Hennessey VelociRaptor 6x6

WE SAY: JOHN AND THE CREW HAVE SUPERSIZED THE RAPTOR

If you thought a normal Raptor was a bit OTT, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The Texans have added more wheels and more power. The 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 has been turned up to 600bhp and 622lb ft, thanks to an upgraded turbo set-up, bigger intercooler and a remapped ECU that’ll see 0–60mph in under fve seconds. Note the size of the vehicle. Note the number of wheels. Now marvel at the physics required.

The fabrication process was simple; an angle grinder and some Texan know-how. John Hennessey and his team grafted on an extra 2ft6in of length by getting a custom 9in axle, then inverting a hefty leaf spring that can accommodate two wheels on one pivoting hub without them clapping together like a Newton’s cradle. Drive is fed to the rear four wheels via the standard 10spd ’box and a transfer case packed with magic. Safe to say it’s vast. Largely thanks to a Brodozer-style 8in lift kit and 8ft pickup bed. But what you gain in ride height and status you lose in agility. Adding a lengthy wheelbase and two big wheels bumps up the mass at critical points. It corners more lethargically and with little feedback compared with a standard Raptor. But having the incredibly simplistic leaf-spring suspension set-up has also increased the stifness. A lot. Where the standard Raptor impresses with its languid water-bed-like Fox shocks, the 6x6 has the composure and compliance of an old Hilux.

But you forgive it because it’s hilarious. Largely through its un-truck-like performance. In no way is it as sophisticated or wellengineered as Merc’s sixwheeled G63 (twin suspension for each wheel assembly, portal axles and more dif locks than you can shake an input shaft at), but at £260k (no donor car needed), Hennessey’s Raptor is a lot cheaper than the £370k G63 6x6, yet gives of the same imperious ‘mine is bigger than yours’ efect. Which, to some, is all they desire.