Which Ford Truck Does the Best Burnouts?
1. Ford Lightning
The Lightning had a decade-long run that all started because of GM. In the early 90s GM had come out swinging with the supercar-beating, turbocharged GMC Syclone. Ford couldn’t let GM take the spotlight, so the Lightning was born. While the original Lightning came with a big 5.8L naturally-aspirated V8, the one we care about is the later 1999+ model, sporting a supercharged 5.4L modular V8, with later models doling out 380HP and 450 ft./lb of torque! This motor was actually the basis of the revived Ford GT supercar, which gives it awesome pedigree in addition to the massive power. Lean on the torque converter while holding down the brake, watch for the rear end to take a set and begin to incinerate those rear tires.
2. 2017 Ford Super Duty
The 2017 Ford Super Duty trucks could slow the rotation of the Earth if launched off the line hard enough. That’s the power of power, specifically, the power of 925 ft./lb of torque going through the rear tires. That is courtesy of the 6.7L Powerstroke turbo-diesel V8 lurking beneath the massive hood. While that much pulling power is already eye-popping, imagine the field day tuners will have once they get their hands on one of these things. This is a truck that is a $500 ECU calibration away from 1000+ ft./lb of torque, with zero changes to the actual hardware. That is insane, which makes sense, because seemingly everything about the new Super Duty is insane.
3. Ford F-250 with the Triton V10
Why is the Triton on the list? Simple: we needed to celebrate Ford’s brashness to build an overhead-cam V10 based off the modular V8, and then shove it into a truck. The SOHC Triton V10 has been used in a few generations of Fords, but we are highlighting the 1999-2007 F-250s because they were the first to have it, and they are pretty much the cheapest running vehicles on the road today that will net you a V10 engine. Throw some long tube headers on that motor and let it rip, because a truck will have never sounded so cool blazing rubber.
4. 2008 Ford F-150 V6
Well, this is awkward. What exactly is a bare bones base model F-150 doing on this list? This odd man out is here for a simple reason: it was the absolute last example of a Ford truck sold with a manual transmission. Sure, the 4.2 V6 was a total dog of an engine, with a miserable 202 horses to push around 4,900lbs, and getting a base model truck back in 2008 meant having zero toys or interior doo-dads, but for posterity’s sake, we had to include this wet noodle in the list. Throw a 5-speed into any truck and you can be a hoon, smoking your tires as much as you please. So go gentle on the base model, it deserves to be here just as much as any of the other big dogs.
5. Generation 1 Ford F-250 with the 7.3L Powerstroke V8
Yes, we already covered a Powerstrokin’ Ford Super Duty, but the gen one F-250 is special, and actually our favorite out of all of the tire shredders on this list. Our reasoning is simple: from 2001-2003, these trucks had the option of a true manual transmission, and that is wicked. With the prodigious torque of the 7.3L Powerstroke turbo-diesel (525 ft./lb), this truck is one 2,500RPM clutch drop away from destroying all of these trucks, and indeed, just about anything else, in the ultimate burnout contest.
6. EcoBoost Trucks
Sure, we sung the high praises of the 7.3 Super Duty, but the past is the past and the future is here, and it is EcoBoost. Ford’s current string of EcoBoost sixes have become the masthead engines for the Ford of today, and we are cool with that. These V6s respond well to modifications and Ford definitely left a good amount of “headroom,” in terms of the horsepower ceiling, with these motors. Also, nothing says tire-fire like turbocharged torque delivery. These new EcoBoost trucks spool fast and hit hard down low in the powerband, making it all too easy to upset and overcome the rear tires. The horsepower wars are alive, and now is a great time to be driving a Ford.
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