Oh, no doubt, it would seriously be a sick truck, lots of power, speed, torque, everything you want in a sport truck. And it is naturally aspirated. There is no argument that the hemi engine is something to contend with. But like I said, I can't wait for the Triton tri-valve!

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 05-Mar-02 AT 09:38 PM (EST)]Should learn about a brand before you post on it. The 360 is gone as of this summer. The 4.7 is the first in the new line of Dodge's engines, just like when ford went away with the old efi to the Triton's. The 4.7 has been in the Dakota for a year now replaceing the 318. And I belive was in the Jeep Grand Cher. for a year before that. Its Dodge's "new" engine series of which the 5.7 Hemi is the next addition. There's only so much Dodge can do with the 360 performance wise it jsut can't keep up with CAFE requirements do do being designed before emmisions where an after thought of engine design. So yeah they could hot rod the hell out of it. You can buy straight from mopar a 380hp 360 naturally asperated on pump gas, obviously it won't meet emmisions. The 360 in the dakota's and the RT's is bone stock with no difference then the one in a ram. None. Its an engine package yes thats a special order. Obviously it does cost more but no different then upgradeing the 4.6 to the 5.4 in your F-150, it has no more hp then a 360 in a Ram. The Triton's are a high rpm engine. In the 1500 - 2500rpm range they dont excite me much. Get them around 3000rpm and they pull great. Most new engines and specifially overhead cam engines are like that no matter the make. Since when was a hemi a flathead??? Its a hemisperical combustions chamber and a pushrod style engine with the valves in typical hemi layout in the head not in the block sitting beside the cylinder like an old 239 Ford flat-head. And as far as my toying with a 5.0 Stang it was off the line. I took my truck out of OD put it in second and away we went. He pulled infront of me obviously but couldn't pull away from me. I'm not claiming I beat him. I don't remember off the top of my head what the 5.0's in the mustang put out but my 318 makes 232hp so aside from him haveing a weight advantage I imagine the engines are fairly close in performance numbers. At any rate my thoughts are the L is a great truck, slightly overpriced but I hate anyone who posts their vehicle is best bar none. There's always someone or something faster. And the deal our dealership makes with its employee's is their cost pluss $100 *on most vehicles* I've never tried ordering an L to test on the differences so that could be wrong. But this is way to long already...

quote "Although the name is legendary, the new HEMI is no throwback. It features cross-flow aluminum cylinder heads with hemispherical combustion chambers and investment cast, steel rocker arm actuated splayed valves for high air flow; two spark plugs per cylinder for fast, efficient combustion; and a new direct ignition system with high-power coils ensuring consistent, complete combustion. A fully-balanced, cast, nodular iron crankshaft running in cross-bolted steel main bearing caps reduces deflection and vibration for better drivability."

 

I think that's that's just great, a 360 crate n/a with stock 380 hp. But I've seen advertized in many mags 351W blocks stock 480 hp n/a. So to throw around the fact that the 360 is all that is just throwing words. And block can be refined to push numbers.

And as for hemi, the way I've always understood it to be different was it came with much thicker walls on the block and flat top pistons, excuse me. Most engines come stock with rounded off tops so the air is forced around in a spherical pattern. But the hemi engines were flat topped, thus when the cylider is compressed by the piston, the air is pushed with much greater force, producing more power. That's why flat top aftermarket pistons are a great investment. But hey, if that's not accurate, my bad. I guess I've just been recieving some bad information.

 

actually the hemi has domed toped pistons, not flat toped pistons.

you must have missed the article in hot rod mag a couple of months back. they took a "profecionally built" 350, 351, and 360 and dyno'd them. the 360 was the only one of the 3 NOT using a electric water pump, and it had the highest numbers

the mopar crate engine 360/380hp is made to throw in your weekend car that sees light duty track time. its not a race engine, its just built to be durable and have some power.

if one was to buy a mopar crate engine, just for race duty, the 440, 426 hemi, or 528 hemi would be better choices

 

Hemi-Hemispecical combustion chamber. It makes for a more complete burn of the fuel because the fuel burns in a "dome" shape rather then the thousands of mini explosions that happen in other engines. The 360 is directly form mopar parts dealer. I watched Popular Hot Rodding did a test of all the crate engines. They where all comparable to one another the Dodge being the most bullet proof, at least as far as the way it's built with the ford being better built then the chev. The Mopar crate actully dynoed at 410hp according to them. I don't remember ford's numbers. Just out of curiosity how well does the L hang with a Grand National? Or if anyone has found one to race a Buick GNX? The GMX was supposed to be around 300hp and with a sweet power to weight ratio.

 

That's actually a very good question about the Grand Nationals. I would expect the Lightning to still come out on top however, for the following reason. I also frequesnt a sight called ClubGP, for Grand Prix owners. Several owners of GTP (the supercharged version of the GP GT) have noted that they have modded their cars with 3.4 pulleys, new cat back exausts, several other mods, and can still not beat a stock or slightly modded Lightning, yet they claim to have no problems against Grand Nationals.

Ask this same question in about a year, when Ford is supposedly going to release to the public the new GT40 concept car. I saw a while back it was unveiled at I believe SEMA, but I haven't seen anything since.

 

A grand National and a GNX are two different cars, the GNX is pretty rare though. Built for one year only and somehting like 1500 built. I read that turbo's are more efficient then a supercharger and the fact the Grand Prix and a GN have the same cubes I think. Gn's are sweet sleepers though.

 

Hey ryanstruck, if you go to motor trend online and reead the article on the GT40 Ford said that they will build it but they didn'y say how many or when. Oh yeah it uses a 4v version of the Lightnings 5.4, putting out around 500 horse, can't remember the torque rating though.


82' Flareside with 400 horse under the hood

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the basic difference between the Buick GN and the GNX is that the GNX is twin-turbo'd whereas the GN has a single turbo.

Red 2001 Lightning with stock drivetrain
13.61 @ 102 MPH spinning factory F1s.
[B]RUNVS?

 

The GNX wasn't a twin turbo. It was a normal GN engine sent to I belive Cogsworth? I know it was one of the F1 engine builders but they went through it and tuned it for more power. Different coatings on the turbo impellar and some other touchs that bumped it up to 300hp. Not bad for a little v6!

 

You are right and I stand corrected. After doing a little research, I've discovered that the GNX was a ACS/McLaren modified version of the GN and utilized a single turbo.

 

The "L" is a sweet ride, don't get me wrong, but comparing them to a R/T Dakota is rather silly. For the difference in price, why don't you compare the "L" to the Mercedes C32. The 3.2L V6 in the C32 puts out 349HP and when broken in will do 0-60 in ~4.6 seconds. It's just not an equal comparrison.

Sure, the R/T has a few more cubes, but due to their ancient design they are totally hamstrung due to emissions regulations. There is a lot of potential in the 360, it just needs a bit of massaging when you get it from the factory. Ford did the same thing to the 460 in the late 80's & 90's. From the factory, the 460 was a dog. (I had a built 460 in my '78 F-150 that had 485HP & ~520lb/ft that rocked). The R/T is a standard production Dakota, the only thing *special* about it is the exhaust, interior trim, and the 5.9L as standard. You wouldn't call an Eddie Bauer Explorer special if it came with the 5.4L standard would you?

The engine in the "L" is different than the rest of the 5.4's in the other F-150's. That's the whole purpose of the SVT, to create cars/trucks that go FAST and handle better than their stock brethren.

Dodge now has the Performance Vehicle Operations (some people from AMG are on the team) and the SRT-4 + SRT-10 are the first *special* products to hit the market. The SRT-4 is a Neon w/ 215HP that is the fastest in its class (under $20K (faster than the SVT Focus)) and the soon to be released SRT-10 is a Ram ½ Ton (1500) with the Viper V10 (500HP + 500Lb/Ft), Viper Brakes, and Viper 6-Speed Manual all for about $35K. According to www.car-truck.com, the SRT-10 will do 0-100-0 in 18 seconds. When they come out with the SRT-8 (rumored to be the next generation Dakota with a supercharged 5.7L Hemi) then that might be a fair comparrison to the "L".

Just my $.02

 

dude what the hell are you talking about.. your trying to tell us all that dodge doesnt run a 5.9 in standard dakotas or durangos? yah pal bull #####. i got a durango sittin out side my front door right now with the 5.9 <360!> in it and its a stock slt. not an r/t with 245 stock hp. so whats this about 5.8? the 351 was in f 250s im not sure bout the 150s. but i know someone with a dak. wit a 360 in it. AND DONT GET ME WRONG, IM NOT BASHING THE LIGHTNING. ITS MY DREAM TRUCK.

 

I am not impressed with the R/T. One of my roommates had one. My LIGHTLY modded 'Yota, with a 2.4l 4-cyl. walked away from it! It could easily pace a 5.0 Stang, too. I'm not saying it was a super truck, but if it could pull a v-8 powered truck, with a 500lb. lighter GVW, what does that mean? Besides, this is a Ford site. Go soapbox for Mopar somewhere else.
Moments
Of
Power
Are
Rare.


Jared

 

Wow, someone's panties are in a bunch defending mighty mopar, huh? Hey, the 5.9 is NOT standard equiptment in a Dakota, I am not sure of the Durango. I already explained it is an extra option. Just like Ford's Triton 5.4L is not standard equipment. No, it's not a special engine or anything, but you can't go to Dodge, say you want a base model Dakota, and get a V8 in it.