Ford Bronco Raptor happening but V8 ruled-out

Six-cylinders will be the most for the Bronco but the forthcoming Raptor could produce as much as 298 kW if rumours are indeed true.

The 2.7 EcoBoost V6 is poised to remain the flagship engine option, for now, of the new Ford Bronco following a report that a V8 won’t become available anytime soon.

With production only expected to commence next year and orders allegedly totalling some 230 000 units, Muscle Cars and Trucks claims that emissions regulations have thrown the Blue Oval off from installing the rumoured 5.0 Coyote V8 from the Mustang underneath the Bronco’s bonnet. It therefore means that the revived newcomer will be first generation not to feature a bent-eight even as an option.

“We have to manage the CO² implications of the product. The way the federal requirements are now it’s all shadow area (footprint) based. If you look at the shadow area of a small off-road vehicle, it has a pretty high target from a government perspective in terms of CO2,” Bronco Chief Engineer Eric Loefller said.

He also stated that the majority of Bronco buyers favour power, torque, fuel consumption and towing capability above cylinder count and that the V6, which offers up 230kW/542Nm, provides ideally on all of the mentioned fronts.

“If the customer experience was significantly enhanced with a Coyote engine, it would have been under serious consideration. In all honesty, that EcoBoost motor is damn good and when you get out of it you don’t say, ‘I wish I had a bigger engine,” Dearborn’s Global Program Manager, Jeff Seaman was quoted by the publication as saying.

The 2.7-litre mill won’t however be the most powerful as the spying of the much speculated Bronco Raptor towards the end of last week, stirred-up claims of it coming equipped with the 298 kW twin-turbocharged 3.0 EcoBoost V6 from the Explorer ST. According to motor1.com, the Raptor is only expected to bow in 2023 despite the commencing of pre-production testing.

As previously indicated though, the Bronco, despite riding on the same T6 platform as the locally built Ranger and Everest, and rumoured to be heading to Australia with right-hand-drive, won’t, for now, be coming to South Africa.