I hear ya and I was a Ford guy forever, but it's not just some it's a lot of the parts of the truck. They are outsourced and assembled state side.

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The cab, mid section of the frame, hood, and bed was the only original parts left. He built the suspension himself to achieve what he wanted out of the truck. Fenders were designed and built by a coworker of his. He works in GM’s design and engineering lab

That’s impressive, and would be a lot of fun to play with. It’s also a very big outlier to normal people’s ability

I have a 2018 Raptor...it's a fun truck. It's a high output 3.5L Ecoboost. 450 HP vs. 375 in the standard trucks. It is insanely fast and strong. They advertise 0-60 in 5.3 seconds and I've come really close to that time playing around with it.

There is a replacement for displacement...it's called boost.

I tow my Mule Pro behind it on a tandem trailer. Probably about 4K all in. Not an issue in the slightest. That engine is STRONG and the suspension is fine with that load.

I got mine for $1500 under MSRP. My buddy is a big wig at the dealership, they normally sell them for $5K over. You can find them for MSRP if you look around a little though.

Everything I'm reading is that there is no V8 option coming back in the near future.

I hope that's not the case....the only thing holding me back is 3.5L V6. I'll probably impulsively buy one if they offer the V8 and regret it a month later. I'm sure the 3.5 turbo makes alot of power but it still puts a uneasy feeling in the back of my mind about how hard that little motor is working to make that kind of power especially today with all the pollution components that restrict the natural raw horsepower.

This V6 makes more power than any V8 from the factory in any truck out there. The Ecoboost has been around a while now and it's proven to be reliable. You can get a 100k mile warranty for a little over a grand if you're uneasy about it all. Ford Performance is even offering tunes to take the power up more and since it's from Ford, won't impact the warranty. Ford obviously has confidence in these motors. Hell, the Europeans have been putting crazy power through V6's in their cars for a while now. It works.

Lots of people don’t want a V6 in their pickups. I REALLY don’t care what they put in their cars in Europe, I live in Texas and all four pickups I have are V8’s.

I know more than one person with an eco boost and the conversation is always the same..... it includes “buts” or “just as good” or “better than”.

No thanks, for the first time in my life Ford does not build a pickup or SUV that I think looks nice.

Again.... no thank you.

People get too hung up on the v8 to me. Cummins 5.9 and 6.7 have been some of the longest lived most successful motors I know of and they are 6 cylinders. One of my coworkers always bragged about the v-8 power of his cummins... I think he was disappointed when I told him it only had 6 cylinders lol.

Personally think all the heat ecoboosts catch is from people who just don't know enough, are sticks in the mud, or possibly had an early bad experience with them. Ford has a huge portion of the market share and their number one selling engine is an ecoboost. If I was buying a new non diesel truck it would be an ecoboost without competition.

So you would buy one practically on a whim, but just cant because you don't trust the v6? It has a warranty for a reason. Buy one give it hell and get rid of it if it doesn't measure up.

Sir. The 6.7 Power Stroke is a V8

Yes, but cummins 6.7 is an inline 6.

I think you're right. I had a similar opinion (albeit not as strong as some on here) that I had to have a V8. Driving the standard version of the ecoboost and then this HO version changed my mind quickly. It's just flat out a stronger engine, there is no way around it. It just flat outperforms the V8 version and the V8's of the competition. It outperforms the 6.2L V8 of the Gen 1 Raptor. As to the longevity of the engine, I don't know yet, but in my research, I didn't find anything to steer me away from it.

All that said, there is no "eco" in the ecoboost. She loves gas. No worse than a V8, but no better for sure. If I have one complaint about the engine, it's that it lacks that V8 sound. Sounds really good for a 6, but still not as good as an 8.

You can program the auto-stop to never come on. Tell your friend to look up "Forscan". Lots of cool programming you can do all for about $20.

I've been working overseas for almost 10yrs, I know about euro cars/trucks and the reason they call a V6 big is because there using mini-trucks nothing bigger than a ranger. Fact of the matter is a V8 with the fuel delivery and turbo system similar to the 3.5L would be more American and as a American I want a big azz V8 with some mods. Diesel and gas motors are two different animals, a cummins 5.9L-6.7L redlines at 3000-3500RPMs a gas motor redlines much higher depending on the motor so you can't compare the cummins straight 6 to gas 3.5L. Inline motors naturally make more torque than 60deg motors. It's so much more justifiable to drop $70K on a truck with a bad azz V8 than a little 3.5L V6.

Twin turbo V8 would be great but I don't see it coming. Putting twin turbos on the 3.5 cuts the economy by 40-50%. You do that to the 5.0L and you're talking 8-9 MPG range... I would bet you'll see more enhancements to the 3.5L ecoboost long before you see them convert a V8. They are getting 700+HP out of them with good reliability in some applications, so there is a lot of upside still left in the engine.

In the meantime, I'll line that little 3.5L V6 up against any bad azz stock V8 out there (and most that aren't stock), loaded or unloaded, and I'll get to the finish line first every time.

You and I have two different philosophies. 700hp out a 3.5L, you won't line to many times before you blow something up with that kind of HP.

I have the Gen1 (2012) Raptor it is a beast of a truck, but my father in law has a Gen2 (2018) Raptor and his is just simply faster and stronger than my Gen1. Although mine sounds way better his will obviously out run mine. He gets about 2 MPG better than me. His is crammed pack full of technology too.

I went to the Raptor from a 2012 FX with the ecoboost. I think I got one of the early ones and had a bad experience. I had problems with my intercooler and the highway stutter. Think they've fixed all those problems in the new eco. His will flat out get it and there is not stutter and barely any turbo lag.

700HP on a 3.5L isn't really that hard on the engine, import guys do it all the time.

Lots of weird, some wrong and some good information and opinions in this thread!! hahaha

Well, I looked at the 17 Raptors when they first came out and even build one on an order sheet to get the price. The dealer i went to told me that on top of that they are charging 10k... I laughed a them and said i didn't need one that bad to pay the dealer an extra 10K for doing nothing. There are several dealerships out there that will sell for sticker and even some that sell for less. Just gotta find them in your area. There are also used ones starting to hit the lots.

I ended up with finding a good used 2013 Raptor with very low miles and went that route. I love it and don't regret it one bit. I traded my 05 F-250 with 5.5" lift and 37's and several performance modifications with almost 200,000 miles on it. As for towing, doesn't bother me as most people who say they won't get one cause it doesn't tow much, still don't tow much anyways so what it matter. I can still pull my Jeep and side by side with the Raptor and honestly that's all i need to tow with it. Anything more and i'll grab the dually which in the 1.5yrs of owning the raptor, hasn't been needed.

The Gen 1 and Gen 2 Raptors are two different animals. Both fully functional offroad, but the Gen 2's have the advantage of having the latest technology. It's all in what you want in a truck. Same as a 2013 ecoboost vs the 2018 ecoboost, technology advancements will always be present.

All those saying the Raptor doesn't tow much... well, that's cause it wasn't built to tow much.... just like the lightning wasn't designed as a tow vehicle like the other F-150's, the Raptor wasn't either, but i will still tow more than enough for those that buy them. most (not all) people won't come close to towing capacity on their normal version of the truck.

I've always said the same about the auto start/stop stuff.

As for your power wagon out pulling a 600 hp Raptor... . well, your Power wagon is made for pulling... my old F250 with about 1200ft/lbs would out pull your power wagon while pulling a Raptor... two different animals and not a good comparison....

You don't buy a Raptor cause you want to pull heavy stuff.

While i agree on the whole v6 vs v8 thing, comparing ANY V6 to a Cummins in line 6 cylinder is just dumb. Different cylinder, different cylinder sizes, different displacement, different fuel, different combustion system, it's a TOTALLY different engine. Hell, the little 4bt's diesels out there that are 4 cyl can out perform a V8 gas.

dealers get over MSRP on Raptors and Toyota Pros because Fools with too much money will pay it. Toyota dealer offered me a Tundra Pro at sticker and I told him to pound sand. He said "your loss" and I said no yours because I will buy a truck but it wont be from you.

Tundras have a higher Made in USA content than both and are made in San Antnio.

As a 2013 SVT Raptor owner I'd like to say this.
I love my Truck but something about a high tech V6 in a Raptor don't sit well with me but the rumors about a V8 even bigger than the 6.2 sounds interesting.
And ya, one dose not buy a Raptor to haul yachts or heavy equipment.
The Raptor has excellent street manners and handles well and to my amazement, the faster it is driven off road the smother the ride becomes.
They are fantastic American Trucks. It's only disappointing that they are no longer SVT's

In a non-union shop.

SVT changed it's name to Ford Performance...same thing. You only see the Ford Performance name on a small handful of vehicles, just like SVT.