Someone has to read this and respond...

http://www.dodgedakotas.com/boards/per/2019.html

 

HA!!! That whole forum was a riot! There were only like 2 people on that whole board trying to diss the Lightning, and EVERYONE else admitted it was a superior truck. I saw a few saying how "oh boohoo, it's supercharged, that's cheating, blah blah blah", yet they need a 5.9L engine to move the Dakota, as opposed to the 5.4L Triton. And to add insult to injury, the Dakota R/T only puts out 250 hp, at 4800rpms, by the way!. Kinda high, wouldn't you agree? Now that's with a 5.9L engine, and the F-150 5.4L has 260 hp, go to a Lightning and it goes up to 360, now 380 hp. And the Lighting can still tow a 5,000 trailer and haul 800lbs in it's bed. Yet the Dodge Dakota R/T isn't clear on what it can tow or haul.....hmmmmmmmm. I think I'll stay Ford Tough and stay clear of Mopar.

Ryan
1986 F-250 HD 4x4
4.10 gears, C6 trany
351W, Edelbrock 351 Performer intake
Edelbrock Performer 600cfm 4bbl carb
Edelbrock Pro-Flo air cleaner
Extreme 4x4 camshaft
Flowmaster 30 series dual exhaust
Custom headers
3" Warn body lift

 

hey i own both a lightning and an r/t and i must say the r/t is pretty fast for a small truck. but the lightning is mech quicker but i think if you did the same mods that the lightning has on a r/t i think the r/t would win. I lioke both trucks equaly well

nick chambers
2001 black r/t
2000 silver L

 

I'm unclear on what your saying...you mean supercharge am R/T? If that's the case, I still don't think it would beat a Lightning. It would produce roughly 350hp, shy of the Lightning, and with .4L on the Lightning's engine. And if you were to do the same mods including things such as the older Lightning's GT40 heads, and other mods, then maybe, but again, it's a bigger engine in a lighter, smaller truck.

 

if you supercharg the dakota at 8-10#, raise the revlimiter from 5200 to 6000 rpm, get a 52mm throttle body, and headers the dakota should beat the "L". the bigger engine puts out more torque, and more torque in a lighter trucks wins races.

if money were no object, the dakota would kill the "L" with a 4" stroker crank, 4bbl M-1, cam, 2.02 R/T heads, 10-12# of boost, and the list goes on.

lets face it, the "L" was built with speed in mind. the dakota has the same engine all of the fullsize vans and trucks have with the exception of a exhaust.

 

Let's face it....

If money were no object, the Lightning would be killing any vehicle out there. Seen the Lightning v. Corvette thread lately? A heavily modified Lightning ripped to shreads a Z06. I mean RIPPED it apart. Raise the rev limiter to 6000rpms? you seriously wanna be running at 6000rpms to put out those horses? Ok, put a 65mm TB spacer on an L, chip it with a Diablo chip, new headers, new exhaust, up the pounds on the s/c, bigger pulleys, and raise the rev limiter on the Lightning to 6000rpms. Your "kota" won't match it. And you are right on the money. The R/T uses a full size truck engine, not the standard Magnum V8 mind you, the upgraded V8. So why not make it fair. Since the Lightning is a fullsize truck, give it a bigger engine, say the 6.8L V10. talk about torque.....

 

"The R/T uses a full size truck engine, not the standard Magnum V8 mind you, the upgraded V8"

what are you talking about? the ram, dakota (R/T or not), durango, and ram van all use the same magnum engine. there is no "upgraded" v8.

WOO HOO a heavily modded lightning smoked a STOCK z06. BIG DEAL i know of a V6 dakota running 11's. thats beating a stock VIPER! there is also another dakota in the 10's! both of the dakotas are stock bodies (no fiberglass)

i know the "L" is a fast *** truck, im not in no way knocking it. i actually like them. im just saying, the dakota has way more mods for it, (heck, the 318 and 360 have been around for more than 30 years) and with the $$$ it will beat even a modded "L".

you said need a v10 for torque, ill just take a 360 and the 4" mopar crank, with the keith black pistons, bore the block .030 over and it becomes a 408. a v8 torque monster.

Eric

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 05-Feb-02 AT 01:38 AM (EST)]just wondering why do you want to put a V10 in a "L"? are you afraid of the torque the 360/408 is capible of? if you wanted to put a V10 in a "L" lets make it fare, and put a viper V10 in the dak...oh yea that has been done too
http://images.cardomain.com/installs/106000-106999/106900_28_full.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/installs/106000-106999/106900_27_full.jpg
of course one could always add the venom 800 TT package to it hehehe. looks like the dodge boys have got you covered from every angle. all it takes is $$$

Eric

 

>"The R/T uses a full size truck engine, not the standard
>Magnum V8 mind you, the upgraded V8"
>
>what are you talking about? the ram, dakota (R/T or not),
>durango, and ram van all use the same magnum engine. there
>is no "upgraded" v8.

For such an obvious Dodge enthusiast, you sure don't seem to know much about engine options/packages. First of all, yes, there is an upgraded V8. That is the 5.8L (5.9). The base engine is the 4.7L 235hp Magnum. It is base for the Ram 1500 and van. The 5.8L is an upgraded package, which you will pay more for. Just as the 4.6L and 5.4L Tritons are upgraded engines from the base 4.2L V6. In fact, I've seen sevaral Ram 1500's with the Magnum V6 emblem. As for your Durango and Dakota, the base engine is the 3.9L V6. The upgraded package in the Dakotas and Durangos is the 4.7L V8, not the 5.8/9L V8. The 5.9L is only found in the R/T package. No standard Dakota or Durango has the 5.9L, just as no Ranger (same class) will come with a 5.4L, or a 4.6 for that matter. So yes, the 5.9 is an upgraded engine for all Dodge models.

>WOO HOO a heavily modded lightning smoked a STOCK z06. BIG
>DEAL i know of a V6 dakota running 11's. thats beating a
>stock VIPER! there is also another dakota in the 10's! both
>of the dakotas are stock bodies (no fiberglass)

That's just wonderful. You said it yourself. With the money, anything can be accomplished. So to go dollar for dollar, the Lightning can easily stay on top. You spend $5k on your Dakota 5.9L, and let someone spend $5k on a stock 380 hp Lightning. See who ends up on top.

>i know the "L" is a fast *** truck, im not in no way
>knocking it. i actually like them. im just saying, the
>dakota has way more mods for it, (heck, the 318 and 360 have
>been around for more than 30 years) and with the $$$ it will
>beat even a modded "L".

Just as the 351W has been around for quite some time, and the 350 Chevy is an old guy. And there are many many mods for the Windsor on first gen Lightning's that will take it into the 10's and 11's. You are absolutely right though, there isn't a huge market for the 5.4L Triton, but it is building with more and more aftermarket parts.

>you said need a v10 for torque, ill just take a 360 and the
>4" mopar crank, with the keith black pistons, bore the block
>.030 over and it becomes a 408. a v8 torque monster.

Ok, I'll just take a 390, or hey, even my 351W, use a Comp Cams Xtreme Energy 4x4 cam, use the same Keith Black Silv-O-Lite Pistons for a .60 overbore, P&P, Eagle ESP forged 4.100" crankshaft and a FM 70 series, and I'll put that torque monster against you.

I was simply stating a matter of fact in the case that the 5.9L is a huge engine for such a small lightweight truck in comparison to the 5.4L smaller engine in the fullsize Lightning, so to make a comparison, upgrade the Lighting and put the 6.8L in it. If you want to praise your "Kota" so much, go to a Dodge site. Read the thread at Dakota online where someone did say something about the Dakota being able to stomp the Lighting, and all the Dakota owners there laughed at him and said he's smokin some crazy ganja. Even all the Dakota owners at that site were saying to beat a STOCK Lightning, the Dakota would have to be heavily modified. But in that same respect, you could rice out a Honda Civic all you wanted if you had the money and come close to, if not beat a Viper.

So I won't say no, it's not possible for a heavily modded Dakota to beat a stock Lightning, in fact, I'm sure it could be done, but if you're gonna heavily modify something, then you're just not making a fair comparison, like how the Lightning beat the Z06. I fully admit, it wasn't a fair race. BUT, it wasn't even the same class. I mean, a car that is the flagship of GM racing, with great aerodynamics, power, etc, and it was beaten by an large, heavy, not so aerodynamically retrofitted TRUCK.

Troll around somewhere else.

 

"The R/T uses a full size truck engine, not the standard Magnum V8 mind you, the upgraded V8."

i know the R/T only comes with the 5.9, so when i read that statement, it sounded like you thought the R/T had a "hooked up" engine that was unique to the R/T. And by the way, the 3.9 is not available in the durango.

i know if the "L" owners and the R/T owners spent 5k on a truck, the "L" would still win and it should IT COSTS 32K FROM THE FACTORY WITH A SUPERCHARER!! a R/T is between 17 and 22K take the money one would save from buying the "L" and dump into the dak and the dak would win. heck just put 5k into both trucks and throw in a SC for the dak (to make it even) and lets see who would win.

i guess you missed the "hot rod" mag issue where chevy, mopar, and ford did a 350, 360, and 351 comparison... the dick landy 360 KILLED the compitition and he was the only one who didnt use a electric water pump!!


i do like the "L"'s they are badd ***! im just saying for 32k you can have a fast dakota.

 

man you guys need to calm down. I started this talk and i never said a r/t could beat a L. i mean i own both trucks and i just said they are both fast.if you bough an R/T like i did it was $26 out the door so that leaves you with $9000 left including tax and licence on a L. so if you put $9000 into a R/T it could easily beat a L. I know guys who can say it is so. So lets just say that both trucks are bad @$$. i know they are and i think the R/T give you the bang for the bucks jsut like trhe lightnig does. It is just a more reasonable price for those who dont have $35000.

nick chambers
2000 silver lightning
2001 black R/T

 

verry well put!!

 

$32,000.

 

i live in so. cal, and have yet to find a lightning under 40k. and the dealers wont budge.

Eric

 

I live in Massachusetts, and there are several dealers who have brand new '02's for $32, there is an '01 for $27, and 2 '99's, one is $24 and one is $22,5. I have never, ever heard of a Lightning for more than $35, and that was with several aftermarket mods including chip, exhaust, custom hard cover and alum. driveshaft, and it was being sold privately, not by a dealer. If you're seeing Lightning's for over $40k, then your Vettes must be in the $50-60k range, or you guys are just seriously messed up over there.