Zapped a Lightning!

[GNJeremy]

A friend of mine has a 2001 Lightning (red) and he has been the guy to beat all summer. Well, I finally got all my mods put on, and tuned pretty good, so I decided to see if he would run his truck.
After some prodding (he was reluctant) he finally agreed to give it a try.

Anyways, we head out of town a ways to find a suitable country road. We get lined up next to each other, and both of us are giving each other the "sucker!" looks, so my heart was just racing.

I let him count down, since we didn't have a starter. Well, we left identical, except my 60ft was all smoke. The BFG's just don't like 21 lbs of boost. So I am fighting to keep the car straight, and thinking the whole time that I blew the race because I was roasting my tires. But he didn't pull away, either. I stayed nose and nose until the top of 2nd gear. That's when I started to pull him by half a length, and kept it there till about 120, when he blew by me. I expected as much.

The second time we went, I let him count again, but this time I left with NO boost, instead of 5lbs like the first time, just to make sure I didn't smoke the tires. He definately got the jump this time, and since I left with NO boost, he quickly pulled a 2 lengths on me. But I was smiling as the buick reeled him in like he was in a farm truck hauling hay, and blew by him, putting a length and a half on him, once again to around 120 (those trucks have GOBS of top end)

We stop in a field approach, and have a talk about the races. He was cool, and agreed that I would have had him through the traps the second time. I gave him the nod for having the top end.

This was my first real race with the buick, and I was shaking the whole way home!

Here is a list of mods I'm running.
3" MAF pipe w/ 9"filter
hooker headers, no cats, dual hooker muffs, 3" DP
adj. wastegate at 21lbs and 110 race gas
adj fuel pressure reg.
upgraded and hot wired fuel pump
Poston's thumwheel chip @ 26deg of timing
volt booster
scanmaster 2

I had no knock the whole time, cause I got her running rich just to be a little safe.

I was glad that he didn't get to see everything my car has, since when i get my slicks on, and do a little more tuning, I will really be able to put the horsepower to the pavement.

 

[NCC1701]

Good Kill

If I ever did want a pick-up, the lightening would be it
Whatever happened to the chevy 454ss truck???

who needs topend? the first 1/4 mile is where the fun is at
I mean come on for a daily driver, how many times are ya gonna need to go past 90????
Just my 2 cents

GNJeremy what turbo are you running???

 

[GNJeremy]

Stock turbo/intercooler/injectors/converter.

 

[NCC1701]

Impressive

That is pretty impressive!!!!

 

[bsdlinux]

Those trucks have pretty good traction. Put some et's on the TR and let him do the same. Race him at the track and see what happens. You will bet him buy alot I'm sure.

I haven't seen a Lightining yet than ran well at the track. Too much top end.

Good kill...

 

[GNJeremy]

He wants to go to the track, too. Maybe I can get him to tow the GN with his truck! Wouldn't that be a combo going down the road!

 

[bsdlinux]

Do it!!

If you can lauch hard with good tires, it will not even be a race.

Why doesn't Chevy make a SC truck? Perfoemance West had a 5.3 Vortec Silverado making 405 HP. Not bad for a truck.

 

[86brick]

I've seen those trucks run some pretty impressive ETs at the track... one guy had a 2001 that was running 12.7 @ 105... his mods were exhaust, kn airfilter, DRs, pulleys, a chip, injecters, and he was running race gas... not sure what octane and his 60ft times were like 1.8s with the DRs... I was pretty impressed considering how heavy those trucks are and the guy was running better or sometimes very similar times to what the LT1s,LS1s, and 5.0s and 4.6s were running in that 4300lb truck... If I was going to buy a fast truck or suv though it would be the SY or TY as I think that turbo motor is much easier to tune than that old roots style SC is... also the SY and TY respond much better to mods and AWD and TURBO must be very fun to LAUNCH!!!

 

[86brick]

Oh yeah I left out a couple mods the Lightning guy also had... headers and a ram air hood... don't know if the hood adds any horsepower, but these are the mods he told me he had... anybody seen one run similar times with these mods or did this guy leave out some mods he might of had... please fill me in if you know how these trucks run with little mods... my brother told me there are guys running 13.5s stock is this true??? I heard car and driver got a 2001 to run 13.8 @ 103, but 13.5 seems a little quick for being bone stock!!!

 

[GNJeremy]

Check out the Lightning board, and browse some sigs. A lot of those guys have track time, and they habe some intersting results with VERY FEW mods.


http://www.nloc.org

My friends was stock, except he removed the mufflers. That thing just sang it's way through the gears. He was on my left side, so I could hear his exhaust real good through my window. Only for a while, though

 

[DR. Death]

I don't know if I can agree with you on the Lightning being superior on the top end as I've run my GN up to 150 and it was still going. It actually pulled like a bear up to 135, after that aerodynamics started taking over but you also have to remember that the Lightning doesn't have the best aerodynamic shape in the world either. Also according to the magazine reports the Lightning tops out at around 144 mph, I would say my car could hit around 155-160 mph given enough asphalt. I must say however that the strong point of the turbo-Buick is the 1/4 mile.

 

[86brick]

Yeah I was over there on the Lightning Board and there are some guys running very similar times much like the guy I saw run at the track... One guy had a 2001 Lightning with little mods like different mufflers (stock ones removed as you mentioned), bigger gears which from what I read make a HUGE difference, and a KN airfilter... he ran 12.8 @ 106... might have had a few other things, but that's still very impressive for a big ass truck... I think the guy at the track that I talked to left out the bigger gears he had or I forgot he told me... either way they are very impressive and I sort of wish the GENERAL would make a fast truck to compete with it... Kinda funny also how Ford built a truck that can beat its top of the line sports car the mustang... the GT is really no competion for the lightning and the Cobra isn't much faster than the lightning and I'm sure in some instances slower

 

[GNJeremy]

The chip in my car cuts the fun at 130, so anything faster than that will look like lots of top end to me, I guess.

I also got to take a ride in it before the race, and that sucker is not phased by 140, it keeps on pulling like it was still in 3rd gear. Surprisingly, also, the wind noise wasn't at all like I expected. Less than the GN for sure. I'm even more entranced by these trucks after my run in with this one.

 

[bsdlinux]

Not Impressed

he ran 12.8 @ 106...

My friends naturally asparated 383 stroker runs better than that.
No roller valve train or roller cam, no NOS, no SC.

We took off the NOS he did have. It worked once and got him in the 11s easily. But we are going to put a S/C on.

Should be a Lightining killer for sure. The best part is that my friends truck is a 1983 Chevy stepside. Most Lightning owners won't know what hit them.

Alot of the GM guys on the truck forum are running better than that as well, with no SC.

The Lightinings are cool trucks for sure but you have to pay too much for you get.

Not flaming Ford here, but they want too much for factory muscle.

 

[TTA89]

I saw a new lightning on the scales that weighed 4800 pounds with driver and went 13.2@103 stock. STOCK! Nothing but a good cool down...

I would love to have one!

P.S. Jermemy, Ditch the Hooker Headers

 

[86brick]

Honestly, I think those trucks are pretty impressive, but I've seen Syclones and Typhoons that would RAPE the Lightnings with the same mods... Also the Syclone is much lighter and has AWD for those great 60ft times and is much easier to mod being turboed... I saw one Syclone a while ago that ran a low low 13 at 100mph completely bone stock... Also the Sy's 0 to 60 times were like mid 4 seconds from the factory... I remember MT ran a Sy against an NSX and the Sy beat it in just about all the acceleration tests... Now I know the NSX isn't a quarter mile terror, but this is a truck that is handing an exotic its ass and costs about 1/3 the price of the NSX... I was very impressed by that and also I heard the Sy's handle pretty well... the Ty is an SUV and still ran like low 14's high 13's from the factory and had like a 0 to 60 time of 4.9 or better... much heavier than the Sy, but still very impressive... I think any TRUCK or SUV that runs low 14's to high 13's from the factory is DAMN impressive and the Lightnings also do this while looking good... One thing that would defintely keep me from buying a Lightning is that it is a FORD... Fixed Or Repaired Daily... and I have had a lot of bad experiences with ford's in the past and just ain't a big ford fan. GM all the way!!!

 

[We4ster]

And they ONLY cost 32k+, imagine what you could do with a ttype for that kind of money! Can anyone say stage 2??

 

[86brick]

Very true We4ster... with the Stage 2 motor you could easily make 3 times the horsepower the Lightning has and lift the front wheels off the ground That would be a lot more fun than owning a TRUCK LOL

 

[GNnPH]

Driving a 99L for a full weekend was definetely a blast- now it's definetely not the baddest thing around, and a bit pricey ( unless you get the "A" plan like my brother did, 26k for it) Most sy/ty's would give em fits in the quarter- huge weight differential, and throw in some awd for some neck snapping launches - or driveshaft snapping I think the best thing about the L is the ability to hook up the trailer with the GN on it and head to the track, it's actually a dual purpose truck. Not sure what they were smoking when they designed the 01 wheels though, luckily they came out with some 20" 99 chrome factory wheels to replace em as an aftermarket option. No flames intended, fan of all three.

 

[86brick]

I'm not a fan of Fords at all, but I will commend them for building it and I actually like the looks of the Lightning with the rims and the grill... the only thing I've heard some people complain about is that u can't order a Lightning with the extented cab and this is why some people buy the Harley Davison Edition instead of the Lightning, but the Harley truck is just the NA 5.4 liter and doesn't have nowhere near the performance of the Lightning. My complaint is the price which is way out of line IMO for a TRUCK... I mean for 32K$$$ I could have my buick running 7's in the quarter Brick