Opinions on Ford Lightnings...

[BoogieQ]

I have recently become real interested in Ford Lightnings... I want a comfy riding vehicle, with a V8, RWD and a blower.. this seems to fit right in and it's fairly rare.. only like 25,000 made so far..

So at any rate, have any of you encoutered them on the roads? Any run real well? Anyone *hehe animal* own one and have opinions?

Any quirks and issues you know of with them?

Last of all, do you respect them?

Anyways.. thanks for the thoughts!
Adam

[Milw96Cobra]

If I were to own a truck,

it would be a Lightning

[Knyghtmare]

If I were to own a truck

It would be a Z-71

[SILVER02GTP]

just get one of these finally some competition for the lightnings. 13.4 @101 for 26k http://www.chapmansupertrucks.com/

[Yooformula]

I am all for tuner trucks and all but for that money its just a damm silverado with a blower for $26k. It doesnt even have rims or suspension work?!?! I would buy the Lightning and get a handling truck with nice wheels, gobs of power and a warranty for EVERYTHING.

[Prince Valiant]

Lightnings are great trucks...but for the price I think I would lean for a cobra. Still fits all of your criteria.


OR buy my truck for alot less and stick a blower on it...

[SILVER02GTP]

you get the full gm warranty on the truck 3y/36k then you add a nice set of aftermarket wheels and suspension and you would problay still come out cheaper than a lightning and be just as happy

[animal]

Boogie,

I answered your email for ya. It was lengthy, but thorough.

I should add, if you'd like I can meet up with you sometime and give you a ride.

[Rocket Power]

If I had Lightning money ,there would be one in my driveway

[BLUTO]

Many have encountered mine on the roads,,,, doubt they want to admit the outcome If you drive one, you will have to have one. I dont even like fords but I bought one. Besides, its not a ford, its an SVT-BIG DIFFERENCE! And that Eaton howl- you will know when a Lightning passes you, its quite loud.

[SLOWC5]

Bluto wha does your L run?

JEFF

[Stangman98]

I plan on picking up a Lightning in 2005 (used 2000) that my friends dad owns. I absolutly love them. Great trucks!

[BLUTO]

Originally posted by 2FSTGTP
Bluto wha does your L run?

JEFF

I have no clue what BLUTO runs, I didnt get to the Grove yet, but Im only 15min away
These trucks suffer BIG TIME from heat, up to a full sec in 1/4mi. Also traction is a real problem for Lightnings-or any pickup.
Im waiting for a cool tuesday nite and then we'll see what big fat Bluto runs.

[BoogieQ]

Why would they suffer from heat so much when they have a stock water to air intercooler?

Thanks everyone for the thoughts so far!! Much appreciated!

... And thanks to animal for the mad review!!!!

[SLOWC5]

If you think your truck really suffers from heat..?? then go drive a GTP. A "L" comes with a Intercooler, Water-to-Air there should be no real problems with heat. Yes it is affected but not nearly as much as a GTP of other SCed cars without a IC. Now that I'm intercooled, heat plays no role in my performance...As you can see by my time, Along with that fact I'm FWD and your RWD, another reason traction should be little problem. Traction bars and DR's or slicks.

JEFF

[Anakonda69]

u could buy a base model f-150 and make it into the same truck as a lightning for cheaper then paying for the "lightning"......then u also get cheaper insurance to due just owning a plain 2wd f-150 pickup...

[BoogieQ]

and just how would you do that?

Plus it wouldnt look as nice and cool...

[animal]

Originally posted by Anakonda69
u could buy a base model f-150 and make it into the same truck as a lightning for cheaper then paying for the "lightning"......then u also get cheaper insurance to due just owning a plain 2wd f-150 pickup...

No way. And especially not while still having a warranty, the suede leather wraparound seats and interior, the suspension and improved steering, the transmission and rearend that won't break when you give it 450 ft/lbs of torque (yes they are beefed up in the L), and all the other little things you just don't pay attention to when you generalize the f-150. It all adds up. Anyone can go spend 4k and drop a blower on there, but the rest of the stuff that makes it an svt just won't be there, let alone the reliability of the drivetrain for something not made for that purpose.

Plus, is $600/year really THAT much for insurance? I don't feel it is.

I honestly felt the same way as you, until I really looked into it alot and started adding up what it'd cost. The money you'd save would be completely offset by the headache of obtaining the forementioned areas, and tuning them to work together every day like they do on the L as it is from the showroom.

A full second from heat? Something that drastic might be possible if you race in 110 degrees in colorado, and then go to -500 ft with 40* air. Here's some real world numbers from my L....

96* 85% humidity = 14.09@97.9 2.000 60' ~29.0 barometer
40* <40% humidity = 13.33@102.8 1.969 60' ~31.0 barometer

Both of those runs were made with the truck identical. First one was august of last year, second was a tuesday night in Oct.

Even with a stock intercooler, the heat, humidity, and air pressure are all factors. Probably not quite as much as the non-intercooled engines, but it hurts nonetheless.

Alas alot CAN be done with chip tuning. Warm weather pcm programs can eliminate alot of the loss you see in the heat by bumping the timing a bit and changing a little fuel curve. The stock lightning program is pig rich from the factory, and it only gets worse in the heat. Alot of that is why they lose so much in the heat. Some guys have seen a/f ratios of 10.4 on a stock lightning. Another reason our tailpipes turn black in about 50 miles. My opinion is that the fuel/timing tune on the gm s/c cars is alot better from the factory, but that's why we have aftermarket parts I think alot of it is that they had to tune these to run in 120* death valley heat, and -30* canadian wintery air. So they went on the fat side in hopes they wouldn't see them all come back in the winter with detonation problems. (that's just what I think anyways)


BLUTO?!
What color is your L? Are you the white one I see rolling around? Have you checked out the wisvtoa site yet?

[Syclone0044]

Originally posted by 2FSTGTP
If you think your truck really suffers from heat..?? then go drive a GTP. A "L" comes with a Intercooler, Water-to-Air there should be no real problems with heat. Yes it is affected but not nearly as much as a GTP of other SCed cars without a IC. Now that I'm intercooled, heat plays no role in my performance...

I have 2 turbo cars, both intercooled. My truck has an air to water intercooler and my car has an air to air. Both are significantly affected by heat. I run my worst times in the heat and best times in the cool crisp spring/fall nights. I would almost think a hot air (non intercooled) forced induction motor would be less affected by heat because if you think about a really hot day with an air to water intercooler, its really not going to be doing a whole lot of intercooling if the water temps are high to begin with due to high ambient air temp. So the change to a cold day with a cold IC would be much larger. How much slower is your GTP (in the non intercooled days) on a hot day?

As you can see by my time, Along with that fact I'm FWD and your RWD, another reason traction should be little problem. Traction bars and DR's or slicks.

I know FWD sucks for drag racing but I don't think RWD is the traction miracle you think it is. I ran 2.15 60' on all season street tires in my forced induction FWD Grand Prix and I've seen RWD V8s that couldnt match those times with their street tires. The FWD has a lot more weight over the front. But once you start making more power the FWD shows its weakness. So in short, RWD is superior for drag racing but not by perhaps as large a margin as your post suggests. Ask the guy with RWD if he finds "traction to be little problem" with his RWD truck.

Josh

[BoogieQ]

I wonder if a chevy SS would be a better choice?

....Although I'm still hung on the Lightning