Will Malaysia get the new Ranger Raptor with its stonking new 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine?
When Ford unveiled the second-generation T6 Ranger back in 2021, everyone was excited about the new V6 turbo diesel engine that was introduced along with it.
Many expected the V6 diesel engine dubbed the “Lion” to be deployed in the yet-to-be-revealed Ranger Raptor with a bump up in performance of course.
But when Ford globally unveiled the 2022 Ranger Raptor, it came with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine of its own, which caught many Ranger fans off guard.
According to Justin Capicchiano, supervisor of the Ranger Raptor program, the V6 turbo petrol unit was chosen over an upgraded diesel V6 because that is “what buyers wanted”.
He also said that there was a convenience between the petrol V6 and the T6.2 chassis, as both already exist in the Bronco Raptor 4×4 sold in North America.
But Capicchiano said all of these things when the Ranger Raptor with the petrol engine was introduced in Australia, so naturally, ASEAN fans were still sceptical that the petrol engine would be made available for the ASEAN market.
2022 Ford Ranger Raptor – 3.0-litre V6 petrol twin-turbo
There was also that thing where Ford said that they would continue to sell the Raptor with a 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel in various global markets where the ‘cost of the ownership was a significant concern’.
That is until, Thailand debuted the Ranger Raptor in March 2022, where surprisingly, a twin-turbo petrol V6 engine was found underneath the bonnet.
Thailand debuted the Ranger Raptor with Ford’s gasoline twin-turbo 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6, with 392hp and 583Nm – which means Malaysia too stands a good chance of getting the Raptor in this configuration.
2022 Ford Ranger Raptor – Malaysian spec?
Why? because traditionally, we import our Ford Rangers from Thailand, where we closely mimic their specs. Even the previous gen Ranger Raptor was almost a carbon copy of what was offered in Thailand – so we can’t see the Thai factory rejigging its line just for the Malaysian market, especially when we would only be importing small numbers of the Ranger Raptor as it is not the main Ford Ranger seller here in Malaysia.
Australian-delivered Ranger Raptors are also built in Ford’s manufacturing facility in Thailand, so there is a strong case that we too would be getting the 2022 Ranger Raptor in petrol form instead of diesel.
All other variants are expected to get the current EcoBlue 2.0-litre diesel engine, albeit with some slight modifications to improve cooling. The power these engines can put out varies according to model and whether they come in a single or bi-turbo form. The power outputs range from 150PS/350Nm – 210PS/500Nm.
Sime Darby Auto ConneXion (SDAC), the custodian of the Ford brand in Malaysia is planning to debut the next-generation Ranger in five regions across the country – central, northern, southern as well as Sabah and Sarawak – ahead of its nationwide availability.
The tour will be held over five weekends, starting with the main debut event, which will be starting on 22 July.
Suppose we follow the trend in Australia and Thailand, in that case, we won’t probably get the Ranger Raptor during this introduction period, as they were all introduced a bit later, but we’re pretty sure we’ll get a better clue of what the Malaysian Ranger Raptor will be like come 22 July.