Lightning Seed? Subsequent-Generation Ford F-150 Functionality Pickup Rendered!

In the course of the sport-truck mania of the 1990s and early aughts, Ford’s SVT unit graced us with 2 versions of the Lightning. Out of production because 2004, that hole in Ford’s lineup ostensibly has been filled by the flatbill-ready, improbably lovable Raptor. And even though FoMoCo wasted no time displaying a second-gen Raptor primarily based on the new, aluminum-intensive F-150, SVT’s successor unit, Ford Overall performance, has but to supply any official word on a Lightning replacement. But that does not mean 1 is not on the way.

Ford says it has 12 new Overall performance cars in the pipe for delivery by 2020, but we’ve only noticed the Focus RS, Mustang GT350 and GT350R, the subsequent Raptor, and of course, the quite spendy, quite limited GT supercar. We’d anticipate to see a Mustang GT500 added to the mix, which brings us to 6. And it is hardly inconceivable that Ford would want to additional butter its share of the F-150’s pie. Although the current F-150 Tremor had the brief-cab, brief-box silhouette of a classic sport truck, it wasn’t specifically packing in the muscle division. Its 6.-second -to-60 time was handily bested by the Lightning we tested in 2001, which made the very same run in 5.2.

2001 Ford SVT F-150 Lightning

The 2017 Raptor dispenses with V-8 energy in favor of EcoBoost V-6 motivation, and we’d count on a Lightning successor to continue to emphasize outright muscle. No matter whether that indicates a 6- or 8 cylinder engine or twin-turbo or—like the second-generation Lightning and ’00s Harley-Davidson trucks—supercharged forced induction is unknown at this point, but we’re betting on a couple of snails offered Ford’s major EcoBoost push of late. What ever happens, Ford lately applied for a trademark on “EcoBeast”, and that name would sound pretty rad applied to a streetgoing Raptor analogue.

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Our artist’s rendering suggests what such a machine could look like, replete with a Felicia Fun–grade combination of yellow paint and tailgate spoiler. The blacked-out maw of a grille echoes other zoot-oriented Ford automobiles like the Concentrate ST and Mustang. Because you want a hood scoop, it is got a hood scoop. Simply because you will want front-fender air extractors, it’s got those, as well. Larger brakes and stiffer suspension naturally would be on the menu, since when you are hustling your truck by way of the Southern Cascades and Northern Sierra Nevada, say on a run from Bieber, California, down to Butt Lake, Momma ain’t got no time to wallow.

Predictably, Ford has refused to comment on any future item, but appears to us that with Ford Functionality on such a tear, a hot-rodded, road-oriented pickup can’t not be on the future-machines docket.

Lightning Seed? Subsequent-Generation Ford F-150 Functionality Pickup Rendered!

Lightning Lap 2014: We Attack VIR with 25 of the Year’s Hottest Overall performance Vehicles

We hold it as gospel that a lap time on a fast and technical circuit is the purest distillation of a performance car’;s ability.

• MARC URBANO AND


• MICHAEL SIMARI

The Contenders

Base Price*/ Price As Tested

Power, HP

Weight, Pounds

LB/ HP

	$ 24,220/$ 25,610	197	2720	13.8
	$ 26,845/$ 29,375	252	3180	12.6
	$ 27,090/$ 30,790	268	3262	12.2
	$ 26,915/$ 32,510	210	3135	14.9
	$ 44,025/$ 46,875	320	3519	11.0
	$ 59,995/$ 59,995	420	3952	9.4
	$ 63,480/$ 65,665	460	3415	7.4
	$ 44,495/$ 48,622	306	3722	12.2
	$ 48,375/$ 58,845	355	3545	10.0
	$ 35,290/$ 38,190	305	3388	11.1
	$ 111,295/$ 117,885	560	4442	7.9
	$ 77,400/$ 80,350	425	3581	8.4
	$ 75,000/$ 75,000	505	3861	7.6
	$ 111,925/$ 117,825	550	3918	7.1
	$ 99,925/$ 105,800	550	4415	8.0
	$ 100,695/$ 109,435	577	4400	7.6
	$ 78,460/$ 100,870	325	3079	9.5
	$ 182,595/$ 196,795	550	3671	6.7
	$ 174,925/$ 174,925	550	3998	7.3
	$ 148,225/$ 157,325	530	4033	7.6
	$ 151,585/$ 151,880	600	3883	6.5
	$ 182,050/$ 198,380	560	3545	6.3
	$ 134,680/$ 134,680	640	3375	5.3
	$ 326,338/$ 437,844	730	3872	5.3
	$ 847,975/$ 875,175	887	3724	4.2

*Base price includes all performance-enhancing options. †2015 model.
Bold = Best in Class

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It’s believed that James Madison strode the White House and the War of 1812 was rapidly becoming the War of 1813 when an oak sapling poked through the soil in a southern Virginia meadow to witness its first sunrise and splash of rainwater. The tree’s shadow steadily grew as nearby Danville’s ­cotton mills and tobacco warehouses thrived on slave labor, as the vanquished Confederates retreated from advancing Yankees, and, a century later, as water cannons blasted civil rights marchers.

In 1957, a bunch of North Carolina racers cut a track around the tree, the majestic oak on the hill standing as the farthest and highest point of a long, meandering, European-style circuit. Life for the tree got a lot noisier as the cars apexed directly under its arching boughs before blatting back toward the pits and the crowds. For a while, peace returned as the track fell into disuse. But in 2000, the place revived, and some very fast machines again screamed under its leafy canopy.

A year ago last July, the old oak fell over and died. Hearts broke, and attempts were made to clone the tree with a replacement. In the meantime, nothing remains but a bare patch on a rise at the far end of Virginia International Raceway (VIR). They still call the corner “Oak Tree” and probably always will, but without the visual reference of that old friend, the turn is harder and rather less gratifying.

Alas, things change.

With our eighth Lightning Lap assembly of the current automotive elite, other things have changed as well, though not significantly. The goal remains to go flat-out in our market’s fastest new cars and set benchmark lap times on this, one of the longest road courses in North America at 4.1 miles. But this year we dispensed with any special classes, such as for cop cars. We considered airport tugs and lawn equipment, but ended up with a fairly straightforward set of 25 cars arrayed in 5 classes defined strictly by price. The bookends are the $ 25,610 Ford Fiesta ST in our LL1 class and the $ 875,175 Porsche 918 Spyder in LL5.

We also reconfigured our sectors to ­create better resolution, now stacking each one so that together the sectors comprise a complete lap [see Results and Sector Times]. Before, we counted sector times only as individual, noncontiguous segments with 2- to 3-second spreads from the quickest car to the slowest. The new method now has longer sectors with spreads of up to 10 seconds and allows those who wade deeply into our extensive tables (painstakingly rendered by people who don’t get enough credit but will get a pizza lunch out of it, eventually) to more easily determine where each car stands rela­tive to another as the lap progresses.

Having been rained on repeatedly during our usual September/October dates, we scheduled this event for May. We still feared precipitation but got blessedly little over our 3 full days of hot lapping. And every time we turned into Oak Tree (soon to be renamed Doritos Jacked Enchilada Supreme Flavored Oak Tree we’re told), we thought of the arboreal spirit that once inhabited this idyllic place.

Rulebook

All of our contenders are unmodified production cars, just as your local dealer would deliver them. We set tire pressures to factory recommendations and record our laps with Racelogic GPS data loggers that are nearly identical to the hardware with which we test every other car you see on these pages. For LL, we request cars equipped with all available performance-enhancing options to achieve the best possible results from any given vehicle. Optional equipment is included in the prices posted here. We moved the price breaks up $ 5000 this year to reflect inflation. All the prices and class boundaries are found in the chart above.

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Lightning Lap 8: In Depth

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New, Bright, and Shiny This year, we supplemented our usual VBOX test gear with 2 examples of Racelogic’s newest toy, the VBOX LapTimer. We like that it records GPS data in fine 20-Hz resolution and that it writes directly to an SD card. It also looks pro-grade, with an anodized aluminum case, LED display, and industrial-grade LEMO connectors. At $ 1050, this is the priciest unit that Racelogic makes for the gentleman racer. At least the predictive lap timing, a program that displays a plus or minus bogey in real time on the screen, and the analysis software are also included. www.vboxmotorsport.com

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Lightning Lap 2014: We Attack VIR with 25 of the Year’s Hottest Overall performance Vehicles