The Debate: Supercharge My 2010 STA or Buy a 04 Lightning

[Carey Frennier]

The Debate: Supercharge My 2010 STA or Buy a 04 Lightning



Im planning ahead here. Were talking 3 to 5 years down the road. Im in love with the utility and styling of my STA. Eventually I will have a new daily driver and I will either trade this vehicle or keep it and make it my dream truck.



Ive always been in love with the Gen2 SVT Lightning. Specifically the 2003-2004 Sonic Blue models. I really like that they came factory with some major equipment for ground pounding.



STA Pros:

4-doors.

Same weight as an SVT Lightning.

AWD.

Significantly newer (6 years better than the last Gen2 Lightning).

Much nicer interior and option features.

Can select whatever supercharger I want and max the HP to whatever the stock internals, AWD and tran can handle.

There are significantly fewer supercharged STAs as there are SVT Lightnings.

After a SC there is nothing else I could possibly need to do for performance mods as nothing else exists.



STA Cons:

The powertrain was not made for serious power. I hear 400 WHP is all she can do (more than enough for me) with stock internals.

Its my daily driver so if the powertrain fails Im going to be very inconvenienced.

It may be SVT designed but its not SVT engineered and therefore it will not have as good a residual value as the SVT Lightning.

There is very little modification support for the Gen2 V8 STA. While its true that you can do a lot with the Mustang GT, the STA is different and many of the mods just dont work.

They already make V6 TT engines with way more torque and horsepower with powertrains designed for that power.



SVT Lightning Pros:

Built for power and aggressive driving.

Massive aftermarket support.

Not a daily driver so a powertrain failure would be less of a pain in the neck to daily life.

Exceptional resales value.

They are real SVT machines, not wannabe SVT machines.

Total net cost, the Lightning would be cheaper to achieve the desired performance. The truck would cost significantly less than my STA and it already has the supercharger.



SVT Lightning Cons:

Its old.

Its a single cab pickup.

Its only 2WD.

Its very hard to find one that has aggressive pricing in good condition.

I could only afford one with 70-100,000 miles on it.

After the initial truck purchase, I wouldnt have money to do any major mods for awhile and there are a lot of must-do mods for the Gen2 SVT Lightning.

Not as attractive as the Gen2 STA.





Cost Breakdown:



SVT Lightning

Miles: 70,000

Average Cost: $12000

Mods: $4000 (average for some basic upgrades to make it a 12 sec truck)



STA

Miles: 46,000 (5 years from now)

Cost: $37,XXX (MSRP of over $41,000)

Brenspeed SC: $9000 ($8000 plus some other work I would have done at the same time)



Obviously the less expensive option is the Lightning. However, My STA will be paid off by then.





What is your opinion?

 

[Les]

If you want speed, buy a Mustang...:grin:

 

[Ray Muratore]

Wow... That's an interesting dilemma. I just picked up my STA 2 weeks ago. I was wondering how much the Brenspeed blower package is/was... ouch! 8-9 large is hefty. That goes to your point about not much aftermarket for our trucks. I will definitely have to pay my truck off before putting that into her. Maybe we can make a play at the Brenspeed shop for our trucks in 5 years!

An '04 lightning in 4-5 years is going to be 12 years old. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the used car world... and a used Lightning is probably going to have been beat hard. You may find one in the 12K range, but who knows what you may need to do to it - tranny rebuild, top end, etc???? It's like buying someone's 12 sec mustang that's a decade old...



Now, in 4-5 years once your STA is paid off, 9 grand into it, will be less than the $$$ for an SVT AND you'll know the complete history on the truck (since you made it).



My plan is to keep mine as my primary car (I don't drive every day and my Shelby is the garage queen) with the blow on her and drive the STA 'til she dies. I think the versatility of it and potential are far better than the Lightning





That's my $1.63

 

[ray moyer]

dude, i would go with the STA you got that sexy blue color and youll look like sonic flying by everyone!



and you could tell todd your blue one is faster

 

[Carey Frennier]

Todd and I have almost the exact same set of mods lol. I'm still trying to finalize my decision about the wider gap plugs and COPs. I see no benifit from them unless you run a wider gap and the seller of the SOS COPs told me the same thing.



Steeda Underdrive Pulley Kit 701-0005A

Zabteck Modified Throttle Body V8 4.6L

K&N 57-2573 FIPK

Magnaflow 14236 Exhaust

DMH E-Cutout (toy, almost no performance gain until 50mph or more)

SCT Xcal3 ECM & TCM Tune (87 and 93 Octane) By Unleashed

 

[Andy Chase]

I'd be tempted to go with the Lightning, unless you want to keep the 4 door option. But you can't go wrong w/ either.

 

[Todd Z]

I would either sell it and get a mustang, Or honestly, save the money and when the St gets tired, rebuild the 4.6 and use the right internals, and S/C it and get over 600HP !!!



Schrader performance even put a 351 in his Adren Supercharged !! that thing is CRAZY sick and sexy !!!



Todd Z

 

[Robert Caffyn]

Hey Carey, I did a little research and the stock bottom end of the 4.6l motor can handle up near 600bhp.(at least mid 500's) Check out the link below and check out the upper end kit(heads,cams,intake,dual throttle body). This will give you around 400bhp to 440bhp(claimed) for about $3700, plus figure another $1200- $1500 for installation and tuning. It would not stress the motor as much as a S/C, plus it would sound more radical! The cost definately outweighs the cost of the S/C alone and gives you approximately the same HP gain. You also can S/C those mods if you can keep the HP under 600. Just something else to look into, I am!! Bob

 

[Ryan betts]

I'd go with the STA. the lightning is going to be too old and being a lightning its prob near impossible to find one for a good deal that hasnt been abused. also, no one expects a sport trac with 500+ HP!

 

[EJ Bock]

Edlebrook super charger would be the way to go.

Direct bolt on watch the videos.



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[Ed C]

Either way you go... I'm jealous!:sad:

 

[chargedtrac]

I'd be kinda partial in my opinion. :grin:

Monday marks my one year anniversary and about 13000 awesome miles with the SC install in my ST. Definitely a chunk of change. No regrets to date.



Doing a built engine with maybe an option to go supercharged later sounds like a more affordable progression.



I've always liked the Gen2 Lightnings though. Finding one at a good price that's not beat could be a challenge.



Carey - open offer to go for a ride in mine if you are ever down I-87 near Albany. You can check out the install and plumbing. :banana:

 

[Carey Frennier]

My wife and I are still talking it over but I think we are leaning towards the STA supercharger. It's really hard to pass up on the trucks utility and we both like the styling better.



Something about the Lightning just calls to me. It has for about 12 years.

 

[Jim Johnson]

A new Dark Shadow Gray Lightning called to me in 2003, so I bought it. :banana: It's my daily driver and the '01 ST is my wife's. Well, except when it snows -- then the L sits at home (it's treacherous in even a dusting of snow).



We can agree to disagree about the looks: when the Gen2 ST came out, my wife & I both said, "I guess we won't be buying another one of these!" LOL!



If you can find an unabused Lightning (mid-'03 or later to get the upgrades that were put in place then), you have the advantage of an entire package that's designed for high performance: engine, transmission, suspension, brakes, etc., as upposed to overstressing components that weren't intended to handle the extra power. One disadvantage is that you can expect 14 MPG in moderate driving with the required premium gas. I don't know how that would compare with a supercharged ST.



So that's one vote for the Lightning. :haveabeer:

 

[chargedtrac]

"Rough" gas mileage on my SC'd ST 4x4... 14 middle of winter commuting, 17-18 summer commute, on long trips - about 20 (cruising at 75mph) and upwards of 22 (at 65-68mph). Premium gas. I drive mine year round. Stock tires in the winter work fine (though next year I might go with snows when these Fortera's get down there). Adrenalin wheels with wider GY Eagles for the summer (I could have made a better summer tire choice I reckon). :grin:



I think I would have an interesting matchup vs. a lightning...



Dark Shadow Gray is a sharp color Jim. I had an '03 Mustang GT in that color back a few years ago. :supercool:

 

[Carey Frennier]

The advantage with trading or selling the STA would be equity. That truck has got to be worth more than enough to buy a 04 Lightning 5 years from now. I could buy the lightning and lease one of these little AWD Kia Sportages that I sell. That would be awesome. The. I would have my dream truck with a somewhat useful 6' bed and some towing power and I would have a nice, inexpensive daily driver that is way better on gas. I should also have a decent chunk of money left over to put into the house or something.



This is a real pain in the butt decision. I'm glad I've got about 3 to 5 years to think this through

 

[Carey Frennier]

This is a real hard one! I've done a little digging and our gen2 v8 stock internals can handle a decent chuck of power. The tran isn't much of an issue either. Torrie can tune the crap out of it without it ever touching the dyno. All he needs is a little data logging homework on my part.



I think the bottom line is utility. The question my wife and i ask ourselves is... why not have a supercharged sport trac in place of a lightning? I don't have a good answer. Does anyone?

 

[Jeff Jolley]

Get the lightning

 

[Ray Muratore]

Psycareyo,



What's the feel of the truck with your mods vs. stock?

I was thinking of these in the spring



Steeda Underdrive Pulley Kit 701-0005A

Zabteck Modified Throttle Body V8 4.6L

K&N 57-2573 FIPK (I hear this can be noisy at low to mid throttle?)

SCT Xcal3 ECM & TCM Tune (87 and 93 Octane) By Unleashed

 

[Carey Frennier]

Honestly, it's night and day to me. It was more profound in the 2008 though. The 2010 is better. Right out of the box the tran felt way better and the throttle response was much better.



I'm going to run wider tapped plugs and SOS COPs pretty soon. After that, I'm done modding for awhile. I can say that I've done everything short of spray or blower. With the magnaflow exhaust, would not want to do headers or high flow cats. It lost low end grunt enough as it is with just the resonator delete and magnaflow muffler swap.



Ive never driven a lightning. I hope it's all that and a bag of chips! Its got to be better than my STA. Just the difference in tran alone should make it significantly better off the line.