Are any of you Lightning owners practitioners of the "neutral drop" technique for showing-off purposes?

I actually unwittingly performed one from about 2500 RPM followed by a stomped throttle (please don't ask) a couple of weeks ago, and the entire beast stood still in the road and burned the skins at high speed for a while before slowly picking up some speed. I lifted (headed for a ditch) after about 300 feet with the truck still laying down heavy black stripes and pouring smoke out of the fender wells.

This was pretty impressive, as the thing will barely squeal them if you stomp it from idle and still does a pretty poor burnout (per se) from a 1500 RPM power-braked launch.

There are times when you really need to lay down some rubber and smoke, like in front of the gallery at the local cruise night with everybody cheering and the video cameras rolling. However, I'm happy to still have a transmission after the "neutral drop episode", as it's called, and I'm thinking that any repeat performances will be absolutely and certainly fatal to the drivetrain. Am I wrong?

What's a 33-year-old delinquent to do? How bad for the drivetrain is a neutral drop (I'm thinking VERY bad), and how else can I rip off a huge burnout on command ("nitrous" is not an acceptable response)?

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Silver Y2K Lightning
Bone Stock w/ Duraliner, Ford Hitch Cover

Silver (matching) Y2K ML320 Benz
Burl (ML430) Shift ****

Beater 1992 Grand Prix
Commuter Mule

 

Good story...I had a chuckle!!!!

How is this for an alternative...

Right foot on gas. Left foot on brake. Mash it and voila....smoke!
Try it...it's fun!!!




Paul G.

 

Get a chip, you can do that anytime you want, without reving (or using bleach )

 

Silver

Practice stomping the brake and easing into the gas while easing off the brake eventually you will have enough brake pressure to hold the front tires while roasting the rears till the alloy wheels are gone. This will wear on the transmission and the brakes but not as bad as the same number of tranny drops. After all they call them tranny drops for a good reason. Either you will drop the tranny on the road or will have to pay someone to drop the tranny and replace it.

Doug

 

I've seen the power-braking approach you describe used to great effect, but am a newbie to the whole thing as this is the first potent rear-wheel drive vehicle I've owned (other than a fire-breathing blood-thirst bike). It was easy with the big Suzuki - just pin the front brake and sidestep the clutch.

How much brake does it take to hold the front wheels without twisting the driveshaft into a pretzel or melting down the rear rotors? I think I need a little more training regarding how to get the whole thing going. Once you have your foot to the floor and tires roasting, I suppose it's easy to manage the brake. But how to get there still has me a little baffled.

And by the way - and this is for the folks at a certain Ohio Ford dealership - this is purely for entertainment purposes, and in fact, I want to know this so I can AVIOD this activity in the future and thus keep driveline wear to an absolute minimum.

 

SILVER_2000, I remember reading on this Board someone saying that they where holding the brake and mashing the accelerator pedal, and the ABS brakes let go and the truck shot forward. Have you ever heard of this happening, or have it happen to you?

 

It takes a little practice but - Yes I know this is insane - I have done it in traffic while waiting to turn left in front of a Porsche....( As he dons his kevlar suit ) Flame on -

Mine is real stable, it will eventually drift to the side a little but just let off the gas if you have trouble. Since you have the brake mashed you will stop quick.

The ABS has nothing to do with it since the rear wheels are turning and the fronts arent the sensors dont come into play. I guess you could boil your brake fluid but I have never held it more than a couple seconds, which between the howl of the supercharger and the cloud of smoke is more than enough to get the proper effect.

Find a smooth, empty asphalt parking lot... In Texas most lots are concrete which is a lot harder to spin on. The asphalt will actually boil some too if you find one with the right surface on it....And Practice

Keep in mind the F1's retail for up to $425 and the best price I have seen is $210 - Each. So while you are mashing the gas count up by 20 once the tires start spinning... $20 , $40, $60, $80, $100 you get the idea

Doug

[This message has been edited by Silver_2000_! (edited 07-12-2000).]

 

Did it on accident. Me and the kids were cruising down the waterfront when a parked mustang revved his engine to let me know he existed. Me, with no clutch and rolling, slid it into neutral and revved it. I only wanted to acknowledge his rev but when I put it back in gear it chirped and squealed nice and loud. Totally cool but hard on the truck. Another lesson learned. My boy swore we got hit from behind.

 

BBQ,
20 years ago (Senior~High School) pulled rear tires up to a speed bump in front of school. Half gallon of bleach, four other idiots holding truck back and two rear tires later, I received 3 days off from school thanks to my beloved principal.
Clorox is still cheaper than tranny parts. (don't wear corduroys while hanging on to rear bumper of bleached tires )
Jim

 

Silver-Y2K-SVT
How many miles do you have on your L? I've got about 3200 miles and last weekend during a G-Tech run, I was spinning and fishtailing so bad (just stomped on the gas, no power brake)I had to abort the run. Maybe you just need a little more breakin.

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2000 Black Lightning, Snuglid, Custom Bed Carpet, Clear Corners, Lightning banner, Tinted Windows, Custom air intake, 2" drop.
delivered Apr 6. NLOC #377

 

How to impress your friends and make your transmission technician gasp:

Ok -- now that you've mastered the neutral-drop techique, move on to the infamous...


..."Double-J"...

You've seen the marks -- the set of "J's" on the road.

(Works only with an automatic transmission.)

You merely crank up the smokeometer (pronounced like speedometer -- only with smoke) in reverse gear -- and when you've really got rubber stripping off your tires -- keep your foot to the floor and grab drive and hang on!

(makes me cringe just thinking about it)

 

'00Black...

I'm only showing 920 miles on the clock. I've heard that these things get a bit stouter as they "break in", but how much more can I expect beyond what I'm seeing now? Also, have you had your computer setup checked with regards to fuel octane, etc? I took mine in to make sure thet it was set up properly, but the service guys gaffed me off until I had it "broken in". Maybe I'm just set up a little soft.

------------------
Silver Y2K Lightning
Bone Stock w/ Duraliner, Ford Hitch Cover

Silver (matching) Y2K ML320 Benz
Burl (ML430) Shift ****

Beater 1992 Grand Prix
Commuter Mule

 

Silver, if your L. is typical it will get much stronger around 3000 miles. These motors are really tight early, and seem to take about 3K to fully break in and loosen up.

 

I've got 5300mi now on my 2000L and its still stock at the moment.

Power breaking it to 2500 to get a spin, then just letting it rip (without holding the breaks anymore), I can spin up almost to third gear without too much foward motion (about ~15ft or so of burn)... I was always a bit nervous about obliterating my rear rotors by holding the pedal during a burn...

I do have to say, our stock F1's smoke smells a hell of alot better then my friends Nitto's...man those tires STINK when you light'm up.

------------------
Daniel

* Black 2000 (3/24/00)

 

Speaking of burnouts:



[This message has been edited by roger (edited 07-14-2000).]