Gathering the latest crop of Europe’s pickup trucks for a drag race isn’t what these machines are made for but nevertheless the result is always amusing; especially when you throw in a first-gen Ford F-150 Raptor to see how it compares against the smaller diesel trucks.
Carwow pitted the Ford Ranger Raptor against the most powerful VW Amarok V6 TDI and the Mercedes X350d V6 while bringing along the original F150 Raptor that uses a V8 petrol engine.
It’s certainly the first time we see the big Raptor going against trucks that are not available in the US and the result was fairly surprising; we expected the V8-powered American truck to easily win this one but apparently the range-topping VW Amarok had other plans.
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The first-gen Ford F150 Raptor SuperCrew is powered by a naturally-aspirated 6.2-liter V8 engine producing 411 HP and 431 lb-ft (585 Nm) of torque bolted to a six-speed automatic gearbox, making it the only vehicle here to be using petrol and is of course the only full-size truck.
Ford’s latest Raptor is the smaller Ranger, which makes use of a twin-turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel engine, producing 210 HP (213 PS) and 368 lb-ft (500 Nm) of torque and paired to a 10-speed automatic transmission, making it the least powerful player in this race.
The Mercedes X-Class is powered by a 3.0-liter V6 diesel engine in its range-topping X350d form; the unit makes 255hp (258PS) and 405lb-ft (550Nm) of torque and works in conjunction with a seven-speed automatic gearbox.
Finally we get the VW Amarok V6 TDI and more specifically the most powerful of the range as its 3.0-liter V6 produces 254 HP (258 PS) and 427 lb-ft (580 Nm) of torque, paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Ok, so maybe Amarok’s win shouldn’t come as a surprise if you count in that it’s lighter, wears a bed hardtop and, unlike the old Raptor, is fitted with on-road tires, but the result from that braking test remains pretty alarming to say the least.