[VIDEO] TFL Truck Tests the 700-hp Ford F150 Raptor R Versus the 1990 Corvette ZR-1?

In 2009, Ford’s Special Vehicle Team had a stroke of genius. “Big-Three” performance wings had been tinkering with trucks since the GMC Syclone embarrassed an Italian blue-blood on a 1991 drag strip. Whether it was an SVT Lightning, a Viper-imbued Ram, or an SS 454, truck upgrades tended to adhere to the tried-and-true sportscar playbook. Traditionally high-riding vehicles were lowered, power was added, suspensions and tires were optimized, and sometimes weight was cut, but the resulting vehicles were always vastly compromised. Even with the speed-based modifications, they didn’t exactly excel in sporting activities beyond making power/noise and going straight, but they also lost the ability to do truck things – the Syclone’s stubby bed could infamously carry just 500 lbs., and the larger Lightning and SRT-10 trucks both made do with RWD-only drivetrains and less than nine inches of ground clearance. All three were two-door, two-seaters (the Dodge was the only one that even offered a back seat, though you lost the selling point manual transmission when checking this box) that weren’t recommended for use as tow rigs. As a follow-up to the supercharged Lightning, the SVT guys decided that instead of fighting the F150’s inherent “truck-ness,” they should take advantage of its burly architecture and leave the deeply flawed street truck concept behind in favor of something much grander, with greater market appeal, to boot. With this goal in mind, SVT birthed the factory desert running trophy truck, which they brilliantly dubbed “Raptor.”

After starting life with an elderly and uninspired NA 5.4L V8, the new SVT Raptor cemented its status as a dream machine when it gained access to the 411-HP 6.2L unit from its Super Duty sibling; instantly making it the most potent half-ton on the market and giving it the grunt to match its impressive off-road chops. The 6.2 became the sole engine offering in 2011 and soldiered on as such through the end of the T1 platform (12th gen) F150’s lifecycle in 2014. After a three-year hiatus, the Raptor trim returned on the 13th generation F150 – sans SVT prefix – but much to the chagrin of traditionalists and a great deal of prospective customers, Raptor 2.0 hit the scene with an EcoBoost V6. Though power (450), torque (510), and speed were all up significantly over what the previous 6.2 offered, many felt that a small (3.5L) turbocharged six-banger was as out of place in a 4×4 as it would in a half-million-dollar mid-engine supercar!

People in the “where’s my V8?” camp received a saving grace in 2020 when Ram, now freed of the Dodge umbrella, finally started taking notice (while it was all crickets on the GM front) of the halo effect and incredible profit margins that the Raptor was bringing to the F-Series family of trucks that they had been hunting for decades. A blown 702-horse Hellcat V8, a beefy set of fender flares, and long-travel shocks later, the Ram TRX (T-Rex) was born. Former SVT owners were flooding Mopar showrooms, and TRX forums left and right. The Blue Oval’s monopoly over the niche that it created was not only in danger, it had fallen, and their once proud baby was suddenly looking hilariously outgunned.

That brings us to the present when Ford has officially returned fire – and regained relevance – with a new “R” version of the Raptor that cribs the 5.2L supercharged “Predator” V8 from the monster S550 Shelby GT500. Tuning the top-shelf Mustang motor for truck duty caused it to lose 60 HP, therefore falling two ponies shy of the TRX at an even 700, but Ford was able to get their final product out the door at 6,100 lbs. undercutting the HellRam by some 700 lbs.! Early testing has proven ultimate Raptor’s newfound ability as a sprinter. Its 3.7-second trip to 60 MPH, 9.2-second run to 100, and 12.1 quarter mile ET at 111.8 MPH not only eclipse the numbers of the TRX, but they also shame the numbers of the road-focused performance trucks of yesteryear (the Syclone ran 5.3, 17.8, and 14.1 @ 93 MPH vs. 5.2, 12.9, and 13.8 @ 101 for Ram SRT-10, and 5.2, 12.8, and 13.8 @ 104 for the SVT Lightning, respectively).

The obvious head-to-head matchup with the TRX has already been professionally done ad nauseum in print and video forms, but the madmen at TFL Truck had another idea that brings the idea of RaptoR and the best of yesteryear together in a unique and beautiful way! We already know that previous street trucks would fall flat when faced with Ford’s latest, but had the performance truck finally reached a point where it could stand up to the best sportscars that the ’90s had to offer? To find out, they enlisted the services of a 1990 Corvette ZR-1 and its DOHC 375-horse, Lotus engineered LT-5. To compensate for its power deficit, the ‘Vette that brought American performance back to the global forefront will have to lean on its 3,465-lb. curb weight. If TFL had procured a ’93-95 ZR-1 with the 405-horse Gen II LT5, the King of the Hill Corvette would have boasted the superior power-to-weight ratio (around 8.5 lbs. per HP), but as it stands, the 33-year-old model lags its super truck competition slightly, 9.24 lbs./HP to 8.71. The test includes standing and rolling quarter miles and a breaking test. We would have loved to see a few corners thrown in for good measure, but, in any event, this should be an excellent matchup that highlights just how ahead of its time the underappreciated ZR-1 truly was, and how far the muscle truck has come! See how the cookie crumbles below:

Source:
TFL Truck / YouTube

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