Ok, so I've been sitting here as a casual observer, getting entertainment from watching everyone gett all in a tizzy over this Ford vs. Dodge thing. But I went ahead and read that Truck trend article posted by MadMerc, just for kicks. After reading it, if I was going to buy either an SRT-10 Dodge, or a Ford Lightning, I'd go with the Lightning. And no, I'm not a Ford geek, I have no brand loyalty. What I know is my folks have a 96 Ram, bought it brand spanking new. The tranny has held out (I've heard rams have trans issues) but since about 50K miles or so we've had a check engine light that will not go away. Within a week of any tune up it's had it will once again be idling like a top fuel dragster (ok, exageration, but it idles very rough) and our friend the check engine light will come back to say hello. The steering has not been right for ages, and we've replaced several components and done many alignments. The thing wallows around like a hippo that overate and rides about as well as the 25 passenger bus I used to drive. I have also known a few people with F150's, plus I now work in the garage at the Ford dealer and have driven several 150's myself. They ride better, handle better, and from what I've seen have fewer problems than our Dodge has had. But, this is normal trucks I'm comparing, not the SRT and Lightning. Straight from page 6 of the Truck Trends article, some fun facts.
Neither truck is build in the USA, the Dodge is built in Mexico, the Ford in Canada. (I found that funny in light of Merc's comment on people loving a car made in Mexico.)
The Dodge has 2.9L more displacement than the Ford, and makes 120 HP and 74 lb/ft more. It also has 2 more gears, a manual (less drivtrain loss), and a lower geared rear end than the Ford (4.11 Dodge, 3.73 ford). The Dodge weighs 330 pounds more than the Ford. the Dodge also has bigger brakes, bigger wheels, and bigger tires than the Ford. The Dodge has more of everything and in the article it does beat the Ford in every performance test except braking, but, for all the extra power, the lower gears, and the 6 speed manual, it just barely wins. 0-60 Dodge by .2 second (4.9 vs 5.1), 1.4 mile Dodge by .3 and just under 5 mph (13.3@106.9 vs
13.6@102), braking Ford by 2 feet, lateral accel, Dodge by .01g, lap time Dodge by .5 sec. then we get to the prices, this is fun, Price as tested, Dodge $45,795, Ford $33,945. The Ford is $11,850 cheaper as tested and within tenths in almost every test. I'm guessing that in most real life situations, it comes down to the driver. And I tend to think a $50K Lightning would be able to whomp on a $50K SRT. So, theres the Facts, straight from the article on the trucks, along with some personal experience and opinion thrown in here and there for flavor. Now, back to pointless internet arguing over whether or not a concept car not approved for production will beat a 2 year old factory performance car.
