2017 Ford F-150 Raptor Will Race in Upcoming Baja 1000
Ford announced today it will run a relatively stock 2017 F-150 Raptor in the 49th running of the Baja 1000 desert race in Mexico. We say "relatively" stock because there are some safety changes that had to be made to the truck, such as installing a roll cage, a fire suppression system and a puncture-resistant fuel cell (a requirement for all competitors), and adding gobs of repair gear and one full-size spare tires to the bed, as well as a few small suspension upgrades to deal with extra weight of the truck. But beyond that, as you can see, this is a street-legal F-150 Raptor. We got a look at it during the 2016 Specialty Equipment Market Association Show running through Friday in Las Vegas.
Longtime Ford racer Greg Foutz of Foutz Motorsports will be the man behind the wheel for this flog. As in the past, Foutz Motorsports will the support team. Foutz was behind the wheel of the Raptor in 2008, the first time the half ton participated in the Baja 1000. He finished the 631-mile Class 8 competition in a little more than 25 hours, coming in third. Foutz also ran another Baja 1000 race in an all-aluminum-bodied 2015 Ford F-150 (made to look like a regular 2014 model) with the then-new 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6 as a shakedown for the durability of the redesigned 2015 Ford half ton.
Foutz is probably the only human being on the planet who can directly compare the race performance of the first-generation Raptor with this new 2017, second-gen model.
"There are two more inches of wheel travel, plus an all-new 10-speed that never has to hunt for the right gear ... the new Baja mode keeps the turbo spooled up — it's miles better than the previous off-road mode," Foutz said in a statement.
The Score Baja 1000 will run Nov. 16-20 on Mexico's Baja California peninsula. We'll have more to report following the race.
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Comments
Now that's one mean looking truck...GO FORD!!!!
Meanwhile in toy motor land they had to "... modify the rear suspension and shock locations," add bigger tires and "... extra cooling for the stock V-6 engine, six-speed transmission and steering pump." Because the toy couldn't handle 400 miles without functional upgrades.
631 mile race, so the tow truck will have to tow it 630.5 miles to the finish line.
More stock than the Taco and in a longer race! That's more like it!
From the article : installing a fire suppression , adding gobs of repair gear . Those items should be mandatory items to add to any Ford.
By the time the race is over the fire system will be empty, there won't be any spare parts left and they'll still have a few hundred miles to go.
Ford - Quality Is Job None
Is there such thing as a mobile frame bender?
How about some stories like the father and son Toyota Tundra drivers that dominated the Torq series?
THIS IS WHAT REAL PERFORMANCE TRUCKS DO.
" as well as a few small suspension upgrades to deal with extra weight of the truck"
This is a failure, just like the TRD Pro Tacoma it needs suspension upgrades to race. Probably had to remove the rear block in the rear and put an actual leaf pack back there...
Raptor > TuRD Pro
I did post a link to another website about the Raptor racing the Baja 1000 in the TuRD Pro thread, but it was deleted.. Funny that.
Can't wait to see the bent frames on the gen 2 Raptors, Fox's mid-travel made the Raptor great, Ford can't design a Truck platform handle the level of performance the Fox suspension provides.
So Ford added ~500-700 pounds (if that) in repair gear, a roll cage and a full size spare and that requires suspension modifications to handle the weight?
I thought this was a race "Truck", this sounds like a Fusion that put too many groceries in the trunk and required new rear coils to support the weight...
What was the last race the Craptor was in and the pebble sheared the head off the lower control arm bolt HAHAHA!
http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2016/05/we-desert-race-in-the-2017-ford-f-150-raptor.html
The body is aluminum the frame is steel. Don't worry about it bending in half.
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