January 1999 CAR AND DRIVER COVER STORY

Yes, it's a pickup truck. And yes, it's the main feature on this month's cover. That has never happened at Car and Driver. May not happen again. So why does the Ford SVT F-150 Lightning deserve such prominent treatment?

Because it pumps out 360 supercharged horsepower, goes 0 to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds, has a top speed of 139 mph, and will happily tow a 5000 pounds.

And it does all of that with commendable composure.

When we got our first look at the 1999 Lightning at the Chicago auto show last March, the show truck's package appeared to be a plausible one: fat P295/45ZR-18 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS radials on five-spoke cast aluminum wheels, four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, a taut suspension that drops the front a half-inch and the rear two inches. Inside, it had custom sport seats with signature SVT white-faced gauges, and outside, distinctive body-colored front and rear fascias and rocker panel moldings, with a means-business dual exhaust exiting behind passenger's-side door.

Underhood was Ford's 5.4-liter SOHC Triton V-8 engine with a supercharger and a custom intake manifold connected to a 3.55:1 rear end by a beefed-up four speed automatic transmission.

On paper and in person, the Lightning appeared in every way better than the original version, which was sold during the 1993-95 model years and was based on the last-generation Ford half-ton pickup. That original Lightning was an impressive vehicle, but still looked and felt cobbier than we had hoped. Members of Ford's Special Vehicle Team (SVT) promised us the next model would be much more refined.

Well, show us, we said. And they did.

Our 1999 Lightning was an early prototype, but aside from a hand-formed fiberglass nose and some body cladding pieces that did not quite match, the truck looked and felt like a production model. The interior was tasteful and understated, but the seats and the gauges immediatley suggested this was not a standard F-150. Those seats are the best we've ever experienced in a pickup-supportive and fully adjustable.

Beneath the hood, the Eaton Roots-type supercharger cranks out 8.0 psi of pressure with a pleasant howl at full acceleration. It's bolted to the mostly stock 5.4-liter SOHC truck V-8 that already received a 25-horsepower boost for 1999. SVT stuck with the standard two-valve heads-they are lower than the four-valve units, allowing for easier packaging of the supercharger and ancillary hardware. SVT claims 360 horsepower at 4750 rpm and claims 440 pound-feet of torque at 3000 rpm-the non-SVT 5.4-liter V-8 has 260 hp at 4500 rpm, and 345 lb-ft of torque at 23000 rpm. The engine pulls like a tractor from all speeds but happily motors around in bumper-to-bumper traffic without trauma.

The four-speed automatic transmission had to be modified to handle the massive torque. Essentially, it's a Ford 4R100 diesel transmission squeezed into a gas- truck case, with a torque convertor from an even heavier-duty transmission. SVT managed to trim cost the way it does all its products-by massive swiping of all existing bits and pieces from Ford's parts bin. The rear end and the four-wheel disc brakes are from the Expedition; the supercharger is similar to the one used by Jaguar; a spider bracket that holds a front bearing support is used on commercial refrgeration trucks. SVT thought, for a moment, about making the Lightning allwheel drive, but the absence of suitable available parts jettisoned that idea.

Still, much had to be created from whole cloth-and aluminum and steel. The throaty exhaust escapes through twin catalytic converters and Walker mufflers. The tires, the wheels, and the seats are all unique to the Lightning, as are the fascias. Certainly, the Lightning does not drive like a parts-bin product--everything seems to work in harmony.

Even so, a brief stint at a local racetrack reminded us that this is, after all, a truck. Even with the surprisingly even weight distribution-57/43 percent front/rear-braking from 95 mph for a sharp right hand turn lightened the rear end enough to cause it to dance a bit as we began our turn-in. Enter a corner too fast, and the front end plows.

Still, you can enter that corner with so much more speed than can a traditional pickup that it's easy to overlook the fact that there is just no way to make a half-ton solid-rear-axle pickup weighing 4696 pounds handle like a sports car. But Ford has come surprisingly close. Although the tightened-up suspension and the addition of a 23-millimeter solid rear stabilizer bar allow for flat cornering, the ride is tolerable even on rough roads.

The engine and the transmission work wonderfully together. This responsive, sharp-shifting automatic is the best we've experienced in a Ford truck and as good as any GM or Chrysler unit. The huge Goodyear Eagle tires are sticky on dry pavement, but on wet roads, they are less confidence inspiring, particularly with the Lightning's willingness to spin the rear tires, limited-slip differerntial or not.

As with the previous Lightning, SVT wants to build a comparative handful--just 4000 a year--to be sold through the 700 or so SVT-certified Ford dealers. The Lightning will be available only fully optioned, in three colors--red, black, or white clear-coat.

As for the price--it's not bad for what you get. SVT will only say that the Lightning will list for less than $30,000, and our sources suggest $29,900 would be a good guess.

SVT proves that Lightning does strike twice--and the second time it's a direct, high-voltage hit. Look for the Lightning at your local SVT/Ford dealer in March.

CAR AND DRIVER 1/99

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Revised: 1/15/99