The 2nd Gen. Ford Raptor is an amazing platform that comes stock with some of the most capable parts you can have on an off-road truck right off the lot. This truck is not only well equipped with some superb Fox Suspension, Rigid Lighting, and 35″ tires but houses the Ecoboost D35 Twin-Turbo High-Output V6 potential powerplant of an engine. I say potential powerplant because some enthusiasts find this Raptor to be missing a little giddy-up. While the second-generation Raptor stomps the capabilities of it’s spawn, the first-generation Raptor, there is still something to be desired from Ford’s Off-Road Flagship.

Many companies, such as Hennessy Performance have taken this Raptor to new levels. They introduced their 6×6 Ford Velociraptor, built for Post Melone, that opened up huge opportunities for this truck. We won’t be taking this truck to that level, but we will be installing some budget friendly upgrades that you will instantly be able to feel on your Ford Raptor.

We first wanted to get started with some stock, baseline dyno runs to get a gauge of where this Raptor would be at on our Mustang Dyno before installing one of our upgrades. We ran this truck on 91 octane and were able to get a baseline of: 362 WHP/440 FT/TQ

Mind you, this is our Mustang Dyno and the horsepower output may differ amongst different dynos. But for this occasion, we are using 362 WHP as our stock horsepower before making any modifications.

For this Raptor project we will be installing four simple upgrades.

• VR Performance Ford Raptor Intercooler which you can buy HERE
• VR Performance Cold Air Intake Kit Ford Raptor, which you can buy HERE
• VR Performance Blow Off Valve, grab yours HERE
• VR Tuned ECU Flash, you can buy one HERE

To start off the project, we are installing our VR Performance Intercooler that vastly improves the performance of the Ford Raptor and F150 trucks with the 3.5L EcoBoost engine. Being that the 3.5L is turbocharged, upgrading the intercoolers on these vehicles is an extremely important if you want to get the most performance.

Why is that?

As air goes through the turbocharger and compresses, it gets hot very fast. This increase in air temperature causes the oxygen density to drop, resulting in a loss of performance. By replacing the factory OEM intercooler with a larger and more efficient intercooler, the warm charge air becomes much denser and oxygen rich, resulting in more power.

The Factory OEM intercooler on the Raptor and F150 is located behind the front bumper in a location that does not allow adequate air flow. This coupled with its small core size makes it highly susceptible to heat soak, especially when pushing the vehicle hard or just driving in hot environments. The Vivid Racing Intercooler Upgrade kit fixes this by replacing the factory OEM intercooler and relocating it behind the grille with a highly efficient bar and plate aluminum intercooler. Locating the intercooler behind the grille provides not only improved air flow but room for an intercooler core that is over 55% larger than stock.

The Vivid Racing Upgraded Intercooler has integrated aluminum high volume end tanks compared to the OEM intercooler, which uses plastic end tanks.  The aluminum end tanks are designed to improve air flow and help dissipate heat more efficiently.  Each kit comes with mounting brackets and aluminum intercooler piping that has been powder coated black for sleek and durable finish. The factory electronic blow-off valve is retained and kept as a fully closed loop system to keep you going in any condition. The kit also includes all necessary hardware and couplers for a clean installation.

This upgrade is a must have for Ford Raptor and F150 owners who want the most out of their truck or plan to run aftermarket bumpers and accessories as some of these modifications reduce air flow and/or require the factory intercooler to be moved. The Vivid Racing Intercooler Upgrade doesn’t just stand out from behind your grille, it gives you increased performance for whatever driving condition you throw at it!

Features:

• Bar and Plate Intercooler
• High Flow Aluminum End Tanks
• Aluminum Intercooler Piping
• Mounting Brackets
• Silicone Couplers
• Air to Air Intercooler
• Larger Core Size 22” x 12” x 3.5”
• Over 55% More Surface Area Than Stock
• Relocates Intercooler For Better Cooling Location
• Designed to works with Factory Bumper and Frame Cut Bumpers
• Includes Adaptive Cruise Control Relocation Bracket For Raptor
• Does Require Cutting Behind Factory Grille

Fitment:

• Ford Raptor 2017-2021
• Ford F-150 3.5L EcoBoost 2015-2020

This intercooler fits beautifully behind the established grille on the Raptor making this not so much a sleeper upgrade if someone knows what their looking for!

For our upgrade we will be installing the VR Performance Cold Air Intake for the Ford Raptor.

A cold air Intake kit for the Ford F-150 2.7L or 3.5L EcoBoost is one of the first upgrades you should do to your truck.  The twin turbocharged engine that powers the F-150 and the Raptor will benefit from the improved intake design giving you an overall better driving experience.  The VR Performance cold air intake kit gives your EcoBoost better throttle response, allows the turbochargers to spool up quicker, as well as increase torque along with horsepower throughout the entire RPM range.  As you go through the 10 speed transmission, you will hear the turbochargers spool up as they take in a much larger volume of air.  When the driver is not heavy on the throttle, you can even expect a slight improvement to your MPG.  As tested on a stock 2018 Ford Raptor running 91 octane while using our Mustang Dynamometer, the intake made a peak gain of 10 rear wheel horsepower (rwhp) while maintaining a midrange of 12rwhp.  Torque jumped up 20ft/lbs over stock giving you more power off the line and when you need it most!

Vivid Racing’s intake design and manufacturing is all done here in the USA.  The custom high flow cone filter has a large diameter flange taking in air from 360 degrees around. The box design has been engineered to integrate with the factory air snorkel.  The air filter is sealed off from hot engine air with a rubber gasket that is mounted to the one piece box.  Connecting the air filter to the two turbochargers is a one piece, roto molded intake tube that splits off with a clean seamless merge.  With this design, the VR intake tube flows over 100% more air than the stock intake tube.  The intake is finished off with an integrated sensor mount, Vivid Racing silicone couplers, and required hose clamps.

Why Stock Intake is Weak:

A factory intake box can have restrictions from the stock air filter and intake tubes. Looking at the stock intake of the Ford F-150 EcoBoost, you will notice the corrugated tubes that connect the hard piping to the filter box.  This design can cause turbulence to the air flow.  When the air flow is disrupted, this affects performance as the air speed is slowed down.  While air flow is very important, so is the amount of air that can be sucked into the turbochargers compressors.  The stock intake features a flat panel filter design which is common in most vehicles.  These paper air filters are non-reusable and do not have the best flow or surface area needed to gain performance.

Features:

• Lightweight Roto molded Plastic Construction
• Designed as an OEM Replacement
• High Flow and Reusable Cone Air Filter
• Intake Tube Flows Over 100% More than Stock
• Gain over 10HP and 20ft/lbs of Torque

Fitment:

• 17-21 3.5L Raptor
• 15-20 F-150 3.5L EcoBoost
• 15-20 F-150 2.7L EcoBoost
• 18-20 Expedition 3.5L EcoBoost
• 18-20 Navigator 3.5L EcoBoost

This is a beautiful plug-n-play cold air intake that will aid in some big horsepower gains on this Raptor!

For our next piece in this project, we will be installing the VR Performance – Blow Off Valve Adapter.
This new BOV adapter allows the turbo system to vent 100% out to the atmosphere the unused charge air instead of recirculating it back into the intake system. With a standard bypass valve, air going back into the intake can be turbulent or cause compressor surge slowing the turbo spool up. One of the more popular reasons to have a 100% vent to atmosphere setup is that awesome turbo whoosh sound. The black anodized billet aluminum piece easily installs between the charge pipe and factory bypass valve. VR’s BOV Adapter comes with all necessary hardware for an easy install making for a great upgrade. This little guy improves turbo performance and is a no-brainer for this project!

Features:

• 6061 Billet Aluminum
• Black Anodized
• Easy to Install
• Allows Bypass to Vent Atmosphere
• Open to Create Whoosh Sound
• No Tune Required

Fitment:

• 2013-2016 Ford F-150 3.5L EcoBoost
• 2015-2017 Ford F-150 2.7L EcoBoost
• 2017+ Ford Raptor 3.5L EcoBoost

Now I said this would be THREE simple upgrades, but this last one truly does the heavy lifting when taking it to the next level. The VR Tuned – ECU Flash Tune for the Ford Raptor.
Skip the gadgets and programmers and get a true custom ECU flash for your Ford with VR Tuned.  Our ECU Upgrade transforms your truck to a new level with quicker throttle response, increased torque, and more horsepower that pulls to redline.  Overall, the driving characteristics are vastly improved while providing you additional benefits that your Raptor craves. An ECU flash gives you reliable performance when you need it most!  Our easy to use iFlash system allows you to flash the vehicle via the OBDII to easily switch between stock and tuned or even more aggressive stage maps we can send you.  Add an intake, intercooler, full exhaust system and see over a 100 horsepower gain!  As tested on our Mustang Dyno using 91 octane here in Arizona, we saw massive gains throughout the RPM range.  At 3900 rpm we gained over 70ft/lbs of torque and at 5200 rpm saw almost 90 rear wheel horsepower!