Ford Trades the F-150's 2.7 EcoBoost for a 3.0 and Strips the Raptor Down to Its Hardware

The 2.7-liter EcoBoost has long been the F-150's quiet overachiever. For 2027 it is gone. Ford is replacing it with a 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 that shares the 2.7's core architecture, and the reason is not a bigger peak number. It is torque where trucks actually live.

Off Road Xtreme laid out the 2027 changes in detail. Beyond the new engine, the biggest news for enthusiasts is two new equipment groups, Tremor Low and Raptor Low, that pull comfort features out of Ford's off-road trucks while keeping the hardware that makes them worth buying.

A bigger base engine for the same peak

Ford's claim is specific. According to Off Road Xtreme, the 2.7 and 3.0 share the same peak capability, but the 3.0 produces roughly 10 to 11 percent more torque in the part of the operating range where normal driving happens. Ford says it reaches peak pulling power sooner.

That is the right priority for a pickup. Peak horsepower lives near redline, and few trucks spend much time there. More torque low in the rev range shows up when a loaded truck pulls away from a light, merges with a trailer or climbs a grade. Adding displacement to a turbo engine is one of the most direct ways to improve response before the turbos are fully lit.

The 3.0 is rated to tow up to 8,400 pounds in a properly equipped Regular Cab, 6.5-foot box, 4x2 truck, with maximum payload of 1,755 pounds in the same basic configuration.

The rest of the lineup

Above the 3.0, Ford keeps the 3.5-liter EcoBoost, the 3.5-liter PowerBoost hybrid and the 5.0-liter V8. The 3.5 EcoBoost makes 500 lb-ft and gives the F-150 its 13,500-pound maximum tow rating, which requires a 4x4 SuperCrew with the 6.5-foot bed, the Tow/Haul Package and the Max Tow Axle. PowerBoost remains the torque leader at 570 lb-ft and keeps its available 2.4-kW and 7.2-kW Pro Power Onboard.

The news V8 fans will like: the Coyote returns to King Ranch and Platinum for the first time since 2023. Rated at 400 hp and 410 lb-ft on premium fuel, the 5.0 will be available from XL all the way through Platinum.

Tremor Low: keep the dirt parts

Tremor Low is the more interesting idea for off-road buyers. Ford says it keeps the Tremor's off-road hardware and capability while removing equipment that does not help a truck get farther down a trail. It is STX-based with an STX steering wheel, manual air conditioning instead of dual-zone climate, no heated front seats and a six-speaker stereo instead of the eight-speaker B&O system. The off-road running boards are deleted and the power-sliding rear window becomes fixed glass.

Off Road Xtreme makes a good point about those running boards: on a truck that will actually be used off pavement, one less thing hanging below the body may be a feature.

Raptor Low: the same formula, at speed

Raptor Low applies the same thinking to Ford's high-speed off-roader. Ford says it keeps the Raptor's high-performance off-road hardware and capability while deleting the head-up display, fog lamps, the 2-kW Pro Power Onboard, the Mobile Office package, the power passenger seat and under-seat storage. The power steering column becomes manual tilt, and the 14-speaker B&O system drops to eight speakers.

The Raptor has grown into a sophisticated and expensive truck since the original SVT version. Raptor Low asks buyers which half of that equation they actually care about. For anyone planning to add a long-travel kit, bigger tires or a prerunner build, deleting a head-up display to keep the factory suspension and chassis is an easy trade.

BlueCruise learns to tow

The 2027 F-150 is also the first Ford to offer BlueCruise with Towing. Ford says more than 75 percent of F-150 customers tow, and the system allows hands-free, eyes-on driving with a compatible trailer on more than 130,000 miles of pre-qualified divided highways. Trailer type, size and weight can affect availability, and not every BlueCruise function works while towing. Owners with an active BlueCruise subscription will not pay extra for the towing feature.

Ford says it tested the towing function over thousands of miles of US roads and in its Dynamic Driving Simulator with different trailer combinations. BlueCruise-equipped trucks from XLT and Tremor through Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum can use it, and the driver remains responsible for hitching, loading and monitoring the trailer.

Visual changes are evolutionary: redesigned grilles and new wheels on XLT, Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum, plus a $4,195 Carhartt package on 4x4 XLT Crew Cabs that puts that truck's starting MSRP at $62,660 before destination.

The Carhartt package, available on 4x4 XLT Crew Cabs, adds unique 20-inch wheels, Carhartt fender vents and badging, rocker and tailgate graphics, a cowl hood, a modified grille, dual exhaust, off-road running boards and a Carhartt spray-in bedliner, Off Road Xtreme reports. Ford says customer feedback asked for a more modern take on the F-150's familiar look rather than a radical redesign.

Taken together, the 2027 update raises the floor of the lineup with a bigger base engine and, for once, lowers the price of entry to Ford's best off-road hardware by taking things away instead of adding them.