The Hennessey Ranger VelociRaptor Is Quicker Than A Stock F-150 Raptor

There are two issues with the new Ford Ranger Raptor. Firstly, it’s powered by a less-than-exciting inline-four diesel engine, and secondly, you can’t buy one in the USA. In fact, it’s available pretty much everywhere but the US.

The latter problem doesn’t seem so bad considering fortunate ‘Muricans can already buy the pokier F-150 Raptor. But in any case, Hennessey has decided to come up with a solution to both Ranger Raptor snafus. Enter stage left, the Hennessey Ranger VelociRaptor.

It won’t be able to take quite as much abuse as Ford’s Ranger Raptor - it doesn’t have a strengthened frame, and the suspension setup is largely the same as the standard Ranger’s. You do get a four-inch lift kit at least, plus some BF Goodrich KM2 all-terrain tyres, which will make the Range VelociRaptor handy enough for most.

There are big performance gains, too: with a 0-60mph time of 4.9 seconds, it’ll do the benchmark sprint in about half the time of the Raptor, and 2.5sec quicker than the 2.3-litre Ecoboost Ranger it’s based on. In fact, as proven by this drag race, it’s slightly brisker than the much more powerful, 3.5-litre turbo V6-powered F-150 Raptor. Not bad.

It’s all thanks to a new cat-back exhaust and a cheeky upgrade of the engine management software, bumping the power of the inline-four from 270 to 360bhp. The torque increase is even punchier: the 2.3 now develops 440lb ft of twist, up from 310.

The VelociRaptor treatment also includes new front and rear wings with flared arches, a smattering of new badges, Hennessey embroidered headrests, a winch, and a big LED light bar.

Hennessey will be building 500 of the vehicles priced at $64,950 a pop, or for those who already have a Ranger they want to be upgraded, the cost is $19,950.