No SVT Lightning!!!

  • Sponsors (?)


351CJ said:
Makes me wonder if the delay to 2008 is for the new 6.2L Hurricane V8.

That sounds interesting, but they could make plenty of hp with the 5.4 3V w/screw-type blower, probably an easy 450hp. I guess the Dodge truck does have ~500hp though right? Hmmm... Probably has more to do with slow Lightning sales.
 
I think slow Lightning sales has everything to do with people anticipating an all new Lightning, and not wanting to pay $30K+ for the old extinct F150 when they see how much nicer the new F150 is. I don't think there's a soft market for Performance trucks, it's just that Ford's performance truck is getting fairly long in the tooth.... Me, I was hoping that somehow that the aluminum V-10 that was developed and showcased in the two new Cobra concepts would find its way into the Lightning, at say 550 h.p. tune, such that Ford would step up chest to chest and beat D.C. at their own game, with much less displacement!! I'm still holding out hope...
 
351CJ said:
Makes me wonder if the delay to 2008 is for the new 6.2L Hurricane V8.

Excellent point. Since the Hurricane is supposed to be the future, maybe Ford is waiting to invest the money in developing a Hurricane-based Lightning instead of one based off the current 5.4.
 
RandyB said:
That sounds interesting, but they could make plenty of hp with the 5.4 3V w/screw-type blower, probably an easy 450hp. I guess the Dodge truck does have ~500hp though right? Hmmm... Probably has more to do with slow Lightning sales.

Yea, but the 5.4 is a super long stroke kludge of an engine that will be obsolete when the Huricane arrives.
 
tylers65 said:
If you read the article carefully, your question is answered.

Ford has come under serious attack lately for their low EPA ratings on an average. Every time they introduce a car, the EPA rating is calculated into said average.

Scenario...

Ford has (for ease of discussion) 10 cars/drivetrain combinations.

Car 1 = 25 MPG
Car 2 = 19 MPG
Car 3 = 28 MPG
Car 4 = 16 MPG
Car 5 = 31 MPG
Car 6 = 20 MPG
Car 7 = 24 MPG
Car 8 = 22 MPG
Car 9 = 18 MPG
Car 10 = 26 MPG

This gives an average of 22.9 MPG

If you add one mre vehicle that gets 15 MPG it brings that average 22.1 MPG.

Now, If the industry average is 24, Ford would not be too far behind as it stands. If the Government requires an average EPA of 23, Ford could more than likely get away with 22.9 as it is soo close to the 23 that the Government requires. But by adding this vehicle would drag the average down nearly an entire point, the government and environmentalists would not take to kindly to them.

Now, this was adding one car that gets low fuel economy, we have yet to introduce to the equasion what having 2 high performance vehicles would do to this average.

If Ford adds the new 6.1L Hemi fighter to the line up, along with the SVT Cobra, any Mustang LE (Shelby or other), a Lightning, and a V8 to the Five Hundred, the EPA rating will tank down so far that the government will indeed go after Ford and the environmentalists would be carrying torches to Dearborn like an angry mob.

As Mustang50v8 said, all we can hope for is a better, badder SVT Cobra.

CAFE laws dont seem to be stopping chrysler any...they are putting a hemi in anything and everything now and that pig doesn't get any better gas mileage than another v8 around with the same displacement...moreover requiring higher octane fuel as well.

kirkyg
 
TomServo92 said:
Excellent point. Since the Hurricane is supposed to be the future, maybe Ford is waiting to invest the money in developing a Hurricane-based Lightning instead of one based off the current 5.4.

I think this may be true, I also think that with the increased power they need a new automatic trans. I would assume ford would want a five or a six speed auto that handles 550-600 ft/lbs in order to hold up to the power and get decent mpg. One of the biggest problems in my opinion of the srt-10 is that its a stick.
 
Just because the Lightning is dead doesn't mean that Ford won't offer a high performance F-150. I suspect that Ford may be looking at going away from the SVT franchise and making more high performance vehicles that are available to all dealers. I see the rebates Ford has to offer on Cobras and SVT Focus and others, that they probably wouldn't have to if all dealers could sell them.

This area has a lot of SS Camaros and SLP Firebirds, but I hardly every see a SVT product due to the lack of dealers in the area that sell and service them. I suspect you'll see something like happened in Focus, no SVT for 05, but all dealers get the ST which is fairly compareable to the SVT in performance.

Its also possible that once the Hurricane V8 is available that they may do like the Escape Hybrid and offer it to any dealer that's willing to buy the tools to work on them and take the training, but not limit it to those who have a special franchise (SVT was a separate franchise just like Lincoln or Mercury).
 
kirkyg said:
CAFE laws dont seem to be stopping chrysler any...they are putting a hemi in anything and everything now and that pig doesn't get any better gas mileage than another v8 around with the same displacement...moreover requiring higher octane fuel as well.

kirkyg

The Hemi has a version of D.O.D. or Displacement on Demand. It gets 25 MPG on the HWY in the 300C. This does not really hurt their cafe ratings.

BMW do not truly make a dent when the largest displacement 3 series gets 30 MPG. The big old 745 still gets 26 MPG.

Then the Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG has 604HP and 712TQ and still gets 19 on the hwy. They only sell about 100 of them in the states so they pretty much do not even figure into a calculation at all.

The heart of the problem is that Ford still cannot produce a high powered engine that gets good fuel economy. They can build an engine that has huge power potential, but cannot give us D.O.D. and save us some money at the pump.

Since they have so many cars that get such poor economy, every little bit counts. Adding one more to the mix only hurts them more. If they can start giving us cars with D.O.D. and good power at the same time, then the world would be a better place.

Trust me, I would love nothing more than to be able to go buy a 400HP Mustang that gets nearly 30 MPG. But instead I drive a Lincoln LS that has a 252HP 3.9L in it and gets an average of 22MPG if I treat it REAL nice. An engine that size with that power should be capable of 25MPG at least.

The point is that because Ford is behind the times with engine development, the performance fans suffer for it. If you are a Chevy or Mopar lover, times are great right now. But if you worship the Blue Oval, you get to sit on your hands and wait for something good to happen.

As I said before, it is a damned shame.