lightning hunter

[TheMattDaddy]

as we all know, lightning's are just bad ass

but, what would make a good lightning hunter?

here's the criteria:

-limited to a truck or SUV
-similiar set up as the stock lightning (supercharged, etc.)
-it'd be nice if it had as much potential as a lightning (I know a guy who ran a 13.9 1/4 stock, and ran a 13.18 1/4 with a chip, intake, and pullies )
-doesn't have to be a production vehicle. It could be a car that you could do a build-up with, and make it just as badass for the same $$ or less

let's hear your ideas!

 

[Alec]

Hopefully my truck when I finish with it

After my truck isn't a daily driver any more, I'm gonna turn it into either more of a trail truck (lift, etc), more of a drag truck (power mods), or both. NOS and other minor mods would probably put me into the low 14's pretty easily. A Vanir rebuild and NOS would probably get me to the high-mid 13's. Right now I'm at the low-mid 15's.

 

[tbomb]

i believe the troll is a lightning killer, if there ever was to be one

http://www.speedfreak.cc/troll/

 

[Yomie]

My girlfriend drives her dads '94 Lightning. It has no Lighning badges on it whatsoever, the only way you could possibly tell is by the front air dam, but it has a 351 on the bottle (N20), does that count?

 

[rpenner54]

How about a Early Bronco?

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351 Stroked.

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[ExplorerEddie]

I'm shocked no one has said this but the stock trailblazer has a 270 hp v-6. hook up a paxton that adds 35 to 55% more hp and your pushing anywhere from 360 to 420 hp. get a duel exhaust and headers and even w/ the added weight it can outrun the lightning. I also heard the lightning spins out too much because it has no weight in the back. I am buying a trailblazer as soon as I get my current x paid off. Either that or the new escalades put out 345 hp stock, if you want to spend that much.

 

[01EB5.0]

My idea

I have seen a slammed F350 dually that was sweet, but here is my idea:
-Get a F350 lariat 2WD turbo diesel 6 speed manual
-hook it up with the banks kit
-put dual custom 3.5" exhaust with headers and high fow cats
-lower it and put biger rims and low profile tires
-geta cover for the bed
-this truck would have so much extra torque you'd be pretty quick...maybe quicker then the lightning.

 

[Heath]

Just out of curosity are any of you aware that you can get a new 01' Lightning for 28K... It has 380 hp and 450 fpt !!!!!

Now if you add an Intake, Chip and Pullies to the truck, you're easily running wth Corvettes... Unless the people on the lightning boards are blowing smoke up each others butts...

Now if you follow Matt's requirements it has to cost the same or less...

My opinion Matt, I drove the 01' lightning and its fast as hell... I got up to 100 mph on an open strech and it still pulled just as hard as it did at 35... Very flat torque curve...

I say buy the lightning, or another option is an older muscle car or truck and build the hell out of it... Those are the only ways I see to get there... Maybe an early 90's Camero or Mustang could get you there too... Don't forget about the early 90's honda's and other ricer cars either... I used to run mustangs in my old CRX and I only had about $1500 into it... So with a bit more thinking and money you could get there... In fact I have a friend that is a mechanic at one of the import tuning shops and he's beating lightnings in the quarter mile... In an ugly beat up looking CRX...

 

[Robert]

Originally posted by ExplorerEddie
I also heard the lightning spins out too much because it has no weight in the back

I can assure you that a Lightning doesn't spin out too easily unless the surface is covered in rain, sand or snow. Either that or the driver is trying to make it spin out. The tires are huge and grip quite well. I used to work with a guy that had a 2000 Lightning. He took his Lightning and I took my Explorer to Firebird back in March, 2000. He only had about 1000 miles on it but it ran around 14.1 @ 99 MPH when it was stock. I rode with him the last run and he had no problem keeping the rear tires under control. He brought the RPMs up to about 2000, slid his foot off the brake and nailed the gas. All I heard was a very brief "whirrrr" and then we took off. It had constant acceleration all the way to the end. After he put a chip on it and several months later he was running 13.5. He also has a '96 Vette with a few more mods than his Lightning and it also runs 13.5-13.6 (automatic though).

 

[Alec]

Yup, the Lightnings are very quick. Hell, right off the lot you can tweak the blowoff valve and some sensors and for $5 and and hour of work you go from 6 lbs of boost to 9 lbs, = lots of hp.

There is a guy in Austin that actually puts cinder blocks in the back of his when he goes racing to help with traction. He has some minor mods (chip, tweaks, intake) and has problems with wheelspin.

Maybe I'll get into the 13s someday with Splat. Think about it, Splat is just the little brother of the Lightning, they have almost the exact same setup.

 

[BislamJoe]

Not exactly a Lighting fighter, but I think it'd be cool to give the whole Lightning treatment to an Expedition. Lower is a little, body kit, the big V8 and a blower. I think it would be really cool. Either that or offer a 5.0L Explorer Sport with a blower... Hmm... :smoke:

 

[Heath]

The answer to your prayers... Well sort of...

Originally posted by BislamJoe
Not exactly a Lighting fighter, but I think it'd be cool to give the whole Lightning treatment to an Expedition. Lower is a little, body kit, the big V8 and a blower. :smoke:

Ford already did... Here is the tech spec sheet..

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and if you go to www.svt.ford.com and then to the concept lab, its called thunder... Unfortunatly there are no plans to build it... I'd actually prefer that than the lightning... But I'm sure a lot of people would...

 

[expo5.0]

buy my x for the overpriced sum of 15,000
buy headers, bore the engine out and add a wicked cam, and a blower all for about 8,000
buy a 150 shot of nos installed professionally for 2,000 on the high end.
add that up and you just spent 25,000 and you will annihilate lightnings and corvettes until you destroy the drive train and are roped into spending way more than the remaining 3,000 to fix it so that it will handle your 750 hp.
i'll do my part if you'll do yours

 

[expo5.0]

one more thing- you might want to take some measures to lesson the 6,000 pound weight of the truck. i say you can do this for free though, just give me back all of the car audio, and junk all of the seats but one, rip out all of the carpeting etc.

 

[TheMattDaddy]

Originally posted by Heath
I say buy the lightning

Man, i wish I so could, I would buy one in a heartbeat. I just got bored the other during class and started thinking about something that would be as awesome as a lightning.

 

[JDraper]

Why not buy and older (pre 1976 so emissions aren't a problem if you want it road legal) F-150 short bed and drop a 426 into it. Put a blower on it, and you should be able to eat a Lightning for lunch at the strip. However, handling will not be it's forte.

 

[BislamJoe]

Heath - Thanks, I hadn't heard about that.
JDraper - 426? Isn't that a Mopar engine? Why not a 427/428/429? Or a 460? Or a 514? Hmm... That sounds like such a good idea that I might just... :smoke:

 

[TarHeel085]

or you could buy like a earlier lightning and drop in a ford 350 crate. pumpin out around 500 hp. also if you go to www.svt.ford.com look at the BOSS MUSTANG under concepts. a 0-60 of 1.5 sec. that F**KIN CRAZY.:smoke:

 

[JDraper]

Originally posted by BislamJoe
Heath - Thanks, I hadn't heard about that.
JDraper - 426? Isn't that a Mopar engine? Why not a 427/428/429? Or a 460? Or a 514? Hmm... That sounds like such a good idea that I might just... :smoke:

426, 427, what's a couple of inches. You're right. I must have had a major brain fart!! I've been running Fords for the last 20+ years. Most of 'em 65 and 66 Mustangs with 289's and later model 302 4 bolts in 'em. I've built about 15 Ford motors including a 427 side oiler. Ya think my brain would know better. BAD BRAIN, BAD BRAIN!!!! DOH!!!

 

[leenjen]

Originally posted by Heath
Now if you add an Intake, Chip and Pullies to the truck, you're easily running wth Corvettes... Unless the people on the lightning boards are blowing smoke up each others butts...

i have a video clip on my computer of a 1/4 mile race between a lightning and a vette. right off the line, the lightning was slightly ahead. but after a second or two, the vette pulls away (and keeps pulling away). i dont know which mods either ones had, but it would take a lot of work for a lightning to run with a corvette.