Launching the Lightning is...
Launching the Lightning is simple. Powerbrake it against the converter to the maximum of brake retention and tire traction. When the light turns green (well, yellow), smash the gas while releasing the brake. If all goes well and the track is prepped right, you get plastered to your seat while the big dog moves out to 1.90- to 2.00-second short times. Depending on the air, you'll cross the finish line in 13.60-14.00 seconds at 97-101 mph. The best we could muster on a hot and humid night in Cincinnati was a 13.945 at 98.25 mph. If you can cut a good light, the Lightning makes an awesome bracket racer.
If stock is good, then modified must be better, right? Well, that was our thinking once we got our hands on a brand-new SVT Lightning. We've seen what you Lightning guys have been up to, and we were just dying to try out some of these hot little parts ourselves. The plan was to add a modest collection of aftermarket parts to our bone-stock Lightning that would have maximal impact on the truck's performance. We also didn't want to choose parts that cost a fortune or would force us to have a track-only ride.
For guidance, we turned to Sal Mennella of Power Surge Performance, a man who definitely knows what it takes to make a Lightning get up and beg. Sal's rsum reads like a who's-who of Lightning ownership. He's the founder of the Lightning Owner's Club of America and is one of the top tuners in the country.
Sal's prescription for speed was what he recommends to new Lightning owners who turn to him for more performance. He provided us with the Power Surge Performance 6-pound lower supercharger pulley, his super-trick ram-air setup, and-to top things off-one of his Power Surge Performance computer chips to make the whole deal work together. Sal told us that for about a grand any new SVT Lightning owner should be able to run mid 12s at more than 110 mph. We thought he had left out some stuff, such as slicks, an exhaust system, and maybe some nitrous, but he assured us that mid 12s were quite common for Lightnings running his collection of parts.
All you need to turn your...
All you need to turn your stock Lightning into a raving lunatic capable of mid 12s on the stock tires with the stock exhaust is pictured here: more air (cold-air intake system), more boost (6-pound lower pulley system), and a good tune-up (Power Surge Performance computer chip). For about $1,000 and a day's work, your Lightning will pick up some major power.
Looking at his parts a little closer, we realized just what bang-for-the-buck we were getting. Sal has worked for years to perfect the intake side of the Eaton blower atop the 5.4 magic-maker under the hood, and his latest rendition has all you need for a fresh blast of air. It begins with a twin-intake scoop that mounts under the bumper, and then two different feed hoses pump fresh air up to a huge, open-ended conical air filter mounted to the mass air meter. The lower pulley may seem like a bit of work at first, but once it's in place you know why you skinned your knuckles. Want to talk about turned on? Pump another 6 pounds of boost into this thing and you'll wonder why it didn't come this way. Of course, the real secret here is the Power Surge Performance computer chip that Sal has worked on tirelessly with his own truck and several customers' trucks to perfect. It will add the right amount of fuel to keep up with the supercharged beast.
After the modest collection of parts was added to the stock truck, we couldn't believe the difference. The torque, which was already bone-crunching, just went crazy. No more stomping the throttle at the dragstrip-this thing now needed to be walked out with all the respect of a loaded shotgun. Get smart with the throttle and the tires just vaporize. As for sound, opening up that intake made the most psycho-logical difference, as the blower now went a full 10 clicks louder on the volume scale. A Lightning with an open intake sounds so wild, it will give you goose bumps. On the dyno, the truck rang out 399.1 rwhp and 514.5 rwtq. As Sal predicted, at the track we were rewarded with 13.01 e.t.'s at 105.44 mph. Talk about a Power Surge!
Click here for the 2003 Ford Lightning dyno chart