Ford will win the battle of supertrucks in 2024, just as Ram is bowing out. Ford has announced a power…
Ford will win the battle of supertrucks in 2024, just as Ram is bowing out.
Ford has announced a power bump for the 2024 version of its F-150 Raptor R. Thanks to an updated 5.2-liter supercharged V8, the Raptor R will put out 720 horsepower next year.
The move comes shortly after Ram announced that 2024 will be the last year for its mighty 702-hp TRX. The Ram 1500 is in for a major update for 2025, and the changes include dropping the V8-powered supertruck from the lineup.
The Raptor is 14 years old this year, but it made a big move last year. Ford engineers had always focused on upgrading the F-150’s suspension to build the Raptor. Its incredible suspension travel allows it to take bumps and bruises faster than most off-road trucks.
But Ram upped the ante with the TRX, adding muscle-car power to a pickup. Ford answered when it stuffed the heart of a Shelby Mustang — that 5.2-liter V8 — into the Raptor R. But the 2023 version of the truck still took silver in the horsepower wars with 700. For 2024, engineers found another 20.
That makes the 2024 Raptor R “the most powerful and capable high-performance off-road full-size truck to ever run in the sand and beyond,” Ford says. With 720 hp, that’s not a ridiculous claim. But Ford may have just won the fight as it was losing steam.
Ram will pull the TRX off the market in 2025, replacing it with a slightly more modest (and presumably more affordable) Ram RHO with a twin-turbo 6-cylinder engine putting out 540 hp.
The muscle truck race mirrors what is happening in the muscle car race. Ram’s sister company, Dodge, will retire the Challenger at the end of 2023, replacing it with an electric muscle car. Meanwhile, Ford is still churning out V8-powered Mustangs.