- Joined
- Jan 29, 2010
- Messages
- 2,286
- Reaction score
- 649
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Central Indiana
- Vehicle Year
- 2000
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Size
- 3.0
- Transmission
- Manual
It's a cool truck, but I don't honestly think it would be good at much more than burnouts. The lightning engine weighs about 585lbs. That's a ton of weight to hang on the nose of an otherwise 2800-3000lb truck. It would have an even worse F/R weight balance than the 57/43 ratio that a stock lightning has. A stock Regular cab 98+Ranger has a 55/45 F/R bias with a 4 banger. Adding adding 300lbs of engine to the front results in 62/38 F/R weight ratio. It's definitely not going to be a corner carver with numbers like that. And I'm not even adding in the added weight for the Lightning Trans, axle, brakes, and front suspension.As a Lightning owner, I can only say "Man would I love to have this vehicle". Imagine a Lightning motor in a vehicle considerably lighter!
And even with the widened rear wheels I'm not sure there's enough weight in the rear to get decent traction to lay down respectable drag times for the power. I'm sure it's a hoot to drive, and it's got to make some great noises but I really doubt it would actually be competitive in any kind of race with a vehicle of similar power/weight ratio. They did all of that work to install that giant engine, and it ran the 1/4 "in the 13.6 range", which is slower than a stock 03 Camaro SS (which was a heavier car, with less hp)
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