Friend's 93 Lightning wants to race my Nascar. What do i need?
 

Ok, my friend just bought a 1993 Lightning. That year L had the 5.8 with 245hp and 360ft/lbs and the 4.10 rear end. Performance stats say his truck will go from 0-60 in 7.2, but i think he would slow down after that because of the low hp and 4.10 axle. Somebody told me taht his 1/4 mile time is over 15 seconds.

I have a 98 Nascar, with a 4.6L 220hp 290ft/lbs and the 3.73 rear axle. I have no clue what my 0-60 time is nor my 1/4 mile. I was wondering how good of a chance would i have if i got a Superchips Micro Tuner and a Transgo S/K. All i have done so far to my engine is cut open the airbox.

I was also wondering, with the Micro Tuner, is there like a controller or remote that i can change the settings without getting to the computer?

Thanks for your help!

- Rick -

HI!... "WHAT DO I NEED?" My truck, and you'll smoke him!LOL!:devil:

THE 93 ran somewhere between 15.2 to 15.5 (guess). so you will need more than a chip and shift kit,

I am really going to show my ignorance on this one but wtf is a 98 nascar with a 4.6?

F150NASCAR04

i have two friends that had the generation 1 lightnings. The one that was the most stock was a 94. All he had was a k&n filter, chip (which he said did nothing), and underdrive pulleys. The best he ran was a mid 9.6 in the 1/8 and 15.2 in the 1/4. The other had his heads ported and he ran low 9.5's and high 14's in the 1/4. I have an 01' f150 with the mods listed below and the best i have run is a 9.4 in the 1/8. The torgue and the 4.10 gears on those truck made them move pretty well for what they were. So needless to say its gonna take a good bit to hang with him unless he has a slow truck. I have a friend on here with a 97' 4.6 regular cab w/ a lot of mods and the best he has run is a 9.6. Maybe this will give you some idea of what you are up against.

*the nascar edition ford was an all black f150 with black rims. The only real color it had was the Nascar decal going down the side of the bed. I believe they only came with the 4.6L....if not then i've never seen one with the 5.4.

Yeah, the Nascar edition has the checkered flag graphics with the Nascar logo on the bed and tailgate. It also has a special handling package with the Nascar logo embroidered on the seats and floor mats. My truck came with black wheels and yellow raised letter tires when it was stock. However it has 17inch American Racing rims now with plain tires. They only made 3000 of them, so thats why you hardly ever see them, if ever.

Anyways, his engine he says is completely stock, and it has like 115,000 miles, or somewhere around that.

About the superchips micro tuner. I was looking at the dyno results on Mr. Troyer's web site, and it claims a new 4.6L engine will gain 26hp and 40ft/lbs. However, the the actual dyno results dont look like that. Or is that at the crank?? im confused.

Also, does the microtuner have a remote or something to tune the shifts and speedo?

Thanks again for your help, and Neal your a funny guy, how much for it? lol

- Rick -

Its gonna be hard for you. I would put my money on the Gen 1 Lightning. The 240hp they had is under rated, they are damn fast for what they are. Last time I was at the track, a guy had a stock 95 L and he was running low 15s all day. Another guy had a 2002 F-150 reg cab short bed 5.4L 3.73, and he was running high 16s, both had no traction problems. Those Gen 1s are just pretty quick, hell they beat the old chevy trucks that had the 454s in them LOL

A Reg cab short bed with a 5.4l and 3:73 gears ran high 16's? Raouls truck is the same except for 3:55's and he ran a 15.7.

raouls truck is the fastest stock 5.4 regular cab here, most claim 16.0 to 16.4.
the 93 was under rated. the 5.8 had gt-40 heads and gt-40 intake. compared to the new lightning it is slow but compared to the other trucks, then or now, 15.2 to 15.5 is descent.

BROTHERDAVE

what kind of times does Raoul run? I searched for it but can't seem to find it anywhere.

justin

Best time in optimum weather conditions at 53' above sealevel.

15.712@85.21

The truck that ran the high 16's...wouldn't the 3.73 gears indicate that it is a 4x4?


Oops! wrong pic in sig.:D
(I'll have to fix that)

just_right, those mods seem to have done you some good.

you,
*as of 11/22/2002*
60'.............2.054
330............6.080
1/8 mile.....9.441@73.05mph
1/4 mile.....???

me,
60'.............2.233
330............6.474
1/8mile....10.028@69.54
1/4mile....15.712@85.21
(The truck is just like it was drove off the lot)

Hi Rick,

On that dyno graph, that is *not* a plot to represent maximum power gain, though it's perfectly natural to think that simply because of it's presence. What that really is, is a plot just showing what happened during an upshift to show the before & after just from pulling various delays & retards from the automatic transmission programming that are part of Ford's soft-shift strategy. Years ago when the Webmaster here put up our "quick & dirty" online ordering system just for the Superchips products, he snagged a dyno plot from the manufacturer's web site (he was doing us a favor & trying to make it look nice, it should be pointed out!) and that's the one you see. It depicts rear wheel differences just from the change in those aspects of the *transmission* programming in an automatic. It was never supposed to be a plot representing a maximum power gain comparison.

That plot is actually in our online ordering system *here*, on our web site at TroyerPerformance.com, we're just linking to that for right now as our own online store is being built.

Also, the power gains you see listed for the 4.6 motor, the 26 HP & 40 lbs./ft., that is SAE Net at the flywheel, just as your factory stock power rating is expressed, those are not rear wheel gains as you see in that plot.

The Micro Tuner will shave an average of about a half-second off the 0-60 times, to as much as 7-8 tenths for the 4.6 automatics, it's easily the single best bang for the buck performance modification, optimizing the powertrain programming in just about any vehicle usually is. Having a Micro Tuner and a hacked airbox isn't going to make that truck do 0-60 in 7 seconds flat or so, which is about what you'll need to take on a healthy 1st. Gen. Lightning.

The NASTRUCK is a lighter & lower version of the 4.6 F-150 for the 1998 model year, with a 4.6L (281 cu. in) engine making 220 HP stock. On paper, with the Micro Tuner and the opened airbox your horsepower level looks close (ideally even a tad higher if the planets are perfectly aligned) than the factory rating for horsepower on the 1st. Gen. Lightning, but there is a *big* difference in torque. That 5.8 (351) GT-40 head equipped Lightning motor has gobs of torque, and was a bit underrated in the HP department too, figure they usually make anywhere from 250-265 HP no sweat, and some a bit more.

He's probably going to pull you out of the hole and outpower you a bit on the top end due to the GT-40 heads that 351 motor has, so I wouldn't expect to be able to beat a 1st. Gen Lightning with a NASTRUCK with just the Micro Tuner and whacked airbox for mods. The shift kit won't get you any more power, though it will reduce shift duration a bit & might give you as much as another tenth of a second or so (that's about 1 truck length in teh 1.4 mile) over what the Micro Tuner will do by itself, so it's worth doing for a nice tight crisp shift to bark the tires. :)

I think it would be a very interesting reace to see happen, so if you do it (be careful!!) let us know what happens, as on paper it makes for an interesting matchup. I predict he'll still pull you by a couple of truck lengths in the 1/4 mile, but it just might be close, you never know what condition a vehicle is really in until you run it!

I should also add that i am bidding on 4.10 differential gears. I hear this is a great ET modification, and will save city mileage. Im not the kind of person that likes to cruise at 90mph so i dont really care about top end speed. I measured my tires yesterday and they were 29 inches tall, so if i get a micro tuner, how would i program it to read out the correct speed?

And last, once i get a chip, shift kit, and the gears installed, will i then have a greater chance at beating him? I have heard rumors that he has headers and exhaust on his, but have not seen for myself yet.

Thanks for the GREAT replies!!!

- Rick -