lightening engine
lightening engine
Freshman User
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
lightening engine
What year of Lightning engine are you curious about? The engines have changed over the years. The first ones had a 5.8 HO type engine. The newer ones have a 5.4 modular engine with a supercharger. That one is easy to recognize. It looks like a Mustang SVT engine. Go down to your local Ford dealer and look at one. It's impressive.
Joe
Joe
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 347
Likes: 0
From: ct
lightening engine
the first ones were made 93-95. the shortblocks are identical to the regular 351. the heads are gt-40 just like the cobras. the cam is different. more torque. the intake is the tubular gt-40. basically a mustang intake. it had a 65mm single t-body unlike the dual setup on the truck motor. it had tubular headers just like the mustang. it was rated at 240hp and 360 ftlbs. but in reality it realistically turned near 270hp and 380 ftlbs. very strong engine. and very durable.
Elder User
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 692
Likes: 1
From: Coon Rapids, MN
lightening engine
Wow, they really made that much more power than ford listed them as?!! Why wouldn't ford want to advertise them with a higher HP number? But 240 does seem a bit low for having GT heads and intake, headers, and a decent cam.
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 484
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO USA
lightening engine
One of the reason's the hp is low is because the lightning engine is tuned to produce more low-end torque, due to the cam choice and the upper intake. The 87-93 Stangs were rated at about 215, 94's and 95's 220, 96's were 4.6L 220hp, then in 97 it went to 240, and 260 in 99. But all the stangs used were 5.0's and 4.6's.
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Elder User
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 692
Likes: 1
From: Coon Rapids, MN
lightening engine
I always thought the 5.0 mustang had 225hp? Ok, But the stang had a 5.0 and the lightning has a 5.8. In the trucks the 5.8 made 210hp totally stock, and at only 240hp for the lightning with the addition of the intake, heads, headers, and a different cam, I would have thought it would be a little more. What im getting at is GT-40 heads and intakes are very popular and if they only added a few HP from what the lightning is showing (+30 for everything) I think people would be looking elsewere for engine parts.
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Joe Kucinski
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 484
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO USA
lightening engine
there are several reasons why the lightning "only" makes 240hp. Hp is a function of torque and rpm, i.e. the more torque at a higher rpm, the higher th peak hp. The lightning engine agian is tuned for the low end torque with its larger c.i. motor, cam, and upper intake. if you look at a stang on the other hand, its smaller displacement and cam choices means that it winds up a lot higher than you would see ANY truck engine go, making its torque at a higher rpm, meaning more hp. What you really need to look at is torque #'s and at what rpm those numbers are at.