The Ford Raptor T1+ Is Here To Conquer All The Terrains

Ford’s new off-road racer packs Mustang V8 power and will take on the Dakar in 2025

12 Jul 2024

We love the Dakar Rally. It’s one of those events that leads to car makers cooking up some truly bonkers racing machinery – see various recent efforts from Audi and Dacia to see what we mean. For the 2025 event, Ford is bringing an all-new competitor to the gruelling event and, yep, it’s more absolute madness. Meet the Ford Raptor T1+.

Most recent Ford rally raid racers have been loosely based on the Ranger pickup, but the Raptor T1+ is something totally bespoke (albeit with a Ranger-y front end). Somewhere buried within its imposing bodywork is a modified version of the Mustang’s 5.0-litre ‘Coyote’ V8, with a new dry-sump oil system to withstand the rigours of being launched off sand dunes.

The body itself is made up of carbon fibre panels draped over a steel spaceframe, and offers 400mm of ground clearance. The whole thing weighs 2010kg and is an enormous 2300mm wide.

Naturally, there’s some serious suspension work going on. At both ends, it gets a fully independent double wishbone setup. Springs and dampers come from Fox Racing – the former are three-way adjustable coilovers, and the latter four-way adjustable with remote reservoirs.

The wheels are 17-inch aluminium items and are wrapped in vast 37-inch rubber. The wheels alone can travel up to 350mm up and down, while six-piston brake calipers and 355mm vented discs at both ends help bring two tonnes of V8 fury under control.

It’s not just the car that’s serious about a Dakar victory, though. Ford’s brought in an elite squad of four driver and navigator pairs. Drivers include Nani Roma, who’s won the event on both two and four wheels, and Carlos Sainz Sr., who has five Dakar wins and two WRC championships under his belt. You might also have heard of his son.

It's all been co-developed by M-Sport, the British outfit that also runs Ford's World Rally Championship programme.

While the Dakar is the big one, it’s not until next January, so Ford’s not hesitating in putting some competitive mileage on the Raptor T1+. Having debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, it’ll be making its race debut in next month’s Baja Hungary event.

So, who’s your money on in the Saudi desert come January: Ford or Dacia?

The first full sentence spoken by an infant Mike was a review of the ride quality of a Volvo 850. It was “Daddy’s car goes bumpy-bump on a bumpy road,” so would probably need proofreading a bit, but it was a start.