TUNNING

Hennessey VelociRaptor 500 Ranger...A few weeks after Ford announced that it will distribute the Ranger in North America, Hennessey has already presented a tuning version of the pickup.

The base, of course, was provided by Ranger Raptor, which abroad is equipped exclusively with the 3.0 V6 gasoline engine, recently introduced in Europe as an alternative to the diesel engine. But it is not available here in 292 hp version but with maximum performance of 411 hp.

Well, that 411 horsepower has been upgraded to 507 by Hennessey, while the peak torque has been increased from 583 to 746 Nm. To do this, the intake system was modified so that as much air as possible entered the engine, a larger intercooler was installed, and the engine control software was rewritten.

By the way, the development was already ready for a long time, it only remained to transfer it to Ranger: the Ford Bronco already received the same transmission last October, along with the ten-speed automatic transmission.

The all-wheel drive system of both models is also the same: the differential can be locked on both axles, we also have a half wheel, and off-road capability is enhanced by large-diameter mixed-use tires.

The exhaust system's sound is controlled by an active valve, the damper adapts to the load, and no less than eight modes are available, from economy to sport, from snow to climbing, and you can even switch to a separate mode if you you're running in a stony desert (this is the Baja way) or we'd tow it.

Conversion pricing starts at just $25,000, plus engine and chassis tuning, custom bumpers, off-road lights and wheel package are included. The relatively high price is also justified by the limited number of units: Hennessey does not manufacture more than 200 cars a year.

Embroidered headrests and a numbered plaque in the passenger compartment surprise the unsuspecting viewer.

Final testing of the Hennessey VelociRaptor 500 Ranger is still taking place, orders should start shipping from the end of the year.

Mundoquatrorodas