Ford F-150 SVT Raptor Wins 4×4 Award

Yet Another Win For Ford

Ford’s specialty F-150 SVT Raptor truck has caught the attention of a lot of enthusiasts as well as Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road magazine which named the burly off-road truck winner of its 2010 4×4 of the Year award.

Introduced in late 2008 just as the economy tanked and soon after gas prices reached their peak prices, the timing of the Raptor’s release seemed to be a poor one. Nevertheless, Ford says that they straining to keep up with customer demand, in a niche product line that still has a lot of life left to it.

Tough Competitors For Raptor

Petersen’s evaluated the Raptor against three tough competitors: Dodge Ram 2500 Power Wagon, Hummer H3T Alpha and Toyota 4Runner Trail, judging the candidates on a 1,000-mile trail that evaluated the suspension, engine, transmission, transfer case and styling, and of course, off-road performance.

“The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor pickup handily won this year’s test, despite being pitted against top-of-the-line competition,” said Rick Péwé, editor-in-chief of Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road. “The pickup consistently placed well ahead of the competition in most areas, and great value and fun factors sent it over the top. Basic, solid construction gave us the confidence to take the truck wherever we wanted.” As one judge noted, “It looks cool, drives fast, and seems to take whatever you throw at it.”

New 6.2L V8

Kudos to Ford for building a winner. Even more impressive, the truck builder will be introducing an all-new 6.2-liter V-8 producing 411 horsepower and 434 ft.-lb. of torque early next year.

Customers can choose order that truck now or choose the Raptor outfitted with a 5.4L V8.

Ford Supplied Pix

Courtesy of Ford, the following are several photos of the 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor:

Source: Ford Motor Company