Ford SVT Raptor Tackles 1000 Mile Vegas to Reno Off-Road Race

| August 28, 2009 | 0 Comments

Ford SVT Raptor Tackles Vegas to Reno, The Long Way

For those of you that haven’t heard, Ford’s 2010 F-150 SVT Raptor is a purpose-built off-road truck from Ford’s Special Vehicle Team (SVT). Ford SVT’s goal was to create the ultimate off-road-ready high-performance production truck.

The basis for the truck is Ford’s four-door SuperCab Styleside F-150 4×4 with the 5.5-foot short box. But that is where the similarity ends. What makes the Raptor truly unique for a production 4×4 are the Fox Racing Shox internal triple-bypass shocks, and the off-road suspension. The Raptor offers up to 12.1 inches of wheel travel in the rear, and 11.2 inches of travel in the front. And the Fox Shox come with position-sensitive damping that provides over seven times the compressive damping force when fully compressed compared to a standard shock.

Fox Shox for the For SVT Raptor

SVT Raptor has a 7 inch wider track than the regular F-150, and Ford engineers figured out how to stuff 35-inch BF Goodrich All-Terrain tires under the wheel wells.

The Raptor raced in the Baja 1000 last year, and recently competed in the Best In The Desert Racing Association’s TSCO Vegas To Reno The Long Way off-road race. UTVWeekly.com was out in Nevada desert covering the race and we caught up with the 8011 Ford SVT Raptor Team.

Rob MacCachren, Steve Olliges and Barbara Terry raced the Ford SVT Raptor in the Class 8000 ( SCORE Class 8 ) which is Modified Production Full Size Pickups & V8 Sport Utility Vehicles.

Race Results: