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What's New: Ford's bad-boy pickup receives a few changes in 2001. Acceleration times should be even faster thanks to an increase in power and a shorter final drive ratio. The front turn signals and taillights have unique clear lenses. Styling of the 18x9.5-inch wheels is new. A six-disc CD changer is now standard. Type: Full-size pickup Pros: Powerful supercharged V8 engine, towing and hauling abilities remain virtually intact, composed handling. Cons: Standard-cab body limits interior cargo space, niche-oriented focus. Review Take Ford's latest F-150 truck in two-wheel-drive regular-cab flareside form, add in a healthy mix of SVT philosophy and components, and Lightning will strike. In this case, a reworked 5.4-liter Triton V8 engine with forged pistons, reduced compression, and a Roots-type Eaton supercharger supplies the spark. Complete with an intercooler and a two-channel throttle body, this engine belts out 380 horsepower and a massive 450 foot-pounds of torque. Thanks to revised engine components, this is 20 more horsepower and 10 more foot-pounds of torque than last year's model. This monster is connected to a beefed-up automatic transmission that churns the rear wheels through a 9.75-inch rear axle (now with 3.73 gearing). This is the fastest pickup in production, and its acceleration is enough to embarrass plenty of sports cars. The Lightning guarantees a thrill ride with the first turn of the key. But SVT didn't stop with the drivetrain. To keep all those extra horses from getting out of sorts, a unique suspension setup was created for the Lightning. This includes a lower front and rear ride height, specially calibrated shock absorbers, and two antiroll bars. These components ride on 18-inch wheels with 295/45-18 Z-rated Goodyear tires for extra stick during acceleration and handling maneuvers. Reducing speed is done via huge front and rear disc brakes. The regular cab houses a non-regular interior featuring black-on-white SVT instrumentation (complete with boost gauge) and black-and-white leather seats. The driver's seat is power-adjustable and a six-CD changer is standard equipment. Exterior enhancements are limited to a special front air dam with twin driving lights, a black grille, custom rocker panels, the aforementioned 18-inch wheels, and twin ceramic exhaust pipes. Color choices are limited to black, silver, red or white. A soft tonneau cover, as well as a Class III tow hitch, can be added to accent the truck's looks and utility. If you're looking for a serious high-performance truck, you can stop your search right here. Nothing else comes close. But the biggest question is why SVT offers the Lightning only as a regular-cab model when the world has clearly been moving toward more room and more doors each year. Dodge, with its Dakota R/T extended cab, is the only manufacturer smart enough to realize that performance and utility are not mutually exclusive. That said, the new Lightning is no toy, as its payload and towing capacity is only slightly diminished over the standard F-Series pickup. SVT obviously thinks that the old recipe of a full-size, standard-cab performance truck will sell, if executed well. And this new truck is certainly well executed. Styles & Prices at Edmunds.com | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
