With the lighting resto line soon to be released, I thought it was fitting to blog my recent experience with these awesome trucks. First off, I am not a truck person. I have owned countless Mustangs, and various other sports cars but as an only vehicle, I just could not be satisfied with a truck. I want a toy of some kind in my garage at all times. Now that marriage and home ownership are part of my life, the honey do's and house related chores soon had me realizing I could no longer go without a truck. I decided I needed to do something when I found myself loading grass seed and mulch in the back of my mach 1 at the local nursery!
Scott Springer just so happened to have this 99 lightning for sale and I had been eyeballing it. It had some tasteful bolt on's that made it very quick from what I was told, and the stance it had and interior refinement had my attention, so I decided to take it for a test drive. Man was I impressed! This 4700lb brick feels as quick as my mid 12 second mach! The whine of the eaton blower and seeing that boost gauge jump to nearly 15lbs of boost had me hooked. Next thing I know, I am trading off my mach for this truck.
My initial impressions with the truck were quite surprising. With its suspension and brakes, its a blast to drive and handles super well for what it is. I caught myself forgetting I was driving a truck. The suede seats hold you in place and are so comfortable its like sitting on your couch at home. My wife, who thought I was nuts for getting a truck, soon fell in love with how comfortable it was and thought it was a great idea. For the next few weeks, I found myself looking forward to the drive to work and running errands and such, in a pickup truck!
When I bought this truck from Scott, several of us up here at LRS had already planned prior to make the trip to Hallett Raceway and do some road course racing and have a bit of a vacation. When I signed up for this, I had my mach 1 which was setup and ready to go fly around the track, but now I have this pickup. The initial thought of the trip now had me a bit nervous because the laws of physics just didn't compute with me and I couldn't see how this was going to be a positive experience for me.
After several previous lightning owners up here at LRS built my confidence up, I decided I was going to test this truck out and see just how practical it could be both for work and for play. Justin in research had recently bought his 2010 GT mustang, and he and I decided to trailer his car up there behind my lightning. The day before we left for Tulsa, we loaded up the car on the trailer, headed to the store for some supplies, and proceeded to load the bed of the truck full of our gear. I was surprised at how well its stance was holding all of the load. We caught alot of lookers with a red 2010 on the trailer decal'd and numbered up. The funny part was seeing the truck was decal'd and numbered up too!
Once we all met up at are designated meeting spot, we were off to Tulsa OK. I was anxious to see how the truck did since it's been modified and and also because this was nearly a 500 mile drive with lots of elevation changes and and up and down hill jaunts. Not only did it pull the load all the way there, it didn't even break a sweat! When we would hit a hill, It would stay in overdrive and the boost gauge would slowly creep to about 5psi or so, and pull us like a freight train right over the hill. Once over the hill, the stock brakes were more than adequate to bring the load to a screeching halt which surprised me since the trailer controller I had wasn't working and the trailer brakes were not functioning. I was more than impressed with my hay hauler at this point but this was just one step in my test!
Once we arrived after surviving a torrential downpour, we unloaded and setup everything, got some rest and set out the following morning for some road course fun. When I set out for my first session, I was a bit soft with it at first since I wasn't sure what it was capable of. Again, this physics thing was playing mind games with me! I was afraid of the rear end coming out from behind me since its a truck and theoretically, that is the lightest part of the truck. Boy was I wrong! Not only did it stick like glue thanks to the Nitto555 tires we sell, It actually plowed a bit if you pushed it too hard. It was extremely predictable and very stable given the fact its a truck with a high center of gravity. After a few laps The truck and I were getting along quite well and I was yet again, very surprised. I caught quite a bit of attention racing a truck among mustangs, and many gt500's were on the track as well and I was able to catch up to and could have passed a few of them in certain areas of the track. The relatively stock ones were not pulling on me at all in the straights. Heres some pictures of the fun:
After the event was over, and the dust had settled, we packed up and headed back home. The drive home went just as smoothly as the trip going up there did. It seems like everything I threw at this truck it laughed and performed it flawlessly. I am really impressed with Ford and SVT for the homework and effort they put into these trucks and am excited we are going to be tailoring to the restoration and maintenance of these vehicles. Its definitely one of those vehicles where you can have your cake and eat it too.