Op-Ed: Ford Should Put the 7.3L Godzilla V8 in the Ford F-150 Raptor!

If The Blue Oval opted to stuff the Godzilla in the Ford F-150 Raptor and give it a reasonable price, they’d sell like literal hot cakes. 

When the Ford F-150 Raptor debuted in 2010, it did so with two engine options – the naturally-aspirated 5.4-liter Triton V8 generating 310 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque, as well as the optional 6.2-liter Boss V8, making 411 horsepower and 434 pound-feet of torque – the latter of which became standard a year later.

The rest, as they say, is history, as the F-150 Raptor became an instant smash hit and continues to be one to this day.

However, Ford’s decision to ditch V8 power in the F-150 Raptor altogether as part of its second-generation redesign didn’t exactly go over well with enthusiasts. There’s no denying that the twin turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 is a powerful and capable engine – and one that can be tuned to make much more. It’s quite literally everything the Raptore NEEDS.

But let’s be honest, the EcoBoost just doesn’t sound great, no matter what sort of exhaust trickery Ford attempts.

The EcoBoost family, as a whole, also hasn’t exactly given us a ton of confidence that it’ll go the distance, either, as older generations continue to present potentially fatal teething problems. This is certainly not true of the N/A V8s of the past, at least, not the ones that Ford stuffed in the F-150 Raptor (thankfully, that never included the much-maligned three-valve 5.4-liter Triton V8).

Truthfully, as a (former) Ford F-150 Raptor owner myself, I can confidently say that a lot of folks would jump at the chance to buy a new example with a simple, naturally-aspirated V8. After all, the top-of-the-line Raptor R is incredibly cool and sounds the business. But it’s also horrifyingly expensive as a $32,000 option over the base $79,000 price (which also includes the 37″ tires and upgraded dual live valve Fox shocks. The Raptor R is also impossible to find without some sort of dealer markup attached, driving the six-figured pricing even higher.

Thus, we have a simple solution for Ford that would make enthusiasts happy and be more cost effective that the supercharged 5.2L Predator motor. Skip the 5.0L Coyote and install the 7.3-liter Godzilla V8 from the Super Duty in the base Raptor and call it a day.

The Godzilla is currently only offered in the Super Duty, where it makes 430 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque, so it’d be incredibly easy to at least match the output of the EcoBoost Raptor, which is sitting at 450 horsepower and 510 pound-feet. We’ve seen just how easy it is to coax loads of power out of the Godzilla, after all.

More importantly, we’re talking about an old-school, simple pushrod V8 with an iron block, aluminum heads, and a forged steel crankshaft that’s built to handle tough situations like heavy towing.

That low-end grunt the Godzilla provides (peak torque comes in at 4,000 rpm) as a result doesn’t just make it good for towing – it also means that one has much more usable power around town, whereas the 5.0-liter Coyote V8 offers more at the top end of the rpm range. Thus, to us at least, it just makes a ton of sense to offer a Godzilla-powered Ford F-150 Raptor, and we’d bet a solid amount of money that folks would line up to buy one, too.

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.