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Ford has made no secret of the actual fact the Ranger Raptor ute has been impressed by the world of Baja off-road racing.
Now, a model of the Raptor, modified for racing by Kelly Racing in Melbourne and Lovell Racing within the USA, will tackle the Baja 1000 desert race on the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico between November 15 and 20, 2022.
It’ll be powered by a “low-carbon” biofuel developed by Shell, which is a mixture of ethanol and a product derived from vegetable oils and different natural waste, dubbed bio-naphtha.
Given it’ll be competing within the inventory class of the 1000, adjustments to the Raptor relative to what you should purchase out of your native Ford seller are restricted.
Exterior adjustments are restricted to a bull bar and an LED mild bar, together with a harder-core bash plate, up entrance. The wheels are OZ racing items, and the right-hand aspect of the physique is now house to a snorkel.
Down again, the tray homes yet one more LED mild bar, together with spare wheels. With rocks, ruts, and even booby traps littering the desert, it’s not unusual for rivals to be altering wheels in the course of phases, so having loads of spares up your sleeve is vital.
Underneath the pores and skin, the Baja-bound Raptor seems to trip on the manufacturing automotive’s Fox Racing suspension.
At launch, Ford mentioned the body within the Raptor had been so closely strengthened relative to the common automotive (and its predecessor) it was virtually a singular platform.
Together with house owners pushing laborious on again roads, and the occasional punter eager to leap their automotive, clearly a few of that reinforcement was aimed toward readying the Raptor for the desert.
The suspension includes aluminium higher and decrease management arms, long-travel entrance and rear springs, and a refined Watt’s linkage geared up coils on the rear.
There are additionally 2.5-inch Fox Reside Valve position-sensitive dampers linked to the drive modes. These shocks – billed as “essentially the most subtle ever on Ranger Raptor” – are full of Teflon-infused oil to chop friction by a claimed 50 per cent.
They provide most damping power within the final 25 per cent of shock journey to guard towards extreme backside outs, similar to on touchdown. Ford provides the system also can stiffen the rear dampers to forestall the Raptor from squatting underneath laborious acceleration.
Energy within the road-going Raptor comes from a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6 making 292kW and 583Nm, despatched to all 4 wheels by means of a full-time four-wheel drive system.
We’d wager the drivers will probably be operating in Baja Mode, which primes the engine’s anti-lag system, provides weight to the steering, loosens off the digital driver aids, and lets the exhaust sing from the highest of its lungs.
Ford has kind with its manufacturing vehicles on the Baja 1000; the F-150 Raptor and Bronco have run and accomplished the race earlier than.
MORE: Ford Ranger Raptor – Every little thing it is advisable to know
MORE: 2023 Ford Ranger Raptor overview
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