10-fastest-pickup-trucks

[Qikbbstang]

Hmmm guess this fellow never heard of Drag Week and Larry Larson?......Amusing the author SAM BECKER selects the SS454 Chevy Truck for the top ten and not the 1993-95 Ford Gen I Lightning whose SVT's mission was to "blow the Chevy's doors off", but perhaps two generations of Gen II Lightnings 1999-2002 would not look right proper on the listing
Also wondered if the Raptors are drag-started in 4WD?................
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/automobiles/the-planets-10-fastest-pickup-trucks.html/?a=viewall

[Joe-JDC]

Having been a life-long Ford owner, my last two trucks have been Tundras, and I am hooked.  I recently towed one of my mustangs to Florida from Texas, and averaged 14.0 mpg, and empty 19.7 mpg.  On another trip to NM, Colorado, I was averaging 20-22.2 mpg driving between 68-72mph.  This is with a '14 Tundra Crew Max Platinum.  The supercharger is an option that is usually dealer installed and tuned.  I am happy with my Tundra the way it is, but I can see where a single cab would be really quick.   It is supposed to turn a 13.7 et without the supercharger.  Joe-JDC.

[BruceS]

My '14 5.4L Expedition SWB has been getting right at 19 mpg in combined freeway/city driving back and forth to work. Haven't towed enough to check that yet; but mine has the built-in trailer brake controller, anti-sway, and tow/haul mode in the tranny.  So it will get some towing duty, besides hauling my wife's horse to the vet!   

Bruce

[WConley]

The Gen I Lightning should be on that page.  I had the pleasure of taking a ride with SVO guru Hank Dertian in one of the prototype '93 trucks.  We pulled up next to a Chevy SS 454 at a light on Southfield Road.  It wasn't even close, and the Chevy guy was slack-jawed, full of questions about our fast truck.

Hank replied, "It's nothing special.  Your truck is just slow."

[jayb]

LMAO!!   

[Joe-JDC]

I have a good friend who owns a low mileage Gen I Lightning that he bought new and raced for several years.  Nothing he could do would get that truck into the 13 second range.  Changed computers, Mass Air conversion, injectors, slicks, you name it, he tried it, and the truck would just lay down in third gear.  I have always felt the GT-40 upper plenum was his choke point in the combination.  Beautiful truck, quick, but not super quick unless you change the heads and intake manifold.  BTDT.  Joe-JDC

[Barry_R]

The Southfield freeway story is cool.  My wife drove that road to work every day for years.  At one point right around that same timeframe she had a similar encounter with a Gen I Lightning prototype.  She had an "arrest me red"  '90 Cougar XR7 with the blower V6 - not super fast, but enough so that she was used to winning the "merging lane" contests each morning.  She rolled into it one morning against a pickup with a bunch of wires and boxes hanging from the dash (a pretty normal sight around Detroit) and got covered pretty badly - said the guys inside were grinning like fools after beating the blue eyed blond in the other lane.  I think they were surprised that she stayed in it, and she was surprised to get beat by a pickup truck

[WConley]

The Ford EMDO building (Engine Manufacturing Development Operations) was right where Southfield Road turned into the freeway.  I spent quite a bit of time down there, and the place was full of sleeper prototypes.  For a couple of months I was driving a white Mercury Grand Marquis with a Landau roof and a red velour interior.  Under the hood was a prototype 4.6L 4-valve Mustang Cobra engine.  That grandma car put the hurt on a lot of unsuspecting Mustangs and Corvettes.  It would light the tires (50 profile Gatorbacks) from a roll with ease.  Fun times!

[Qikbbstang]

JoeJDC  Re: " I have always felt the GT-40 upper plenum was his choke point in the combination."
   Can't believe you state the GT-40 upper plenum is a choke point.  I believe it is the balanced selection of components that make stock Lightning's the pleasure they are to drive.  You more then anyone with all your flow experience should understand. Very likely  IF your modifying/racing one and wanting to go faster deep into 13s almost all the parts heads, cam, factory headers, 4-cats, also are.  BUT the fact is that intake is the only one ever put on a production vehicle by Ford aka SVT. The only other vehicle was a R-Code Cobra R which was sold on bill of sale. Fact is the Lightnings 351 cubes 5,600 shift points breath very nicely through a 302 race engines intake. I have a feeling a good chunk of the Lightnings stump-pulling low-end/midrange comes from that intake.   

[Joe-JDC]

It only flows 230ish cfm through each runner unless you deburr the welds inside the runners and open up the throttle body flange.  The heads only flow 180ish cfm.  Sorry, it is not lightning fast, only marginally faster than any 5.8 of the era.  I had a 92 with 5.8 I bought new and drove for 14 years, so I have BTDT with ported heads, ported intake, ported plenum, and the GT-40 upper plenum is a bottleneck, period.  I still have one.  A healthy 302 runs out of steam with the GT-40 around 5200rpm, so to say the 351 runs great, is not honest, IMO.  I built one of the first 351 EFI conversions back in 1987/88 in my 86GT, and even ported the GT-40 throttle body flange to 75mm, etc.  It was great but still went flat in upper rpms because of lack of airflow.  A ported Cobra plenum that has been cut apart and welded back together can flow 300 cfm, and a ported Explorer plenum cut and ported can flow 300-305cfm.  I have done more of that than probably anyone in the USA, and had several in magazines back in the Super Ford days.   Joe-JDC

[chilly460]

I've owned both Gen 1 and Gen 2 Lightnings and love the concept of the hotrod trucks.  In it's day the Gen 1 was quick but most struggled to run 14s stock in the real world.  I put a XB1A Powerdyne on it and it ran 13.1@103, that made it a great overall pickup.  I loaded 4 complete 460s and a 9 inch in it and it handled it, could do short towing with a fullsize car on car trailer if needed.  Mine only weighed 4100 with spare tire and front swaybar removed, and 'glass hood although it didn't weigh much less than stock steel hood.  Awesome handling for a pickup, very good combo with the blower on it, but it rode like hell. 

My 2001 has a lot more punch down low and feels faster, probably won't ET much better but it's a freight train.  Rides better, but is softer and around 500lbs heavier so it isn't quite as fun to drive, although it will still do fine on a back road and the huge 295s give it plenty of grip.  It has normal bolt ons and I'm sure will run high 12s if it could hook a little.  I use it to tow my Mercury, a little lightly sprung but it manages, better tow platform than the Gen 1 by a long shot with much better brakes. 

I love that these trucks can still be used as such, some on that list are glorified station wagons.  Wish Ford would get serious and do another one, a 6.2L in the new lighter body in 2wd would be pretty slick and would probably move out very nicely. 

[Joe-JDC]

Blower changes the whole ballgame.  I had one on a 377W with A-58/Cobra ported/42lb inj/14psi and it went 9.72 @ 141 in 88GT with AC/PS/5 speed fully loaded and looking completely stock with the exception of hood to clear the blower on 9.5" deck engine.  We build that before Vortech came out with the adapter to mount the blower lower on the 351.  Joe-JDC