This battle between the fastest Corvette of the '90s and the most capable pickup truck of today is a testament to how far we've come.
Unique Race
Following years of anticipation, the Ford F-150 Raptor R is finally here, and it's as good as we expected it to be. With a lofty 700 horsepower on tap from its supercharged, 5.2-liter V8, the off-road-focused pickup is undoubtedly still quick in a straight line on paved surfaces, as everyone who's driven it has discovered. But while we've seen the Raptor R pitted against its rival - the Ram TRX - numerous times, The Fast Lane Truck recently decided to do something a little different and race theirs against a C4 Corvette ZR1 in a very interesting matchup.
Impressive Numbers
Neither of these cars needs much of an introduction at this point, but for those that aren't aware, the Raptor R is incredibly quick for a full-size pickup rolling on massive 37-inch tires, with 0-60 taking a mere 3.6 seconds or so, depending on conditions. That's a truly impressive figure even by today's sports car standards, let alone for, well, a huge off-roader.
Polar Opposites
But while the Raptor R's Predator-based powerplant has to move roughly 6,000 pounds down the road in a physics-defying act, the C4 Corvette ZR1 is a traditional sports car weighing roughly half that. In its heyday, it was also a celebrated machine thanks to its all-aluminum LT5 V8 which made it one of the fastest cars of its time.
Paper Champ
The LT5 was originally rated to produce 375 horsepower and 370 pound-feet of torque in this particular guise, and it's mated to a traditional six-speed manual transmission. Getting to 60 mph takes around 4.4 seconds, so at least on paper, the Raptor R looks like a ringer, but as we all well know, that doesn't always guarantee a victory.
Easy Win
From a dig, that's precisely the case, however, as the Raptor R simply grips and goes. It quickly puts a large lead on the old Corvette and never looks back, running a 13.12-second quarter-mile, which isn't even close to TFLT's best time to date. The team also resides in the mountains of Colorado, which aren't ideal for drag racing, either.
Tables Turn
Thus, they run it back, but this time, in a roll race. From 30 mph, the two start out pretty even before the Corvette uses its exotic all-aluminum powerplant to take an extremely close victory, impressively enough. For the finale, the duo perform a 60-0 braking test, and the lighter Corvette takes home a win in that department, too.
Production Terror
Despite this pair of disappointing results, what's particularly amazing about this showdown is the fact that the Raptor R is so incredibly capable for a big, heavy truck rolling on huge tires. Decades ago, we couldn't have dreamed of seeing a production pickup do these kinds of things, with only things like highly modified SVT Lightnings ripping off passes like this - a true sign of how far we've come.
>>Join the conversation about these unique head-to-heads right here in the forum.
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