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The Ford Everest SUV may be the next vehicle to receive the Raptor treatment.
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“There’s no reason [we wouldn’t do an Everest Raptor],” Jamal Hameedi, Ford’s global performance vehicle chief engineer, told Australia’s Drive. A Ford Australia spokesman also told the publication that the idea “makes sense.”
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The Everest is the SUV counterpart of the Ranger pickup that is currently sold in other world markets, including Australia. However, the Everest is rumored to be making its U.S. debut in 2020 wearing the Bronco nameplate.
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Yes, there’s a good chance the new Bronco won’t be a retro-looking two-door SUV but will instead be a wagon-bodied four-door Ranger, reminiscent of the original Ford Explorer. While this may disappoint some Bronco fans, a Raptor-ized version of the forthcoming Bronco could be the balm that heal those wounds.
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Expect the Everest Raptor to follow in the tread patterns of the recently revealed 2019 Ranger Raptor. Flared fenders, beefy tires, Fox Racing Shox internal-bypass dampers, and a healthy uptick in ride height are sure to be the key elements. While other markets may receive an Everest Raptor with the diesel-powered 211-hp twin-turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four, we’d wager that the expected U.S.-spec Ranger Raptor and its potential Bronco Raptor sibling will be motivated by Ford’s gas-sipping twin-turbocharged 2.7-liter V-6, an engine that’s rated at 335 horsepower in the 2019 Ford Edge ST.
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- Ford Ranger Raptor Revealed, and It’s (Probably) Coming to the U.S.!
- A Brief Range of Things You Need to Know About the 2019 Ford Ranger
- Ford F-150 Raptor Full Coverage: Tests, Specs, Photos, and More
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Ford is mute on its future plans, so this is all wishful thinking for the time being. But given the mechanical similarities between the Ranger and the Everest, as well as the openness of Ford’s global vehicle performance chief engineer to considering an off-road-ready Everest variant, we’d say the Everest Raptor has a good chance of seeing the light of day, which means we Yanks might be lucky enough to get our hands on a high-performance Bronco Raptor, too.
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