Hi everyone!
I sold my '93 about a year ago, and won't be in the market for a Gen II for quite some time...but.
I'm curious to know from those of you who owned a Gen I L and now have a Gen II...or maybe those lucky folks who have both. How does the 'new' Lightning handle compared to the 'old'?.
My '93 was a dream on freeway on-ramps...loved that feeling.
Thanks...
Russ

 

Hey Russ, Sal here. Good to see you on the board. As you know, I have both gens of Lightnings. I went into pretty good detail a while back comparing the two (on the Lightning Mailin List) so I will just sum it up here. The 99s are no handling slouches, but they have nowhere near the handling prowess of the first gen trucks. In a nutshell

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SAL
13.35@103mph
All stock with PSP 99 Lightning Chip and Filter Kit

Power Surge Performance--- Your SOURCE for SVT Lightning EFI Tuning and Performance!! http://members.aol.com/NLOCsvt/svt.html

 

Sal is rit on. the Gen 1s do handle better. I have a 93 and a 99 and do alot of open road racing and open track events, and the 99 is a little more tail happy when on the throttle, where the 93 just keeps going. I think some of it has to do with the profile of the tires Ive looked at pics of my 93 at speed and the tires roll under a little where the 99 stays flat and starts to slide away, more like a race car on slicks [ if you feel it its to late] Ruslow

 

i have a 95 and a 99 . it seems i perfer to drive the gen 1 the most except for trips..i thought it might be the front end wondering that made the 95 easier to handle but if the rear end of the 99 was dropped do you think it would make that much difference? i usually carry acouple of sand bags in the 95 to hold the rear end down, it will break loose when i start to pass if i hit second hard....

 

Sal's right. I had a 93 and have a 99. I could sling that 93 into a banked 90 degree curve and punch it half way through and never feel like I was having any loss of control over my ability. I was really great in the corners. The new truck feels like it wants to roll over. Not a fun sensation. I think it's the combination of the new suspension and it seems to have a higher center of gravity. The old truck was better in the curves but the new truck's horse power and performance is worth the trade.
Noel

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70 Vette, LS-6, 99 Red Ligntning, K&N, Syn Oil. Looking at chips.

 

That's sort of disappointing to hear. One of the main reasons I ordered this truck was that all the reviewers raved about the handling, as well as the power. I imagine that putting a Roush suspension on it would even things up a bit, but aside from installing lower profile tires I feel constrained to not lower it much because of its intended use as a boat tow. I'll bet that when the aftermarket people do their thing they will come up with some improvements- at a tidy price, of course.

 

we've done this many times, the older "L"s were "much lighter" (300-400 lbs) than the new ones. that makes a huge difference on the skidpad and braking. the original tested to 1.0G, unheard of, on a full sized truck.

 

Alphadoggy,

Ruslow actually said the higher profile tires on the older model kept it hooked up better so I wouldn't go the "lower profile" route to increase the handling.

Most of the difference that I can determine, is in the front end geometry. For now, there's no way to significantly change that. I've tried some more aggressive settings and it's turn in and tendancy to wander has improved. Right now I'm playing with 0 to slightly positive Camber to see if I can balance the beast better (4 wheel drift vs. oversteer) It feels pretty good but without a course to run it's just a seat of the pants thing.

The aftermarket Roush suspension (the GenII is a Roush product as well) uses much softer spring rates in the rear to help control it as well as a lower ride height. I would hazard a guess that the aftermarket Roush version could run with the Gen 1 'L but it loses most of it's towing and load ratings!

There's got to be something significantly different in the suspension geometry because the F1's have far more absolute adhesion than the old Firestones (I know, I have the Gen 1 Lightning spec Firesones on my '98 Lariat). We just have to find it or get the people at SVE to let us in on what they know.

I was also thinking that some sway bar mods would also be worth a try

Just daydreaming since I am quite happy with the Gen II Lightning as it sits.

Remember, as good as the original was, the second coming still handles better than a lot of "sporty" CARS on the road today.

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Mark Whatman
mwhatman@earthlink.net

• 99.5 White Lightning (PSP Filter & Chip)
• 99 Buell S3 Thunderbolt (not stock!)
• 98 F-150 Lariat (Flowmaster)
• 96 26' Velocity Offshore Race Boat (far from stock!!!)

 

they both are great.. i like the hp and legroom of the 99 but the 95 is still a great pleasure to drive. i get better milage out of the 99.. i am just glad to have them..

 

its a tire thing.

The 99's quickly catch the 1st gens when equipped with decent tires. The tail happy behavior and much of the front end plow can be corrected without touching the suspension.

 

Has anyone tried an x-brace to tie the cab and bed together? I've heard on other boards that this would SIGNIFICANTLY reduce frame flex on a truck.