F-150 Becomes the Regular Cab V8 Raptor Ford Never Made
Built by South Carolina’s 5 Star Tuning, custom F-150 includes 720-horsepower, Roush-supercharged V8, lots of Raptor DNA.
The Raptor is pretty damn awesome. Twin-turbo V6 with 450 horsepower, 10-speed automatic, lots of off-road capability, and plenty of room for you and a few buddies for the trip to sand dunes. That said, some of us wish Ford would deliver a Raptor with a V8 and a regular cab for a powerful, more intimate experience.
We could wait for the Blue Oval to make this dream come true, or we could do what 5 Star Tuning of Florence, South Carolina has done with their F-150. TFLnow‘s Andre Smirnov was there to look at a different Ford of theirs, but the big red machine merited a look of its own.
“I’m here in South Carolina actually doing some testing on a 650-horsepower Ford Expedition EcoBoost,” said Smirnov, “but then, I noticed [the F-150], and I gotta show it to you guys, because since Ford is not building a two-door, short-bed Ford Raptor, well, the guys at 5 Star Tuning here did.”
The custom 2016 F-150 XL boasts a 720-horsepower 5.0-liter V8 with a Roush supercharger bolted on top, has an six-inch lift, and so much more, all wrapped in red with matte black trim and matching bumpers. Who would be behind such madness? None other than the shop’s owner, Mike Butler.
“Starting from the front, you have a full-born Raptor hood, basically a real Raptor hood,” said Butler. “You have a custom bumper. You have [a] custom winch, winch bar, lights, an eight-inch lift kit, 37-inch tires. You have 4.56 gears, and it’s a five-liter. And the biggest surprise is it’s a Roush-supercharged five-liter that makes about 600 horsepower to the wheels.”
The former work truck has lots of custom bits to accentuate the aggression, from the blacked out stars-and-stripes decals on the roof and rear fenders, the winch mount with an extra tow hook, and traction bars to keep the F-150 planted. The Raptor hood itself is a custom job: Butler says he took the stock unit, “separated the top part of it, and then took a real Raptor hood and glued it back together.” The corners were also cut down and narrowed to fit between the stock fenders.
“Basically, this is the Roush 2300 blower that fits from a 2012 up to a 2016 vehicle,” said Butler, “running 93 octane, very basic kit which is custom tuned for this truck.”
The fat air intake is also part of the Roush setup, per Butler, helping to bring 13 to 14 pounds of boost to the 5.0-liter V8. The big motor is linked to a six-speed which was recalibrated to make up for both the lift and the gearing. The upgraded F-150 not only packs a wallop, but its height makes it taller than a Super Duty of similar vintage, based on Smirnov’s driving impression of Butler’s daily driver.
“Suspension-wise, it just has a Rough Country six-inch lift with their Vertex adjustable shocks, eight-position shocks,” said Butler. “You can dial-in the front and the rear for your comfort level or how fast you want to go or how slow you want to go.”
Inside the Raptor-fied F-150 are a pair of custom buckets in black and red leather, separated by a console transplanted from another truck. The steering wheel is from a Raptor, paddle shifters and all, but all else is stock, including the base SYNC system.
“It doesn’t feel like a short truck,” said Smirnov during his drive of the F-150. “Usually, when you have a short truck, it gets kinda bouncy, but it’s not bad. Usually, for a smooth ride, especially towing in the truck, you want a longer wheelbase.”
Out back, the tailgate has the blackout panel from a Raptor, all seated above a custom bumper, and serves as access to the custom bolt-in chase rack for the full-size spare with a light bar and other cool custom touches to complete the F-150’s hardcore looks.
Butler says his shop has worked on all sorts of 5.0-liter Ford V8s over the years, and will work on such V8s and the 4.6-liter V8 from any Ford made in the past two decades. Most of the builds are middle-of-the-road compared to the outrageous V8 Raptor, though, but it’s also the perfect billboard for all 5 Star Tuning can do for Ford fans of all stripes.
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