The GT-40 has a six speed in it, I hope they don't decide to put it in the L, although it may be very fun to drive that way. The power stroke makes over 500lbs of torque, and with a few mods you can easily get them into the high 600 range. I will be curious to see what auto they will put in the 6.0l power stroke it is said to have 550ft*lbs & 305hp stock. just my two cents

 

Either way if Ford does put a new engine in the Lightning I really doubt it will be matched up to an automatic again. Is Ford coming out with a new style for the F-series? I've heard rumors that they will change them for 2004. Anyone else hear this?

 

One thing for sure ............ if the new L looks like that "tonka truck" i'm hangen on to my 01.

FRITZ, Stock Silver 2001 "L" BaBolt's s/s tips

 

Tonka Truck? Are you talking about the Viper Truck? Call it what you want, but it is a tonka truck that goes 0-60 in 5 seconds flat. Either way it is faster than the Lightning and is going to cost much more. But Ford won't beable to say they have the fastest stock truck anymore. That's if Dodge decides to produce them. That's why I started this thread, to see if we can get info. on what Ford is planning to do with it's new competition coming. Anyone hear the latest news?

 

i agree with fritz, so you guys know i dont even have an svt yet...I'm waiting to see what they do for 03 but fell deeply in love with the 02 *swoons* so i hope they basically stick with the same design as far as the truck looks because its sweet as hell.

 

From my reading and following the Powerstroke boards, Ford will be putting a 5 speed automatic in the Superduty's next year. The current Powerstoke puts out much more torque than a Lightning. My Powerstroke dyno'd at 667 torque, only mod is a mild Superchips chip. An Excursion dyno'd at over 1100 torque on an extreme race chip and propane. There are several transmission shops selling built up Ford automatics to handle that kind of power for the Superduty. Anyway, Ford will have available to them a 5 speed automatic that can handle some serious torque. It is anybody's guess what the Gen3 Lightning will have under the hood. For now, I am happy with my Gen2.

 

I have a feeling if their is a huge performance change they will make the L manual. If the Lightning does get up to around the 500HP range to match the Viper truck it will have to be a manual. After all it will be even more of a race truck and the automatic just won't work for it. Personally I would perfer the automatic because I will use it as a daily driver in L.A. traffic. But who knows what Ford will do, all I know is that the Lightning has gotten better in every year of production so far. I can't wait to see what happens next!! I've heard that dark grey will be an added color for 2003, and that they aren't going to make either white or blue. I say WHY? why not keep the colors already being made. The cobra has a ton of colors to choose from, so why not the Lightning?

 

The latest news is that the tonka truck doesn't exist.

And my opinion (since you asked for everyone's opinion): I don't have an opinion on a dumb-ole-truck that doesn't exist yet (and I'm refering to the 2003+ L, not the tonka truck).

Spike

 

Since you don't have an opinion why say anything? Maybe you should state what you mean by Tonka truck, instead of getting pissed off when someone misunderstands you. We are trying to discuss and give our opinions on what Ford is planning to do for the future. If you don't have any useful input or information no one is going to bother listening to you.

 

Hey fella... you're a new member on here and you need to be a little careful before you go raggin on the regulars.

Watch and read the boards, learn grasshopper...

If you were really in the know, you wouldn't be asking the question of the Tonka Truck... It only hit every automotive magizine in the states and many overseas.

Do a search on the net and save yourself some embarrassment...

IMHO

 

I'm not pissed off, so relax. All I'm saying is that neither the Tonka truck or the dumb-ole 2003 Lightning exist yet. So, how can I have an opinion on them? On the other hand, if you asked what I hope Ford will do for 2003, I'd say "stop building them." And I said the same for the 2002 L.
Since that's not going to happen, all I suggest is better brakes and seats that hold you while cornering.

Spike
BTW, I've refered to the Lighting as a dumb-ole truck many times so don't let it bother you. Besides, it is a dumb-ole truck.

 

O.K. Spike, you stayed your opinion, but not everyone thinks it's a dumb-ole-truck like you. If you don't care about the Lightning then why are you making posts in a Lightning forum? People are going to disagree with you when you go in a forum like this and call it dumb. If you wan't people to argue with then why not just go into a Chevy forum and say Chevy sucks. That is basically what you are doing here.

 

Just because I refer to it as a dumb-ole truck doesn't mean that I can't post here. Furthermore, it doesn't mean that I'm trying to start an argument. And, I'd never go to a Chevy Forum and say that Chevy's suck. So, as I already stated, relax.

While we're on the subject, how do your refer to your lightning? See this link for how I have refered to mine for a long time. BTW, did you read my contribution to your other post "Tell your story...?" Although it's not much, it hints at my interest in the Lightning.

Regards,
Spike and his dumb-ole truck (ahem ...dumb-red-truck - it's not old yet)
sorry if I offended others

proposed new sig:
...don't bother having a conversation with your truck. First, it can't talk. Second, you'll bore the truck.

 

That's nice spike, but really I don't care. Your welcome to post what you want, I never said you couldn't. But so far you haven't posted anything worth discussing, so i guess I'll leave it at that.

 

Don's Bolt, i heard that ford is going to differ their suv's from their pickups. So the redesign probably won't look like the expy too much. There was a pic a while back of a concept sketch. Pretty ugly, but its only a sketch, i'm sure ford will please us. Anyway, Falcon, the tonka truck is a different ford concept for the next superduty's, not a nickname for the dodge. Just fyi if you haven't found out already. There was a thread on a survey a while back from svt about what current L owners want in the next gen. L. Pretty interesting. Had stuff like 6 speed paddle shifters and v-10's and all that stuff.

o yeah, the new HD color for 02 is called dark shadow gray, just for those of you who want to know. Would look pretty good on a L, but i still want a white one.