√Ford Ranger Raptor RS: Road tyres to create ‘hot hatch’ of utes under consideration

With a claimed 0 to 100km/h time of less than six seconds, the twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol-powered Ford Ranger Raptor is faster than a VW Golf GTI. There is just one missing ingredient to turn this ‘super ute’ into a hot hatch.

Ford Performance executives are considering a road-tyre package that would transform the new Ford Ranger Raptor from a desert-racer into the ‘hot hatch’ of utes.

As with today’s model, the 2023 Ford Ranger Raptor comes with highly-regarded BF Goodrich KO2 off-road tyres which contribute to its epic off-road ability.

Despite their aggressive tyre pattern, they have sufficient grip on dry sealed roads – but can be slippery on wet roads.

While Ford has mitigated some of the traction issues by developing an all-wheel-drive system for the new Ranger Raptor – the fastest and most powerful ute in its segment, powered by a twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine (292kW/583Nm) paired to a 10-speed auto – there is still the potential for a lack of grip in daily use, such as in wet roundabouts and on freeways.

The braking distances of such aggressive off-road tyres – in the wet or dry – are also longer than for highway tyres or ‘road-biased’ rubber.

Many Ford Ranger Raptor owners buy the vehicle for its appearance – including the rugged look of the all-terrain tyres – even though few take them off-road or get anywhere near to exploring the vehicle’s potential.

Given many Ford Ranger Raptors are used as daily drivers rather than as desert racers, Ford Performance executives say they are considering a road tyre or highway terrain tyre.

When Drive tabled the idea of a Ford Ranger Raptor RS – with the option of road rubber rather than gnarly BF Goodrich off-road tyres – to Carl Widdman, the global Ford Performance chief engineer, and Ali Jammoul, the global vehicle program director of Ford Performance – they agreed to take a serious look at the idea.

In a media briefing in Australia this week, Mr Jammoul said: “I love that feedback, because I’ve not thought about it to be honest with you. And so I love what you’re saying. Are we going to look at it? For sure.

“This will optimise the vehicle (and the) customer experience on-road,” said Mr Jammoul, noting that many F-150 Raptor customers in the US favour that vehicle for its on-road comfort.

“We know a lot of our customers love the comfort of Fox suspension in daily driving, (so) a road tyre might be the next step in that. We need to take a look at it (for Ranger Raptor).”

Mr Jammoul said the Ford Ranger Raptor is “a beast” off-road but “when you take it on the road, it’s a luxury vehicle, it’s a comfort drive, it plays right into your thinking.”

When it was put to Mr Jammoul that road-biased tyres – of the same size and profile as the BG Goodrich off-road rubber – could help establish a new variant which we dubbed Ford Ranger Raptor RS, the Ford executive said: “I love that idea. We’ll go back and we’ll look at it, for sure. (Such a vehicle with road tyres) does really complement the DNA and the brand that we set up for Raptor.”

Carl Widmann, the Ford Performance chief engineer, said the road tyre package could also be of interest to German customers. The Ford Ranger Raptor is popular there, even though many are primarily used for on-road and autobahn driving.

However, Mr Widmann said, there was the issue of adding complexity to production lines – and the significant engineering investment required to develop a road tyre for the Ford Ranger Raptor to Ford’s global engineering standards.

Drive has been told if a road tyre engineering program were to be approved for the Ford Ranger Raptor, it would take two to three years to develop because no such tyre exists.

It would require a tyre supplier to develop hand-cut prototype tyres and then go through countless iterations to get the right construction and compound, as well as validation work on stability control and suspension settings.

“It’s a lot more involved than you might think, it’s not just a case of grabbing a tyre off a shelf,” said one Ford expert.

If it happens, a road tyre package for a Ford Ranger Raptor ‘RS’ won’t happen overnight.

But it might mean fewer Ford Ranger Raptors are skating on thin ice in urban driving when it rains – and provide shorter emergency braking distances on wet roads, especially at freeway speeds.

Fresh tyres would also give the vehicle the on-road grip to match its epic performance.

Although Ford does not publish performance claims, engineers who have tested the vehicle say internal data shows the new twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol-powered Ford Ranger Raptor does the 0 to 100km/h sprint in less than six seconds.

Most other four-cylinder diesel utes in the segment have 0 to 100km/h times in the 10 to 12 second bracket.

The closest rival in terms of acceleration, the current generation Volkswagen Amarok TDV6, does 0 to 100km/h in 7.8 seconds in testing by Drive.

The V8-powered US pick-ups from Ram (7.5 to 7.8 seconds) and Chevrolet (6.5 seconds) are also slower than the new Ford Ranger Raptor twin-turbo V6 petrol.

The post Ford Ranger Raptor RS: Road tyres to create ‘hot hatch’ of utes under consideration appeared first on Drive.