Ford Bronco Raptor to get the Explorer ST's 3.0-liter EcoBoost?
Eric at YouTube channel RevMatchTV, via Autoevolution, believes he knows what engine is slated for the Bronco Raptor. Crediting a source inside Ford, we're told the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 shared with the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator will slip under the hood of the Bronco's hardest-core trim. This engine was developed from the 2.7-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6, upgraded with an aluminum block to go with its aluminum heads. It entered service with the reborn Lincoln Continental and has since spread throughout the SUV range, putting out 400 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque in the Explorer ST and Lincoln Aviator. When aided by electrical assistance in the Aviator Grand Touring Hybrid, the combined outputs add up to 494 hp and 630 lb-ft.
We now have three rumored engines for the Bronco lineup. The base model is said to get the 2.3-liter turbocharged EcoBoost four-cylinder found in the Bronco's platform sibling, the Ford Ranger, doing the same 270 hp and 310 lb-ft in the Bronco. Above that, months of gossip has posited a trim possibly called Bronco R being paired with the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 that makes 335 hp and 380 lb-ft in the Edge ST, the mill also doing duty in the F-150 with 325 hp and 400 lb-ft.
According to the same source speaking to RevMatchTV, part of the reason for using the 3.0-liter in the Bronco Raptor is that the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 in the F-150 Raptor won't fit into the Bronco's bay. Ford did put the 3.5-liter into its FIA-class Ranger built to compete in South Africa's Cross Country Series, but the dedicated race truck is "based on a completely new in-house design." Ford does seem to be toying around with chassis revisions, though, so who knows. In March, Car and Driver gave slim chance to Ford putting the 2.7-liter in a coming Ranger Raptor for the U.S. market because to do so "would require significant reengineering — something that's unlikely to happen." Yet reportage from Australia almost a year ago said Ford had a Ranger fitted with the TT V6 testing at the automakers You Yangs proving grounds down there. At the time, the suspicion was that the larger engine could go into a Ranger Raptor intended for U.S. consumers. And at least seven months of rumors have already put the 2.7-liter over the front axle.
We have a ways to go to find out, the Bronco Raptor not scheduled to enter the lineup until the second year of production. Until then, the RevMatchTV vid also has info from its source on the Bronco's removable roof and Sync4 system.
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