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Owners of the current Ford Ranger Raptor can swap its twin-turbo V6 for a 5.0-litre supercharged V8 for $89,000, before state- or territory-specific engineering costs.
The Ford Ranger Raptor ute is now available with Mustang V8 power in Australia, but not officially.
Queensland-based company Killa Conversions & Performance now offers a V8 engine conversion for the current Ford Ranger Raptor, joining the conversion it offered for the previous model.
For $89,000 before state- or territory-specific engineering costs, and the circa-$95,000 drive-away price of the ute itself, the Raptor's twin-turbo V6 is swapped out for the 5.0-litre third-generation 'Coyote' V8 from a 2018-2021 Mustang GT.
The converted Raptor V8 adds a Roush supercharger to the engine for a claimed 559kW and 908Nm, up from 292kW (+267kW) and 583Nm (+325Nm) in a stock twin-turbo V6 Ranger Raptor.
While a 10-speed torque-converter automatic transmission is retained, it is upgraded to the stronger 10R80 unit – as found in the Mustang V8 – instead of the Ranger Raptor's standard 10R60 transmission.
Earlier versions of the Coyote V8 were used as the basis for the 'Miami' V8 in the final Falcon XR8 and FPV models, which added a Harrop supercharger among other Falcon-specific enhancements.
In its current naturally aspirated form, the Coyote V8 is found in the Mustang GT and Dark Horse, along with the Ford F-150 in the United States.
On its Facebook page, Killer Conversions & Performance claims that at an estimated $190,000 – twice the price of a stock V6 model – the Ranger Raptor V8 will "outperform" the Ram 1500 TRX and Ford F-150 Raptor R full-size V8 utes.
The Ram 1500 TRX was available in Australia through its official channel for $249,950 before on-road costs in Final Edition guise in 2024.
"I know your first question, is it expensive?" the company said.
"Well yes, it’s a lot of money, [but] priced at $89,000, you get a brand-new supercharged engine and transmission, fully installed, drive-in, drive-out."
It said the V8 conversion project has taken about 12 months to complete, with "the biggest hurdles" being the integration of its safety features and in-cabin technologies to avoid error codes or disabled features.
Other upgrades available for the Ranger Raptor include a 'Power Pack' from Herrod Performance, the Australian distributor for Ford Performance equipment.
Upgrades in Herrod's Power Pack – which costs around $6000 – include a larger intercooler and oil cooler, and a recalibration of the twin-turbo V6's engine software to maximise performance to 380kW and 780Nm.
At the reveal of the current Ranger Raptor in March 2022, Ford Performance global chief engineer Carl Widmann said the brand chose a twin-turbo V6 engine due to its power density.
"The reason we focused on the twin-turbo V6 [petrol engine for the Ranger Raptor] is because it is power dense – for the amount of package space and the amount of weight that it puts forward – and that's why we chose it.
"We don't choose big, heavy motors … we want to get the power out and do it in the best way possible. Especially on the front end."
Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
