Roush F-150 Nitemare is world's quickest ute

Roush Performance says its latest Ford F-150 super-ute, the Nitemare, is the king of the 0-60mph (0-96km/h) sprint with a time of 3.9 seconds.

That could translate to 100km/h in about four seconds flat, which would make the American pick-up as quick as the $160,900 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S sedan.

After performance testing of the Roush F-150 Nitemare wrapped up at Milan Dragway, not far from Detroit, the US Ford tuning house posted a video showing the Roush Nitemare launching at the drag strip.

Corroborated by VBOX timing hardware, Roush claims the Nitemare’s 3.9sec 0-100mph run makes the modified Ford F-150 the world's quickest production pick-up truck.

Jack Roush Jr declares the F-150 Nitemare regular cab (two-door) and super crew (four-door) to be "the quickest production trucks ever made."

There is, however, a disclaimer at the end of the video that states "Based on comparison to 0-60mph production vehicle test data published by leading US automotive publications as of June 2019".

In North America, the Roush F-150 Nitemare costs $US19,150 on top of the price of the vehicle, and at its core is a supercharged 5.0-litre V8 that pumps out 485kW (650hp) of power and 827Nm (610ft-lb) of torque.

By comparison, the fastest mainstream ute or pick-up in Australia is the Volkswagen Amarok 580 Ultimate, whose 190kW/580Nm 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel stops the clock at 7.3 seconds.

That said, Tickford does offer its own take on the imported Ford F-150 in Australia, in the form of an upgrade kit for the 3.5-litre twin-turbo Ecoboost V6, which hikes power to 354kW/780Nm -- although that truck's straight-line performance has not yet been tested.

The F-150 Nitemare is fitted with a Roush TVS R2650 supercharger package, plus a specific exhaust system, 22-inch black alloy wheels with 285/45 tyres, lowered suspension kit, massaged front-end design (grille and bumper) and various decals on the front and sides – including stars and stripes flag.

"This truck will speed past most supercars on the way to the track or the lumber yard," reads the official press release, which also lists several options including a leather-lined interior fit-out and active exhaust system.

The special exhaust set-up makes use of a valve system, adjustable via a dial in the cabin, to switch between four different exhaust tones. There's also a mobile app that allows users to customise the exhaust acoustics.