The SVT Lightning was a gem in the seven-decade history of the Ford F-150. Exciting over two generations with a three-year hiatus in between, the performance-oriented truck has become a favorite among truck enthusiasts who want a lightning-fast, yet burly truck.
Unfortunately, Ford dropped the SVT Lightning in the 2004-11th generation of the best-selling truck, which marked the end of the nameplate. We are still seeing samples of these regularly Cab models on the road, and they look really badass.
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But how does the SVT Lightning compare to a modern F-150 Raptor? That’s probably a question some truck fans have in mind at the moment, and StangMode aims to answer it in his recently uploaded video on YouTube.
We’re talking about performance on the road, of course, because the reduced suspension of the SVT Lightning makes it an underdog against the Baja-conquering Raptor. On the sidewalk and on paper, however, the 20-year-old truck has a bad chance.
The SVT Lightning is powered by a 5.4-liter Triton SOHC V8 equipped with an Eaton M112 supercharger. The first iteration, which is the one that appears on the top video, produces a maximum of 360 horsepower (268 kilowatts) and 440 pounds (597 Newton-meters) of torque, sent to the rear wheels via four-speed Ford 4R100 overdrive automatic transmission .
On the other hand, the F-150 Raptor has a smaller 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6, but produces a substantial amount at 450 hp (336 kW) and 510 lb-ft (691 Nm) of torque. This motor sends power to all four wheels, which is an advantage in itself (except for the high power gap).
Note, however, that the SVT lightning weighs substantially less than the Raptor weighing about 1,000 pounds. With that said, who do you think won this drag race? Watch the video above.
