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just got a sneak peak at the gen3!!!

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  #31  
Old 07-06-2004, 03:37 PM
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buy a car if you want more than 2 seats. with three people in the truck it sucks.....no one can move. i say screw the third seat and stick with 2.
 
  #32  
Old 07-06-2004, 03:55 PM
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Originally posted by JimJr
buy a car if you want more than 2 seats. with three people in the truck it sucks.....no one can move. i say screw the third seat and stick with 2.
Trucks have always had 3 across seating. If you want 2 up seating buy a Vette or Viper. Even a Mustang Cobra comes with a back seat. The success of the Gen 3 L depends on broad appeal and not how unique they can I make it. If made too impractical then it will sit on the lot until they have to give them away like a lot of Syclones did.
 
  #33  
Old 07-06-2004, 04:13 PM
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Originally posted by soap
IRS??

--Joe
He mentioned leaf springs so no.....
 
  #34  
Old 07-06-2004, 04:49 PM
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Originally posted by LTNBOLT
\ it will sit on the lot until they have to give them away like a lot of Syclones did.
not gonna happen
 
  #35  
Old 07-06-2004, 05:00 PM
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I like not having a console. Not because you can seat 3; but, because special passengers don't have to sit all the way over by the door. More room for other things as well.
 
  #36  
Old 07-06-2004, 05:07 PM
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I like the console, i think that it looks great, but, with only two seats, i cant even take mom and dad out for lunch. The room is there for a third seat and i think that it should have one. I have 3 people in my truck more than i have only 2. Oh, and i agree with odens wrath quote that special passengers wont want to lean over a shifter for certain reasons.
 
  #37  
Old 07-06-2004, 05:11 PM
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Dang! I was really hoping they'd get rid of the silly little doors on the back... Really ruins the whole thing for me... I've tried the regular F150 "REGULAR" cabs, and it was just annoying... As for the 2 seater I'm all for it. My '03 F150 and '84 300ZX have a console and no backseat, just the way I like it...

As far as styling I'll have to agree the current Lighting/Heritage bodystyle is one of the best disigns ever, but if I can get my hands on a new L, I'm sure I could live with all the little quirks...
 
  #38  
Old 07-06-2004, 05:14 PM
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Thumbs up

Lets hope they drive that thing around! Maybe we'll get lucky and they take it to Jenro's one saturday night for a sneak peak....
One can only wish... Pat
 

Last edited by 01RedS'Crew; 07-08-2004 at 12:35 AM.
  #39  
Old 07-06-2004, 06:25 PM
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2 seats are plenty. Just make more trips. More excuse to drive it. Sounds promising. Looking forward to adding an L back in my garage.
 
  #40  
Old 07-06-2004, 07:21 PM
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Re: just got a sneak peak at the gen3!!!

Originally posted by TheGoaT
Well I live in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia where they have a big Ford plant where they build F-150s. Well I get a call this morning from a good friend of mine who works at the plant, and this is what I hear, " you wanna see the new lightning? throw some clothes on and meet me right now" So I run out of my house and drive up to the plant with him. They have a gen3 prototype lightning in the bay that they are taking apart to see if they can buld them at the plant in Virginia. My buddy gets me in the plant and we walk up to check out the beast.

Now sadly, I wasnt allowed to bring a camera in to sneak any pictures, but I will try to relay into words what I saw.

First, the engine. Yes they stayed with the 5.4l DOHC blower setup. This thing is a freakin beast. CAN YOU SAY 4V HEADS?!? Yes I said that right, the mechanic taking it apart helped me wet my pants by showing me that this engine had not the 3v we were told, but 4v heads. The engine looked nothing like the concept engine picture I saw a while back. The overall layout of all the components was almost identical to the current gen2 setup. Modding will be just as easy. They have a new idler pulley setup that is much different that the current pulley arangement and more like a metco idler kit look. The lower crank pulley was much thicker and stronger than our gen2s. The blower was the best part. It was nothing like the concept blower Ive seen before that looked like a chromed out eaton. This was all smooth black painted with no badges on it at all. I think they dont want people to know who it was built from yet. It was smaller, more comoact than the current eaton, with a smaller snout. It looked like a mini kenne bell(not saying that it is). The blower pulley had a much deeper cut that the belt rested in quite snuggly. The intake didnt have the double intake scopes like we saw in the concept, but a small stout intake elbow about half the length of our current intake. Attached to it was a 2 port throttlebody much wider than our model. After that it had an intake elbow and airbox much like the current one mounted in the same exact spot with a fender hole.

The interior: This was my favorite part other than the engine. The interior was EXACTLY like the concept. The only difference was there was no stick shift boys, it has a center mounted automatic with a overdrive button mounted next to it. The interior looked awesome. It has two semi bucket seats, with a sweude cloth mix alot better than the current design and actual head rest. It had a center console, so no more bench seat. You wouldnt believe how much room was in there. The truck was not quite a regular cab. What I mean by this is that it only had 2 seats, but there was about a 1 and 1/2 foot deep area behind the seats to the rear of the cab. You can recline these seats a bit. They had a subwoofer mounted to the floor. It also had two very small side windows in this extra 'cab'. I think thats where the extra weight of the truck came from. The inside was much much more roomy than our trucks. The white faced gauge cluster looked freakin sweet and the speedo went to 170! the Tach redlined at 5500 rpm, and it had a 0-10 psi boost gauge. It had red highlights with svt across it. The plush bucket seats also had SVT across them. It was so comfortable, it was like sitting on your lazyboy at home.

The exterior: Now this is the part I didnt really like that much. But its ok I didnt, because they were making alot of changes and the outside was the part they said they were still experimenting with. They had the hood scoop design off of it, with just a orginally f-150 hood on it. The front grill and front fender were alot like the concept design. They had velco on the front half of the truck from the camoflauge they used, they only cover the front of the truck. The 2 side lightning badges were removed. It had no side skirts or ground effects mounted. In the bed that had some hard foam prototype ground effects they hadnt mounted yet. I couldnt really tell what they were gonna look like. It had a regular f-150 rear bumper and tailgate and bed setup. The bed is much much wider than our trucks. I couldnt almost get my hands around the tailgate. Its much wider and deeper than our current beds. It had 20 inch mag wheels on it(they arent going to be the production rims), and the current version of eagle f1 rubber on them. They had much beefier leaf springs than we have and a much lower rear stance. The exhaust was still a right passenger side exit, but it looked ungodly. After the muffler underneath it turned into 2 huge square funnel shaped exit cones. They were about 12 inces acros EACH and about 3 inches thick. I swear the whole exhaust exit was 2 feet long going down the side of the truck. I didnt like it at all. I hope they change that setup. It looked horrible.

I was very pleased with the engine and the interior of the truck, and once they finish the outside styling I think it will be one beautiful truck. The guy there told me they plan to sell it cheaper than the srt-10. He siad it wont go nowhere near a 46k sticker.

If you have any questions, please ask and I will try to remember what I saw.

You sure let the kitty out of the bag on this one. There will be no manual for the Lightning or IRS. I have a friend that works in SVT. All that GoaT stated is correct. Haven't finalized the exhaust or exterior body parts. Wind tunnel testing I hear is playing a big part of the front design to meet the Top end objective numbers.....165mph. It's a 5 speed auto.

There will be a push button start for the new L and it will have a weight reduction. The button you might have seen was for the supercooler. Ford will be offering it as aftermarket.

The SRT 10 will be known as a one year wonder. The SVT gang is going roll over SRT and their German Kroute eating President.

GoaT, I hope your good friend doesn't lose his good job over this. Ford reads this board and it will be easy for the EX-CIA, FBI, Ford Global Investigators to track him down if they get wind of this.

Thanks for the update.


 

Last edited by Thor01; 07-06-2004 at 09:26 PM.
  #41  
Old 07-06-2004, 07:46 PM
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So glad I just got my 04.
I like my Honey sitting next to me.

I wouldn't mind having those 4V heads though I am sure they will be set it up so we can't throw them on our GEN II's

Nice report.
 

Last edited by EZGZ; 07-06-2004 at 08:59 PM.
  #42  
Old 07-06-2004, 10:56 PM
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How about the brakes? 4-pot, 6-pot?
 
  #43  
Old 07-06-2004, 11:25 PM
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I dont know the specs on the brakes, but the discs looked bigger than ours.
 
  #44  
Old 07-06-2004, 11:54 PM
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Maybe you will have a choice of the floor shifter or the console like on the F-150s. That would solve a lot of the 2 seat issue. Either way, that's awesome that you got to check `er out!
 
  #45  
Old 07-07-2004, 09:16 AM
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I dont think people will be so upset when they sit in these seats and see how comfortable they are.
 


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