Re: The looks you get from Lighting owners.
I ran 10.94@122.4mph on slicks pig rich at 10.9:1 with a 1.8 60ft on a cool night. I have more than 509 rwhp now, I just haven't been on a dyno since I upped the boost from 14.5# to 17#, but I have a wide band commander that uses it's own 02 sensor and I am still fine with no knock. I need to get back to the dyno to put the finishing touches on the tune now that the motor has 1,500 miles on it.
Right now NLOC has 27 people listed as 10's or better and I know of at least 3 people who aren't on the list. It takes a lot to get into the 10's and is pretty much impossible with out slicks. I have a Kenne Bell supercharger, forged block, fox lake heads, comp cams, 2400 stall, 60# injectors, SCT MAF, traction bars, ect, and much much more.... I have spent a lot of money. On the street, I have no doubt a modded Ty would beat me traffic light to traffic light... I just shread street tires. We also need a well prepped track much more than you guys do.
A buddy of mine is building a twin turbo 5.4 DOHC Lightning right now using twin T61's... That thing will be a monster. Right now the thing that is starting to catch on is the Turbo Lightnings. If I had it to do all over again, that is what I would have done, but hey we all do mods and learn from them.
If your buddy blew his motor with a 4# lower his tuner is terrible... I ran a Kenne Bell and a 5# lower putting 460 to the wheels for a year with no blown motor and when I tore it down to build a new motor, my motor was in great shape. But, you are right, Lightning owners are very very helpful with each other, but the major tuners are very secretive mostly due to most of them starting together and breaking apart due to personal differences.
I truely love spooling up my dad's TY before a launch, what a rush...
I too love everything about the Lightnings and the ty's... What a nice garage that will make for me eventually...
When I do buy a Ty, I really want one that already has a built motor and will run high 11's or low 12's... How much can I expect to pay?