Leaked Image Suggests 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R Gets 5.2L V-8

Ford confirmed early last year that the Ford F-150 Raptor R will be powered by a street-legal V-8. That’s great news for enthusiasts who yearn for the deep rumble of a V-8 instead of the wheeze of a V-6, even a high horsepower V-6 with stats akin to a V-8. However, Ford isn’t participating in the conversation surrounding which V-8 its rad off-road truck will get, telling us more details will be coming later this year.

About a year ago, we speculated that the Ford F-150 Raptor R would get a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 Predator. In the the Mustang Shelby GT500, this aluminum DOHC 32-valve Predator engine produces 760 hp and 625 lb-ft of torque. This would beat the output of the Ram 1500 TRX’s pushrod 16-valve supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 “Hellcat” number of 702 hp, but fall short of its 650 lb-ft of torque. However, since the 5.2-liter applied to the Raptor R would be tuned differently, we don’t know what the numbers would be—although it’s likely the TRX would “win” when it comes to peak output figures on paper, as rumors indicate Ford’s development trucks with the 5.2-liter had issues above 650 hp.

And now, a recent internet leak aligns with our 5.2-liter theory. A picture posted on theraptorconnection’s Instagram page supposedly shows a build sheet for a 2023 Raptor (VIN 00008) on an assembly line at the Dearborn Truck Plant, with the door in the background aligning with that of an F-150. We see unit, rotation, and blend numbers, but what really stands out is that 5.2-liter is listed on the sheet. Is this just fake news, or is this confirmation that the 2023 Raptor is getting the Mustang’s blown 5.2-liter V-8? We noticed people joking that it’s a twin-turbo 5.2-liter EcoBoost V-6 in the comments—totally not true, but very funny.

The third-gen 2022 Ford F-150 Raptor currently has a 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6 that puts out 450 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque, falling significantly short of its arch nemesis, the Ram TRX. This is a high-output version of the standard F-150’s EcoBoost V-6 rated at 400 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque; there’s also a hybrid iteration rated at 430 hp and 570 lb-ft of torque. Ford still has a naturally aspirated 400 hp, 410 lb-ft of torque 5.0-liter V-8 in its F-150 stall.

The first-gen Raptor had either a 5.4-liter V-8 or a 6.2-liter V-8. All of these V-8s won’t be candidates for the Raptor R, although a blown 5.0-liter might work just fine. The internet never lies though, right, so we are officially, probably 96 percent sure the Raptor R is getting the supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 option for 2023, right as the Hellcat (not Hellcat) V-8 in the TRX is probably on its way out.