F-150 Raptor Battles a Mustang on the Half-Mile: Truckin’ Fast Wednesday

F-150 Raptor puts up an impressive fight for an off-road truck racing a muscle car on pavement.

The modern Ford F-150 Raptor is the greatest production off-road truck to date. The combination of the package-specific suspension setup and the 450-horsepower EcoBoost V6 makes it the most capable half-ton truck when it comes to going fast in rough conditions. At the same time, all of that horsepower coupled with 510 lb-ft of torque, all-wheel-drive and a quick-shifting 10-speed automatic transmission make the Raptor surprisingly quick on paved roads as well.

This week’s Truckin’ Fast Wednesday video comes to us from the Franklin8806 YouTube channel and it features a newer Raptor racing against a new Mustang GT in a half-mile drag race. We will tell you now that the Mustang wins, but all things considered, the off-road-ready F-150 put up a hell of a fight.

Raptor Versus Mustang

There are no details on either of the Ford vehicles in the video above, but in the far lane, we have a 2018-or-newer Mustang GT while in the near lane, we have a modern F-150 Raptor SuperCrew. Since we don’t know anything about modifications, we are going to assume that both of these vehicles are relatively stock, and their top speeds in the half-mile support that approach.

The Mustang GT is powered by a 5.0-liter V8 that sends 460 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque towards the rear wheels by means of a 6-speed Tremec manual transmission. This particular Mustang likely weighs around 3,700 pounds without a driver.

The F-150 Raptor is powered by the twin turbocharged, 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6. This engine sends 450 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque towards all four wheels by means of an advanced all-wheel-drive system and a 10-speed automatic transmission. This truck weighs around 5,700 pounds without a driver.

In short, the Mustang is roughly one-ton lighter than the Raptor, while having a little more horsepower and gobs less torque. In addition to the torque advantage, the truck has the quick-shifting automatic transmission, but it isn’t anywhere near as aerodynamic as the pony car.

Half-Mile Battle

The video above begins slowly as the two Ford performance vehicles carefully stage at the starting line. When the green lights drop, the Mustang moves first, but the Raptor stays close at the start. When the two vehicles pass the camera, we can see that the Mustang is less than a car-length ahead of the F-150.

Through the middle of the run, the big Raptor stays surprisingly close, but a key component of half-mile racing is aerodynamics on the big end. As these two vehicles pick up speed, the shape of the F-150 slows it down while the sleek Mustang cuts through the wind. As a result, the pony car gets the win, but the EcoBoost’d pickup turns in a respectable effort.

In the end, the Mustang hit a top speed of 126 miles per hour while the Raptor went 107 miles per hour. That is a pretty considerable margin, but again, we are talking about half-mile, top speed drag racing with a 5,700-pound truck that was built for playing in the mud. In other words, this is an impressive loss for the high-riding F-150.

Crank up your speakers and enjoy!

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

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