightful place on the steering column.
 
Is the current F150 available only with a console shifter? There's no bench seat option right now?
 
The F-150 is a Full Sized pickup. The Super Duty is XXXXXXXXXL-Sized. And thats for the F-250.

The F -450 is XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLXXXXXXXXXXXLLLLLL-Sized. :dopey:

EDIT:
Long Truck is looooooooooooooooooooooong.

And the 650/750 is even LLLLLLLLAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR

Looks pretty similar to the current one. I notice the shift lever has returned to its rightful place on the steering column.

The XL and STX with some XLT models will still have the column shifter along with the bench seat. The more trimmed out models Lariat+King Ranch+Harley will still have the center console shifter along with bucket seats...which I prefer ten fold.

Is the current F150 available only with a console shifter? There's no bench seat option right now?

*see above

The XL will always be the stripped out model with a bench seat and a column shifter. And manual windows/door locks, and pretty much no modern conviences...because it is a fleet vehicle--aka work truck.

I don't know if I'm going to like the larger sidewalls of the bed and the hideous Ford chrome grille thing. IMO the current F150 Lariat/King Ranch/Harley looks about as good as it gets for a Ford pickup.
 
Stop making the side panels on the bed so damn tall! Stop it already! Stop!

Sarcasm, right? :lol:

LLN
Our close-up shot of the tail-light reveals two or three inches of foam padding along the bed rail, giving the false impression of an unusually tall, deep bed.
 
I like how they taped the ford logo on the steering wheel. :lol: I like the current F150 and I like how Ford kept the general shape of the current one and transfered it to the new one. I wanna see pics of it without the camo.
 
I'm sure they're going to try and make it look 'tough' by comparison to the Chevrolet and Toyota benchmarks, probably doing something fancy with the current 'Red White and Bold' design themes...

Quite frankly, the truck is halfway decent in its current form, the big problem is that it doesn't have a V8 range thats worth a damn, much less a transmission lineup that helps the low-power engines any better...
 
Agreed. The power rating they put in the F150 isn't high. But, it still is a very capable truck. It's doing more with less it seems.
 
The F-150 is a Full Sized pickup. The Super Duty is XXXXXXXXXL-Sized. And thats for the F-250.

The F -450 is XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLXXXXXXXXXXXLLLLLL-Sized. :dopey:

EDIT:
Long Truck is looooooooooooooooooooooong.

^ I understand, these trucks are pointless on city and suburban streets. I've seen 4 already here in Vegas. These trucks should only be sold on farmlands, tornado alley, etc. :indiff:

f450front.jpg


BT-> I might say that the facelifted F-150 is neat, but I hope it won't be as ugly as the pic above.

(:
 
Quite frankly, I love the new Super Duty. Its so damn big, you just have to give it a hug...

When I looked at one at the Chicago Auto Show back in February, the size of the thing was astonishing. Then I looked at the window sticker (more than $60,000), and I almost fell-over...

The funny thing was, the Ford booth was next-door to the Toyota booth, and they had a moment or two of stare-downs between the new Tundra and the Super Duty.

...I think we know who wins that fight...
 
You all know what Ford stands for... Fix Or Repair Daily / Found On Road Dead

:lol:... Ford... :lol:

You'd have to be half :dunce: to get a Ford over a GM pickup.
 
the nose from the heavy duty Ford trucks is going to be transplanted onto the E-series as well, it literally looks like a large pig
 
You'd have to be half :dunce: to get a Ford over a GM pickup.

You wouldn't expect anything less from me, but my liking of the GMT900s notwithstanding, the Ford Super Duty line is a damn-good one. They're the only ones in the business who design their HD trucks independently from the 'standard' pickups, which is why they are some of the toughest in the business.

...Yes, I'll take my Silverado 3500 HD with the Duramax anyday, but the F350 is second best only to the Chevy simply because its a Ford...
 
You all know what Ford stands for... Fix Or Repair Daily / Found On Road Dead

:lol:... Ford... :lol:

You'd have to be half :dunce: to get a Ford over a GM pickup.

Are you 8 yearsold or something? Not only did you come in here and post absolutely NOTHING intelligent you just came in here to act like a juvenile. I put Ford and GM on the same reliability plane--its Chrysler who has the build quality problem (or maybe they used to before Merc merged with them). I've owned 4 Fords, 2 GMs, and 4 Nissans--the best cars were Nissans followed by my Focus and Camaro. So you see it really is just your personal preference. I've known just as many Ford loyalists who've never had a problem as I've known GM loyalists who've also never had a problem. I'm sure there are Chrysler loyalists--but frankly I don't care. :sly: Instead of just acting like a child and posting an acronym that you learned when you were 8 yearsold why you don't post some intelligent arguements WHY you think the GM is better. And keep in mind I said intelligent arguements, not "because Ford sucks and is ugly and I don't like it" kind of drivel. Take a cue from YSSMAN, he prefers GM products and when he argues their case he presents the arguemnts in an intelligent fashion. I along with the rest of the forum respect that.

Maybe we'll see a bigger/better V8 in this new truck?

I wait with bated breath.

An iron block version of the 6.2L Hurricane would do very nicely in the new F150. I wouldn't be surprised if Ford bored out the 5.4L to 5.7L or 5.8L to lazily juice out more power. Probably would be cheaper to just drop a small turbo or supercharger on the current lineup than to re-engineer a new engine block/heads etc. I'd pay a $2500 price increase for some forced induction--even if it was only 6lbs worth. Should at least be good for 75-80bhp and 100lb.ft. of torque.

On the subject of the 2009 F150--I guess that means one more good year of the current model as 2008? Hopefully they'll squeeze out some more power and drop the supercharger back into the Harley Davidson F150.
 
I'm in agreement that the big thing holding back the F150 is the lack of power. With all of the competition now above 340 BHP, not to mention lighter altogether, Ford needs to come up with something to better-match at the very least, the Dodge Ram with the HEMI.

However, I think the big problem is that they don't really have a V8 program that can make power and have decent fuel efficiency, much less a program that can match up to the right kind of transmission in the pickup line. Granted of course, Ford may surprise us... I know their redux of the Duratec, bumping it up to 3.5L and kicking-out some good BHP figures was a surprise to me... But the transmission isn't, particularly when it is a GM/Ford design...

I'm in the camp that hopes to finally see the 'Hurricane' make its debut in the new F150, God knows it needs it, but it all comes down to what Ford had done with the program. It was well-publicized that they had completely canceled it, and then it turns up as a crate engine, and then we hear that it was coming back... Either way, Ford needs a cheap, high-power, V8 to meet the competition. Quite frankly, I could care less if it is DOHC or OHV, as long as it makes at least 340-360 BHP and can be matched to a strong 5-speed, or better-yet a 6-speed transmission, they should be up for a good fight...

That is, if they can get into the current battle between the USS Missouri (Silverado) and the Yamato (Tundra)...

(I love WWII metaphors!)
 
Quite frankly, I could care less if it is DOHC or OHV, as long as it makes at least 340-360 BHP

Agreed 100%. The next generation F150 needs to have a minimum of 350bhp with some strong 385+ torque figures. It would be very interesting to see Ford stuff the Hurricane in the next F150...at least the power numbers would be there. Fuel economy on the other hand...not so much. Unless they get a 6spd autobox with some seriously tall 4th-6th gears. 👍
 
...This should hold us over:

Autoblog: 2007 F-150 Harley Davidson With 450 BHP!
Ford's co-branding effort with Harley-Davison has been successful enough to stick around this long, as the Blue Oval has just introduced the 2007 model. Based on the F-150 SuperCrew 4x2 configuration, the new Harley-Davison special differentiates itself from last year's model in one area in particular: power. Last year's model ran with the standard 5.4L Triton V8 churning out 300 horsepower and 365 ft-lbs. of torque. The 2007 model, however, adds a supercharger from SALEEN, the same one used on the Shelby GT500, to increase the Triton's bottom line to 450 hp and 500 ft-lbs. of torque. It appears that the option for all-wheel drive that was touted so heavily on the 2006 model has been sacrificed at the alter of more power, as well.

The decision to add the supercharger appears to have been influenced by the F-150 FX2 Sport Extreme concept that debuted last November at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. That concept also had a supercharged 5.4L Triton V8 producing the same numbers as the 2007 F-150 Harley-Davison. The SEMA concept looked fierce wearing a set of GT500 wheels, though the 2007 Harley-Davison rolls on a set of substantial 22-inch chrome wheels with five split-spokes.

We like the Harley-Davison's new grille sporting six thin bars cast in chrome, and owners will have a choice of dressing their truck in either ebony black or dark amethyst. Badging has been kept to a minimum with the requisite Harley-Davison emblem on the front fenders, and "Harley Davison" written in 3D chrome letters along the bedsides. The exterior is rather unadorned and minimalist, almost stealth. There's no need to advertise you're driving a truck with 450 horses underhood until someone wants to find out for themselves at a stoplight.

Those interested in adding this ninth iteration of the F-150 Harley-Davison to their collection will face a base price of $37,210, which includes a $925 destination charge. Follow the jump to read Ford's full press-release, and check out the truck from every angle in our high-res gallery.

UPDATE: We should've pointed out that the supercharger and intercooler that gets your F-150 Harley-Davison to 450 horsepower is a $6,500 option.

[Source: Ford]







...Thats one nice looking truck. Now that its got the power, it should pick-up (ha ha) a few more buyers, as the price seems fairly reasonable with the warranty.

Now if we can just talk GM into building that Silverado SS with the L92 and the six-speed...
 
Good god finally. I really like the looks of the Harley Davidson and I've been saying all along that Ford needs to bring back the supercharged drivetrain. Now my prayers are answered.
 
The F-150 is a Full Sized pickup. The Super Duty is XXXXXXXXXL-Sized. And thats for the F-250.

The F -450 is XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLXXXXXXXXXXXLLLLLL-Sized. :dopey:

EDIT:
Long Truck is looooooooooooooooooooooong.

Haha, I saw a lifted F-450 driving in the opposite direction while I was driving on a two lane road and all I was thinking was that he didn't decide to drift to my side of the road head-on. :scared:
 
hm. 450 HP. Still down on the SRT-10 Ram, but not bad at all, out does the Silverado SS...or would, if that truck was still in production.

It does raise eyebrows that the Harley name must be plastered onto this truck, though. No-one would be angry if this was called "Shelby Lightning," But perhaps this is a sign Ford has something else in mind.....
 
I dunno. The fast-truck idea is pretty much dead in North America, I think. I mean, I'm certain that they'll all build a few thousand special edition models a year, but I don't think we'll be seeing stuff like the Ram SRT-10 or Lightning again.

...Chances are they will be more reserved, and more purposeful like the old Silverado SS. At least with the Harley, it looks nice, performs well, and certainly can still function as a truck. If GM gives the reported Silverado SS a go-ahead (probably an LT or LTZ Silverado with the L92 403 BHP V8, optional AWD, six-speed auto)... Ford may consider something similar for the F-150. Of course, that largely depends on what kind of engine program the '09 will have...

BTW: The SRT-10 isn't the fastest truck anymore. I believe the HSV Maloo took it down a few weeks back, probably ran up to 160 MPH...
 
THe HSV Maloo Isn't a truck. It's a Ute. A car with a bed...

Gah! look at what you did! that's a Knee-jerk reaction now...
 
...Another Harley Davidson F-series truck and might I say it looks very refined, another very good looking rocket-ute indeed. If only you could pick up a new F-150 here in Aus for that price. Heck, a brand new one would cost in the vicinity of $125,000+... not worth it when the bigger, longer previous-gen F-250 with a strong, reliable turbo-charged diesel engine sets you back only 60kAU. But for some I guess it's the American dream; a 5-second Saleen-supercharged ute (truck).
 
It's maybe just me being European but i've never understood what either Ford or Harley-Davison could ever get out of this co-branding of the F-150???

I mean it's like having a Ford Transit 'Triumph Bonneville' - ie totally nonsensicle :boggled:
 
I'd rather take the Saleen F150....

But seriously, why it is every year, every Harley Davidson word or symble gets bigger and bigger and bigger?
 
I mean it's like having a Ford Transit 'Triumph Bonneville' - ie totally nonsensicle :boggled:
Because the transit can never look cool. It can be cool, but no matter what you do no-one is ever going to say "that's a good looking transit".


(Not even the Super-vans)
 
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