Not a fan of how motorsports have been shifting away from V8 engines over the decades? The Ford Raptor has you covered on the rally raid front.

The Raptor, which made its debut at the Rallye du Maroc in October, is the only car in the T1+ subclass that uses a V8. Its rivals, on the other hand, predominantly rely on turbocharged V6s. The Toyota GR DKR Hilux EVO has a V35A engine, while the Dacia Sandrider uses a V6 twin-turbo pulled form a Nissan; ironically, the Dacia’s predecessor Prodrive Hunter sourced its V6 from a Ford.

Meanwhile, the Raptor is powered by a naturally aspirated, five-liter Ford Coyote crate engine. The Coyote line is predominantly used for the Ford F-150 as well as the Mustang GT, capable of 486 horsepower. Due to FIA regulations (which is being enforced by the new torque meter), the rally raid engine produces roughly 355 horsepower.

Mattias Ekström, one of the Ford drivers for the 2025 Dakar Rally, is a big fan of this quirk. He had raced with V8 power in DTM, where he won two championships before making the switch to off-road racing; like most other racing series, DTM no longer uses V8s after switching to a two-liter turbo. His experience with V8s also includes the 2013 Bathurst 1000 and two starts in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“I grew up with V8s in the DTM so I have a lot of experience with these engines,” he commented following Friday’s Prologue. “I think the sound of a V8 beats everything.”

Developed by M-Sport as the successor to the Ford Ranger that raced in 2024, the Raptor won in its competition debut at the Hungarian Baja in August. The Rallye du Maroc, its first W2RC race, saw Ekström and reigning Dakar winner Carlos Sainz set top-five speed that was marred by technical issues; Sainz even had the fastest time of all FIA cars in Stage #4.

Ekström finished runner-up in the Prologue, just a second behind the Toyota Hilux of Henk Lategan, while M-Sport teammate Nani Roma was ninth. Sainz was 25th whereas their fourth colleague Mitch Guthrie ranked 19th.

Terence Marsh, the head of Red-Lined Motorsport, opined Ford will be one of the “big four” manufacturers at Dakar alongside Toyota, Dacia, and Mini, but reliability will be a key factor for a car and engine as new as the Raptor.

“These guys would really have to surprise a lot of people because it’s an all-new car,” Marsh commented. “M-Sport are very experienced and I have no doubt that the package overall would be good, but will it be reliable? That remains to be seen.”

Featured image credit: Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool