Spied! 2023 Ford Bronco Raptor rips open its own fenders

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Clever girl. In the process of testing the upcoming Raptor variant of the very popular Ford Bronco, the outrageous animal seems to have adapted to its surroundings and sprouted a set of gnarly fender vents.

Like all good predators, this particular Raptor has evolved from its other variants to include features which enable it to better attack its prey. In this case, that prey is an array of tough off-road trails.

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Perhaps seeking to exhaust as much hot air as possible from its engine bay during slow-speed technical manoeuvres when heat tends to build rapidly, our spy photogs report the latest Bronco Raptor test mule now has a pair of vents on both its port and starboard forward flanks. Check ‘em out in this photo gallery.

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Heat soak is the enemy of performance, so it would make sense for a hot-rodded Bronco to need some extra cooling tricks. After all, the size of its engine bay has not changed despite Ford’s plans to plug a larger-displacement (or at least higher-output) twin-turbo V6 into this most psychotic of Bronco SUVs. These vents should also help extract residual heat during high-speed blasts across desert dunes and other wide-open spaces.

All other Raptor signatures seem to be in place, including the F O R D billboard grille and a brutish overall width which will surely make this thing the bane of every drive-thru window in existence. Its driver will have to speak loudly to communicate with a McServer in the McWindow. While it’s true that’s not the natural habitat of a Bronco Raptor, you’re kidding yourself if you think these things won’t spend an inordinate amount of time on pavement.

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Speaking of, our boots on the ground suggest those are BFGoodrich AT All-Terrain T/A tires measuring 17 inches in diameter, though that exact detail could not be confirmed and is an easy part to swap out between testing and production. There will surely be several wheel and tire options on the Bronco Raptor, and you can be certain Ford is going to clap back at Jeep’s quick response to its 35-inch tire offering. Are factory 37s out of the question?

We’ll have to wait and see. All signs point to the Bronco Raptor officially showing up for duty in the first quarter of 2022.