1 COBRA

SVT cared and catered to its clientele, it was a personal relationship. For my '04 Cobra I received letters of appreciation, a certificate of authenticity, another for random selection of a complete factory inspection resulting in zero defects, and a personalized and detailed describtion of its production data.

With the GT500 I have received zilch with exception of the renewal notice (money) from Sirius and if I would want to endulge myself with a certificate for the car, the one which should have been provided in the first place, you gueseed it, mo (money).

I love Mustangs but dealing with Ford has become a pay for sex experience.

jsaylor

I almost spit a mouthfull of o.j. across the room when I read that. Unfortunately you are right. A little more customer service than average isn't unwarranted for cars as special as this and this is one of the characteristics of SVT that I very much wish was still being practiced.

97GT03SVT

The lack of SVT products will cost Ford sales to enthusiast drivers. I really wanted an SVT version of the current Fusion. I remember hearing stories of Ford toying with the idea but in the end Ford never brought one to production. I was in the market for a decent mid-size sedan with some pep. I remember walking into the Ford showroom testdriving cars and being a little disapointed. The current Focus is crap, Both the Taurus and Fusion are underpowered and in the end, I a long time loyal Ford customer looked elsewhere for my vehical purchase simply because Ford did not produce the vehical I was looking for. The next time i'm ready to buy myself a stablemate to join my 03' I may buy a Camaro or a Challenger if it is a better bargain with less hassel than getting a GT500. I woke up and realized that I should purchase the best product and not have a silly loyalty to a car company that has no loyalty to me.

mach1fever

Phil a big part of the delay was that the whole body style change was one year late. Ford knew it would sell the gt for a long time at msrp or above. (which it did) This has been the same for all previous changes to include the mustang II. I think a lot of the pep problems will be taken care of by the 3.5. We will see when it hits the lots. Btw the reason for no lightning was because the current f150 is way too big.

97GT03SVT

I do remember that Ford said weight was a key issue but Ford said that they were going to replace the Lightning with the "SVT" Sport Trac Adrenalan.. This truck is finally hitting producton and while it has the looks of the concept it doesnt have the SVT treatment or the Terminator motor inside either

Weight didnt seem to be a big problem for the GT500 i mean c'mon the thing is 4000lbs now. The Lightning would still be just as fast if not faster then the previous gen if it was given more power........say the same powering the GT500!

mach1fever

The Adreniline will still have a 6 speed and all wheel drive. The only difference is you have to have the blower put on yourself (from ford racing) and you don't get a full warranty on a blown vehicle. The truck argument didn't work for the srt-10 truck and that had the viper motor in it. It still only runs 14's. Only as fast as the lightning of old (in stock trim). In addition the 5.4 is blown in the harley truck which people are more likely to buy than a lightning. They have the brand equity of Harley and the factory warranty is only one year on some of them. They are not held to the performance standards a lightning would be. The physical size of the current truck does not allow for the driving dynamics and power/weight ratio. Maybe with the new 6.2? We will have to see how the new redesign went. It was supposed to drop this month but was pushed back for release until the fall.

Roger

97GT03SVT

The Adreniline concept had the Terminator 4.6 in it though, i'm almost certain that it did. I gotta say though that the supercharged Harley 5.4 is a far cry from the 5.4 used in the GT500. Though i'd love a new Lighning i'm thinking with rising gas prices (oil just hit $100 a barrel again!) that a hopped up sports truck makes less sense than ever maybe we will see 500HP hybrids to supply our need for speed in the coming decades.

mach1fever

Electric would be where its at. Instant torque baby. Talk about being put back in your seat

Five Oh Brian

SVT Lightning was canned as the 04 F-150 redesign added 600 lbs to the truck! While acceleration would have been maintained by the 550hp engine of the concept truck (vs 380hp of the 03/04 model), the handling would have been compromised too much according to SVT at the time.

The SVT Adreneline concept featured the Terminator's 4.6L DOHC supercharged 390hp V8 with a 6-speed automatic, independent suspension at all four corners, etc. I was lobbying hard for this one to make production as it fit so many of my own personal needs for a daily driver and weekend warrior.

The possibility of an SVT Fusion is still there, although it'll likely be called Fusion ST, with tuning by "SVT." Turbocharged 3.0L or 3.5L V6 was the latest rumor. Although, we may have to wait until after the all-new for 2009 Lincoln MKS launches with the 3.7L V6, which will be naturally aspirated to begin with, then later twin-turbocharged as an option by the 2010 model year. Then, the Fusion could get trickle-down goodies from the MKS.