2023 Ford Ranger Raptor PH: Why no 3.0L twin turbo V6?

We’ve had to wait a year for the Ford Ranger Raptor to arrive in the country. Such is always the case for the Philippine market since these cars are imported.

The spec that Ford Philippines ordered for our market is similar to before. The engine they selected is a 2.0L Bi-Turbo diesel that has been tuned a little differently with 210 PS (actually power is lower by 3 PS versus before), and the transmission option is just the 10-speed automatic with full-time 4WD.

The truck looks wider, has chunky wheels with BF Goodrich K02 all-terrain tires, and is fitted with special Fox Racing shocks that allow it to virtually glide over rough ground at high speeds. A series of exterior enhancements, interior upgrades (especially the seats and steering wheel), auxiliary switches, and terrain/drive modes are available.

During the launch, we caught up with Mike Breen, the Managing Director of Ford Philippines, to get his thoughts on a few things about the new Raptor. For one, he says that the market has really missed the Raptor variant because they’ve already finished off the last units of the previous generation. Breen tells us the Raptor accounted for 40% of Ford Ranger sales here.

“We only opened the order books today because we only released the price today,” said Mike Breen. “Our dealers already have a line of customers waiting that have placed reservations even without the price.”

We asked Mike about unit supplies and customer demand, and he said that they are now about to get an idea what the real demand for the Ranger Raptor. Over the next few weeks, they will be able to assess whether the supplies are able to meet the demand. There is one more question we’ve been wanting to ask since Ford previewed the Raptor at the Manila International Auto Show last month: why only the diesel version?

The truck that was on the ramp at MIAS was very clearly a diesel variant of the Raptor, but in other markets, the Raptor is sold with a 3.0L V6 twin-turbo gasoline engine that makes 394 PS. International variants also come with some really cool goodies like an adaptive suspension system (that can be controlled by a button on the wheel) and audio by B&O.

The Ranger Raptor V6 is the only option in countries such as Australia, Malaysia, North America, and Ford’s European market. The Ranger Raptor 2.0L diesel is available as the sole option in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Being that Thailand is the manufacturing hub for both types, customers there actually have a choice between the 2.0L diesel and the V6 gas. So why not the Philippines given that we import Rangers from there?

Mike Breen is no stranger to getting questions from us, and he has clearly prepared for it: “For now we feel this is the best package for the Philippines. The 2.0L Bi-Turbo diesel is proven. If in the future there is demand for a 3.0L gasoline, we could study that, but for now, this is the way for us to go.”

So really, it’s up to Ranger Raptor customers (by that we mean the ones ready to put money down) to ask Ford to even begin to consider the V6 variant. Maybe if they sound off more, Ford might look at bringing a limited run of gasoline turbo V6 Raptors. That would certainly be a truck that will be more than worthy of the Raptor name.