Ford Ranger goes sub-five seconds to 100km/h

John Hennessey is back at his usual antics, turning his power-crazed focus on the Australian-developed Ford Ranger.

9

His latest creation is evocatively named the VelociRaptor Ranger, and is based on the US-spec dual-cab, which is fitted with a turbocharged four-cylinder petrol, not diesel, engine.

Much to the disappointment of our American friends, Ford does not sell the off-road performance focused Ranger Raptor in the US. However, Hennessey’s VelociRaptor Ranger appears to fill that performance-focused hole, with a price tag of US$64,950 (A$92,495 at current conversion rates).

9

The Texan tuner has increased the 2.3-litre EcoBoost petrol engine’s outputs from 201kW and 420Nm to 260kW at 6000rpm and 521Nm at 3800Nm.

Increased power comes thanks to a retuned ECU, new high-flow air induction system, and a steel catback exhaust system.

9

6x6 Hennessey VelociRaptor F-Series lands in Australia

Hennessey claims the VelociRaptor will sprint to 60mph (97km/h) in 4.9 seconds. That’s a significant improvement over the stock US-spec Ranger. American outlet MotorTrend independently performance tested the EcoBoost-powered dual-cab, recording a 6.8-second 0-97km/h time.

9

If Hennessey’s Ranger can match its claimed acceleration times – and that is a big if – then it’ll be knocking on the door of some fairly serious sports cars. Porsche claims a 5.1 second 0-100km/h for a manual 718 Cayman and 4.9s for the PDK version. Or, if you prefer, the Hennessey creation will be just a nose behind a Porsche 996 GT3 off the mark (0-100km/h in 4.8s).

9

Just 500 VelociRaptor Rangers will be built, with Hennessey also tweaking the exterior styling with the addition of LEDs to the front-end, a roof-mounted LED light bar, flared fenders, and a four-inch lift kit.