In an article at Pickup Truck.com http://www.pickuptruck.com/html/auto...ightning1.html you state the following:

Performance numbers are sure to change but in Scarpello’s view, “You have to be careful about getting hung up on certain specs. We (SVT) would give up having the best 0-60 times but we won’t let go of the ¼-mile. That’s our performance benchmark.”

If I interpret this correctly, then I am assuming that dragracing not road racing is the main reason for this truck.

To that end I would suggest the following.

DON'T WANTS

1. IRS--Power robber and not good for dragracing. The guys with your new Cobra that are drag racing are breaking the half shafts when the wheels hop. They are trading entire rearend setups with the Bullit guys to get rid of it.

2. MANUAL TRANSMISSSIONS- No, no, no. Automatics are much more consistant and much easier to stage than stick shifts.

3. BREMNO BRAKES-NO, all I see are big dollar signs for something that is totally unnecessary. I put NAPA Ceramic pads on the front of mine to aid in braking before the line but even with stock brakes the truck stopped fine.

DO WANTS

1. SUPER COOLING-Yea, several of us have discussed this idea in the past but we never had the resources to make it work. To be used at the track the A/C system cannot drip water so if the condenser is also working it will be necessary to build a Katch Can into the system so no water drips on track and with a quick release drain that you can reach under and get to and release without any tools just your hands.

2. 500 HORSEPOWER-- Yea! In the immortal words of Stroker McGurk SOME IS GOOD, MORE IS BETTER, AND TOO MUCH IS JUST ENOUGH!

3. MANLY RODS-No Matter what give us the "Good Rods."


Now you will get a lot of other opinions but nobody on any of these boards races their Lightning more than I do and nobody wins as often as I do. I have over 78,000 miles on my 99 L and over 1800 passes at my dragstrip. The above is what I would not like and what I would like on the next generation Lightning.

Kindest regards,

Noel Mc Gaughey

 

Noel

I would have thought you could have come with a longer list than that ... LOL


Lets see what kind of feedback we get ...

Personally I think an Auto with either paddle shift or a slap shifter like the 300m would be perfect. That way as Noel mentioned you could use the Auto at the track and if you just wante dto have some fun with the torque in the power band you could use the Paddle shifter....

Decent Head gaskets that stay in would be nice... I am on my 3rd set.. Blows out in the same spot every time...

Doug

 

Doug,
I'm a realist. Ask Santa Clause for too much and you will get nothing. There must be something wrong with your engine. I'm running a 4 lb pulley and shifting at 5500 and I have had no head gasket problems. (knock on wood) All I really want is a truck that is as reliable as my 99 and able to kick the crap out of anything anybody else makes. Sure I would like a better stereo, but I can fix that. Traction bars, I can add that. Bigger intercooler radiator, I can add that, less restrictive air cleaner and blow tube, I can fix that. Just give me the biggies, I can fix the little things.
noelvm

 

[sarcasm on ]
No Kidding - 3 gasket leaks means there is something wrong with the block on the pass side in the rear ? Nah.. Couldnt be
[sarcasm off]

Doug

 

Surely with all the stroke you have on this board you should be able to get a new motor?

Yea, I know. Don't call you Surely.


After thought: FORD--Leave the bolt pattern on the wheels alone so we can immediately get and use aftermarket wheels for slicks and everything else we want. DON'T CHANGE IT!

I don't care for or will run any tire that has such a low UTOG Number (below 400) that they wil not go at least 50K. Your stock wheels are in my garage. I run 16" wheels where there is a good selection of tires.

 

Even if the perception was true ..( it aint )
Would I want a "new" motor ?

They can keep the 2001 - 2002 - 2003 motors with eggshells for rods.. If mine was gonna throw a rod it would have....

Doug

 

hey silver,

you dont' have any issues with your heads or your block do you that keeps blowing out your gaskets do you?....man that would pi$$ me off...have you had it checked out....(outside of dealer)?
Just wondering.......

 

The 5.4 is FAMOUS for blowing the pass rear head gasket .. Supercharged or not ... WELL known problem...

Doug

 

I agree 110%,but it had better have at least a dohc navi motor with forged internals if it is going to put out 500 hp.

In other words....no 3 valve motor please

 

I believe the 5.4 used in the concept is the new GT40 engine, which is all aluminum and is a good engine (rumor is that it will be offered as a crate engine rated at ~450hp NA). I don't think we will have to worry about its sturdiness, not until long past the 550hp (supercooler burst) rating. I think Coletti himself said that this engine would be something racers are going to be dying to get their hands on (speaking of the crate engine, which in general should also apply to the production engine going by what is offered atm from Ford).

Everyone is so hard on IRS, and I know the reasons why but I also know that IRS has a very nice potential to be both a good drag strip and a great road-race piece in one. Not to mention everyday driving would be much smoother. I personally want both straight line and cornering ability. I say keep it, as long as they engineer it right and it doesn't have tons of problems

If your really hardcore against IRS, then I have a solution...AWD. I think that would cure your fears of wheel hop, would still allow all the handling benefits of IRS, and in general would probably do much more for the Lightnings (street oriented) drag performance then anything else you can do (seriously how well do you think a 500hp truck is going to launch on street tires?). If the AWD system was dead reliable, even up to 650+hp, and did not add much weight, I think it would be a very nice upgrade.

 

They would have to make it out of unobtainium to meet your specs...

Doug

 

All they need is 10 yr financing to make it obtainable

 

If your right, then someone needs to tell Ford that their F-350 4x4 drivetrains are too good....

I met a guy with a powerstroke engine making over 1000ft-lbs of torque (more boost, propane, nitrous, you name it he had it). This is in an super cab, long wheel base F-350 with 38in tall tires on it. He runs 13's with this truck, always launching in 4x4 at the track, and it does a minor spin of all 4 of the tires on launch....2wd he will just burn the tires off until he gets out of it.

Trust me I would not believe it except I saw it in person. I seen him do hard launches all night that night, if there was a flaw in the drivetrain I am sure it would have shown up (this wasn't his first time at the track either). So I guess what I am saying is, I don't see why it would be so hard to make a reliable AWD for the Lightning...

 

well, I never had a car that had over 450 hp that would launch without major spin on steet tires. I don't care. I don't run street tires at the track I run HOOSIERS and I don't do much street racing and if I do I feather it off the line until I get to about 30 and then hammer it.
noelvm


The corvettes of the early 70 didn't break half shafts because they were just as thick and as strong as the driveshaft and I have one of those too with an LS6 big block and it definately makes a lot of horsepower and also spins the tires, big time. Still, IRS, is a power robber when compared to a straight axle. If you want a good corning L get a gen 1. They outcorner the hell out of a gen II. I've had both.

 

Yeah your right, many run slicks/drag radials at the track and not street tires, and thats fine but its a different "performance comparison" to me. When I think of my vehicle I drive on the street in terms of how fast it is, one of the big factors to me is not only how much power you have available, but how well you can use the power.

It's sortuf like my Mustang friends that run 11's on drag slicks, launching at 5000RPM. If they had to take off those slicks, they'd be running mid to upper 12's due to not being able to use most of their power till probably after the 330ft mark at the earliest. So in bench racing when they say they are faster then say a Viper... I have to remind them that a Viper would run much faster on drag slicks launching hard like they do (or even launching easy, just the benefit of being able to go WOT in 1st would make a huge difference). It's just a totally different comparision to me, I am not taking anything away from them since their cars are obiviously fast (and obiviously faster then my Lightning hehe), I just don't think its a fair comparision. A high horsepower vehicle that can plant its power down well is a sign of well engineered chassis and drivetrain, rather then shear brute force.

But this is all my opinion as well I would love IRS though for handling reasons, and would love AWD that much more since it would make the Lightning much much more tractable. I would love to have both worlds. Maybe I am the only one though, maybe someday that should be a project of mine hehe.

BTW just to clear things up, I am not saying street racing is right or condoning it in any way (I don't think its right), I am just talking from the "bench racing" bragging rights perspective of how fast a vehicle is on the street.