Ford SA adds to the Raptor’s brawn repertoire

It didn’t take Ford South Africa all that long to give its Ranger Raptor the Special Edition treatment following the Raptor’s first-ever launch in SA.

The new Ford Ranger Raptor Special Edition is scheduled to go on sale in Mzansi in the fourth quarter of the year and will only be available in limited numbers. 

The exterior of the Special Edition Ranger Raptor features several functional and styling enhancements such as red accents, a sports hoop as well as a lockable black roller shutter.

The new Ford Ranger Raptor Special Edition can be had with a choice of bold Sea Grey, Frozen White, Blue Lightning and Agate Black paint finishes. It features twin matte black racing stripes that are edged with red contrast lines on the bonnet, roof, lower body sides, rear wings and tailgate. 

The front two hooks are painted in red while the wheel arches, front and back bumpers, including the door handles and Ford logos, are finished in matte black. New in the  Raptor is the Wildtrak-sourced integrated black sports hoop. 

The interior features red stitching on the steering wheel, instrument panel and door cards. There are standard high-grain leather seats and a Special Edition-only Raceway Grey instrument panel.

As just a cosmetic tweak, the standard car’s 2.0-litre Bi-Turbo diesel engine soldiers on with 157 kW of power and 500 Nm of torque. The transmission is offered in a 10-speed automatic gearbox with Terrain Management System. 

Like the standard car, the Ranger Raptor Special Edition features Ford Performance chassis and yet the track and ride height have been increased by 150 mm and 51 mm respectively. Other suspension bits include aluminium double wishbones at the front and a multi-link rear architecture. There are specially-developed FOX shock-absorbers with Position Sensitive Damping.

The Ford Ranger Raptor Special Edition runs on General Grabber AT3 all-terrain tyres. 

Pricing for the Ranger Raptor Special Edition will be announced closer to its local launch.