The Ford Raptor name is synonymous with off-road performance and blistering speed to back it up. It’s not often that the street-legal Ford F-150 Raptor gets to go head-to-head with its high-performance off-road racing brethren: the Ford Raptor T1+. But the YouTubers behind the channel BigTime did just that, putting both pickups through their paces to see which one is the best machine all-around.
Beyond the Raptor moniker, the Ford F-150 Raptor and the Ford Raptor T1+ are quite different. For starters, the F-150 Raptor is fitted with the twin-turbocharged 3.5L EcoBoost V6, throwing out 450 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. It’s capable of extreme speed over desert terrain. Comparatively, the Raptor T1+ was built in collaboration between M-Sport and Ford Performance, made to cradle the naturally aspirated 5.0L Coyote V8. It’s built to Dakar Rally regulations; specifically, the T1+ division.
With a little help from off-road-racer Mitch Guthrie Jr., the team gets the chance to test out the F-150 Raptor against the Raptor T1+. The F-150 Raptor handles the tough terrain like it’s nothing – but so does the $1 million Raptor T1+. Interestingly, the F-150 Raptor tops out at 113 mph to the Raptor T1+ at 110 in that particular test, so it’s time to do a drag race.
This time, the Raptor T1+ lunges out ahead first. While the street-legal version is fitted with Fox shocks and a host of other upgrades, it just doesn’t have anything on the Raptor T1+, which was literally designed with desert racing in mind. After playing around a bit with drag racing, they turn their attention to another important aspect of off-road racing: how quickly the pickup can stop. Unsurprisingly, the Ford Raptor T1+ grabs the brakes a lot faster than its street legal cousin. There’s just one last test: a time trial over desert terrain.
Guthrie, at the wheel of the Raptor T1+, tackles the course first, ripping off a 2:50.26 lap. Then, he immediately hops in the F-150 Raptor to put it to the test. Obviously, the dedicated Raptor T1+ off-road racer is quicker, but the F-150 Raptor completes the course in 3:34.90, which isn’t that bad, all things considered. Simply put, both Raptor pickups are a thrill to drive – and the F-150 Raptor is as close as you can get to a street legal race truck.
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