I lost some respect for the Ford lightning. Just a lil'

[Dark_5.0]

Last weekend there was a new ford lightning running 14.0 @99 and I thought damn that is pretty quick I wonder if he is stock I went over and talked to him and sure enough he was stock except for a K&N. He said he paid $34,000.00 for his truck. I told him that he had a damn nice ride and went back to watch the races.

When I see what appears to be a regular cab step side 5.4L tritan V8 truck. I thought to myself that he should run a low 16. I thought wrong he ran a 13.6 @104 on street tires spinning bad through first. I had to go talk to this guy to see what he had, he had some sort of vortech supercharger and full exhaust. I told him damn your truck is fast and complimented him on his ride.

To try and make a long story short the two trucks raced 5 or 6 times each time the lightning got spanked, by the last race the lightning had the tailgait off the spare tire out and his sub-woofer box laying on the ground and still noway.

I am not bashing the lightning it was just nice to see someone mod a truck for 10,000.00 less than a lightning and kick @ss.



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88 mustang gt convertible bored to 306 BBk equal length headers, mac cold air fender kit, 3.73 FMS gears, Steeds Tri-ax shifter, Steeda underdrive pullies, Custom off road X-pipe, 2 chamber flow masters, cowl hood, nitto drag radials, ford racing clutch, 160* thermostat 16 degrees of timing electric fan off 94' t-bird jacobs electronics cap and wires. Edelbrock 1 1/2 inch drop springs. (Best E.T. 14.79@93mph @3000ft)

[blue00gt]

I believe MM&FF says the '02 Lightning can pull low 13s bone stock on street tires. The previous couple of years are a little slower.

[Dark_5.0]

Originally posted by blue00gt:
I believe MM&FF says the '02 Lightning can pull low 13s bone stock on street tires. The previous couple of years are a little slower.

Thats probably true but alttitude kills

[ThreePonyStable]

At New Engalnd Dragway a week or two ago, there were a bunch of Lightnings there and the slowest was mid 13s. There were probably 3-4 others running between 12.4 and 12.8. There was also an older 60s or 70s Bronco with the lift and 31" tires. SHE pulled off a 12.6x at over 110 mph, wow that truck flew.

[91LX2Bfast]

Yeah, no respect should be lost. They are always a few times where a vehicle can't perform the way it should.
There are already a couple Lightnings running 11's with just bolt on's. Just things like chip, TB, blower pulleys, exhaust, slicks, traction bars, etc. No internal work or nitrous. That is so damn impressive for a vehicle with a curb wieght of 4670lbs, then figure in driver and gas and your pushing + or - 4900lbs.
Nope, no respect lost. Just more and more respect each day.

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1997 Thunderbird 4.6L: Dynomax cat-back, MN-12 perf. offroad downtubes and Y-pipe w/ Magnaflow resonator, 80mm MAF with cone filter, B&M trans cooler, Inject-Tech chip, MAC U/D pulleys, KVR front brake upgrade, SVO 70mm TB. 15.2 @ 91 w/ just chip and MAF. 14's next time to the track.

No Longer own: 91 LX 5.0L 5 spd

[69fastback]

the guy with the f 150 didn't pay that much less for that truck. A f 150 like that is a 26 27 thousand dollar truck. So with the supercharger and exhuast it is more like 30,000 but that is fast *** hell for one of those trucks too. I would love to have mine run a time like that. that would be crazy.

[Dark_5.0]

Originally posted by 69fastback:
the guy with the f 150 didn't pay that much less for that truck. A f 150 like that is a 26 27 thousand dollar truck. So with the supercharger and exhuast it is more like 30,000 but that is fast *** hell for one of those trucks too. I would love to have mine run a time like that. that would be crazy.

Here were I live those trucks sell new for 21 or 22 thousand. I only paid 21 thousand for my GMC fully loaded with V8.

[topless tire fryer]

Originally posted by 5.0 HO:
Here were I live those trucks sell new for 21 or 22 thousand. I only paid 21 thousand for my GMC fully loaded with V8.

Dang, I'm moving to Odessa. Picture a super crew F150 with these mods. Take the whole family down the track in roughly 14 seconds!


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'95 Chrome Yellow GT ragtop, KN filter charger, Dynomax cat back, Accel plugs and wires, Chromed '95 Cobra R's (bought for $19.95, now 2 are warped!
Our baby <a href="http://www.mustangworks.com/cgi-bin/moi-display.cgi?1883">

This brings up something that has crossed my mind before.. I thought of getting a 5.4 and adding a blower but.. will a regular 5.4 hold up for any length of time?? What is the difference in the lightning 5.4 and the regular 5.4? Anyone know?

[NO SLO PK]

I gotta jump in. Sure, the new Lightning is costly but it was designed and tuned to go the distance with factory reliability. It has a warranty. It has cornering skills. It has potential to go even faster. Any other stock vehicle can go fast by adding a Vortech, but you lose the stock reliability. You would certainly lose the warranty. The point is that the Lightning is factory tuned performance vehicle with factory reliability. If we want to get into the argument of cost vs. performance than just add the biggest NOS kit to any base V8 truck and you'll have your contender.

Hey rbatson, nloc.org has the production specs. If not, you can ask the Gen2 Lightning ownwers on that same board.

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Russ L
'91 LX
Procharger, 3 row intercooler, extrude honed Cobra intake, Mac full Length Headers, 30# inj., 73mm C&L, 75mm tb, E303 cam, 289 rods, ported E7 heads, MSD, T-Rex w/255 lph Walbro, 5 lug conversion, Cobra R wheels, 3.27 gears and Moser Axles.



[This message has been edited by NO SLO PK (edited 11-09-2001).]

[Dark_5.0]

The people that buy these trucks dont buy them for reliability but for speed.

36,000 mi warranty doesnt go very far. I love the lightning's but after what I saw I think I would rather build my own fast truck.

I thought about making my GMC fast but I dont want to mess up the perfectly quiet idle and smooth ride it has. Sometimes I get tired of hearing my flowmasters and its nice to ride in a quiet vehicle.

to each his own


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88 mustang gt convertible bored to 306 BBk equal length headers, mac cold air fender kit, 3.73 FMS gears, Steeds Tri-ax shifter, Steeda underdrive pullies, Custom off road X-pipe, 2 chamber flow masters, cowl hood, nitto drag radials, ford racing clutch, 160* thermostat 16 degrees of timing electric fan off 94' t-bird jacobs electronics cap and wires. Edelbrock 1 1/2 inch drop springs. (Best E.T. 14.79@93mph @3000ft)

[NO SLO PK]

Originally posted by 5.0 HO:
The people that buy these trucks dont buy them for reliability but for speed.

36,000 mi warranty doesnt go very far. I love the lightning's but after what I saw I think I would rather build my own fast truck.

to each his own

Sorry to say but that's a blanket statement that is probably wrong in many cases. I know a lot of Lightning owners that use them as primary vehicles, so reliability IS very important and a definite purchase consideration. Many Lightning owners including myself bought these trucks to commute with.

Although a 3 yr./36k warranty isn't a lot, can't you purchase the exteneded warranty for not a lot of dough?

I appreciate that you're going to build your own fast truck. But IMO, building one that's fast and commuter reliable is not as straightforward as building one that's just fast. All I'm saying is that the new L can do both, and that's part of what you're paying for.

Russ

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Russ L
'91 LX
Procharger, 3 row intercooler, extrude honed Cobra intake, Mac full Length Headers, 30# inj., 73mm C&L, 75mm tb, E303 cam, 289 rods, ported E7 heads, MSD, T-Rex w/255 lph Walbro, 5 lug conversion, Cobra R wheels, 3.27 gears and Moser Axles.

[Dark_5.0]

Originally posted by NO SLO PK:
Sorry to say but that's a blanket statement that is probably wrong in many cases. I know a lot of Lightning owners that use them as primary vehicles, so reliability IS very important and a definite purchase consideration. Many Lightning owners including myself bought these trucks to commute with.

Although a 3 yr./36k warranty isn't a lot, can't you purchase the exteneded warranty for not a lot of dough?

I appreciate that you're going to build your own fast truck. But IMO, building one that's fast and commuter reliable is not as straightforward as building one that's just fast. All I'm saying is that the new L can do both, and that's part of what you're paying for.

Russ

Point well taken....I am not bashing the lightning but if the lightning ran a 16 would you pay the big bucks.

When you first got in your lightning did you say damn this truck is reliable or did you say damn this truck is fast

The lightning does an excellent job at speed and reliability as well as handling. I was just just really impressed with the other guys truck.


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88 mustang gt convertible bored to 306 BBk equal length headers, mac cold air fender kit, 3.73 FMS gears, Steeds Tri-ax shifter, Steeda underdrive pullies, Custom off road X-pipe, 2 chamber flow masters, cowl hood, nitto drag radials, ford racing clutch, 160* thermostat 16 degrees of timing electric fan off 94' t-bird jacobs electronics cap and wires. Edelbrock 1 1/2 inch drop springs. (Best E.T. 14.79@93mph @3000ft)

[NO SLO PK]

I wouldn't pay the money for a Lightning if it were slow...but if that were the case it wouldn't be a Lightning .

I guess after spending tons of money on my 5.0 for different blowers and repairs, I felt a little stupid. I could have bought a more expensive car that was fast and reliable to begin with.

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Russ L
'91 LX
Procharger, 3 row intercooler, extrude honed Cobra intake, Mac full Length Headers, 30# inj., 73mm C&L, 75mm tb, E303 cam, 289 rods, ported E7 heads, MSD, T-Rex w/255 lph Walbro, 5 lug conversion, Cobra R wheels, 3.27 gears and Moser Axles.

[shoyoas]

"When you first got in your lightning did you say damn this truck is reliable or did you say damn this truck is fast"

Well 5.0 HO, at the same time who would by a cobra mustang just because it's reliable (to an extent!)? I didn't get in my Cobra and say boy this car is reliable, but if I knew it wasn't well built I wouldn't have gotten it regarless of if it ran 13's or 10's!

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'99 SVT Cobra #1689
Mobil 1 synthesized
Best ET 14.09@100.7
Best 60' 2.28
I'll learn how to drive this thing soon!

[Dark_5.0]

Originally posted by shoyoas:
"When you first got in your lightning did you say damn this truck is reliable or did you say damn this truck is fast"

Well 5.0 HO, at the same time who would by a cobra mustang just because it's reliable (to an extent!)? I didn't get in my Cobra and say boy this car is reliable, but if I knew it wasn't well built I wouldn't have gotten it regarless of if it ran 13's or 10's!

Man I thought that you new if you see the blue oval then it is a good quality car.

Thats what I go by