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To Gear Smuck's review on the Lightning


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Personally I don't see why everyone is in an uproar. He's pretty much right. American cars are not designed or built to a high standard. I know several people with esclades and excursions that bitch about them rattling and all the plastic interior coming loose. The brits simply will not accept the cars that we buy and drive every day.

 

As far as the specifics of handling, he's dead nuts on. Americans want cars that ride like a air ride Lincoln or Cadliac, even the trucks are full of bullshit that has no place in trucks. Trucks are utilitarian vehicles. The original design idea was to haul loads, pull trainers and to be used to work. Now there are a large number of trucks that the only load they see is a few bags of groceries. Go back and look at trucks of the seventies, those were designed to be work vehicles. Vinyl interior, rubber mat floors, stiff assed suspensions and piss poor fuel mileage because of low gears. Today they have leather, bucket seats, real carpet on the floors, dual climate zones, GPS navigation systems, and all sorts of shit. And they ride like a luxury sedan, not a truck. Because that's what that's what sells. Brits don't even like luxury cars to handle like luxury cars, they want EVERYTHING to drive like a race car. Tight steering, stiff suspension, and the ability to corner hard and fast. Damn few Americans what any of that sort of thing. They want it to ride like the shocks are going bad and steer like it's a wet noodle.

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I'm not bringing anything to anything.

 

And I get what everyone is saying, just thought some of his comments were stupid, end of story. I don't mean about the truck, never driven one, been in one, etc, so he could be dead on right. I just thought some of his comments about Americans were stupid. This is the 2nd I've seen of this show, so maybe there is something I am missing here. I just wanted it clear that just because I don't like this guys point of view I don't generalize about a certain people.

 

Chillllll.

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Great video. Clarkson is always biased towards form following function. Having a 2wd truck with 380hp and hardly any weight over the rear wheels really doesnt make a whole hell of a lot of sence. Sure its got its perks but overall, its just not a suitable vehical for European culture.

 

I agree with Brian... its another American car thats good for two things... heavy drinking, and making lots of noise. With the exceptions of the Z06, Viper, and the Ford GT, not much has really come out of america that the rest of the world cares about.

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I can't help to notice that most of the people complaining are Ford people. The lighting is a cool truck, but it was made by ford. Ford just doesn't buld cars and trucks to the level that other companies do. That is one of the big reasions that GM and Toyota are at the top of food chain in the world of car makers.

 

Take this in to consideration. What would you rather have? A new Toyota Tacoma or a Ford Ranger? The toyota is over 75% domestic made vr. the Ford isn't close to that. The only department that the Ford beets the Toyota in is price. Just a Quick example.

 

From personal experance I have owned Ford, Chevi, Dodge, and Toyota trucks. And I can say that I will NEVER buy a nother truck with out a Toyota name plate.

 

MY $.02

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Man that guy has something to say wrong about every car....which I know there isn't a perfect car but still there isn't that much stuff wrong with a lightning and when people buy it they know they are buying a truck that's fast....My friend has one and all his interior looks good no spaces like that
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I dont see what every one is getting bent out of shape about. He makes fun of everything. Have a fuckign sence of humor. Look at their reveiw of the new mustang. It sucked, they made fun of it, and gave it a positive reveiw.

 

Furthermore, he's right.

-The truck doesn't make sence in brittain

-The truck is constructed with outdated technology, the live axle should be dead and gone

-The interiors are assembled poorly

-The truck is ass happy, and brakes poorly...it's a truck

-People do get eaten by bears in North Americans.

-There is incest goingon in the back hills

-It sucks off road. "Oh, but it's only 2wd". It's a fucking truck, it should be ready to perform work oriented tasks. "That's not what that truck was built by SVT to do." What was it designed to do?

Drage race? > Shitty traction.

Road race? > cant handle or brake for shit. "Good for a truck" means nothing

Top Speed? > horrible drag

Hual stuff? > Maybe tow, but the suspension blows for having a loaded bed.

It's just a standard cab short bed with a potent engine. Dont get pissed at the limey because he picked through the hype. He compared it to the many other new cars he's driven, and it didn't measure up.

 

Oh, and

-the nazi's lost the war because they invaded Russia. We helped, we didn't do all the work. If Hitler had honored his non-agression pact with Stalin and focused all his forces to the west, the outcome may have been very different.

 

The lightnig is a fast truck.....thats it. It not good at anything else but being faster then other trucks.

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I like him and his show but that review = way the fuck off in left field. I dont understand how a person who loves performance vechiles or just vechiles in general can dislike the L so much? Those truck are a blast to drive, and handle great. Do the people over just never haul anything?
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Do the people over just never haul anything?

Only pikeys.

 

The lightning may outhandle a GTP, but that just means they both suck at turning. :p

 

And I can say that I will NEVER buy a nother truck with out a Toyota name plate.

You've seent heir countless failed attempts to kill their old ass Toyo pickup, right? The last instalment I caught involvedthem putting iy atop a 20 story apartment high rise....then blowing the building up. The truck still drives.

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Only pikeys.

 

The lightning may outhandle a GTP, but that just means they both suck at turning. :p

 

 

You've seent heir countless failed attempts to kill their old ass Toyo pickup, right? The last instalment I caught involvedthem putting iy atop a 20 story apartment high rise....then blowing the building up. The truck still drives.

 

And you were coming along so nicely with your adaptation of the English language, too...

 

as to your points above, the one that was the furthest off was claiming that a solid axle is outdated and should be replaced. Are you recommending that trucks go to IRS? Like the failure that honda brought out? Keep in mind, if my truck had IRS, it would have NEVAR been able to tow that Frontier for you, it simply would not have been strong enough and would negative camber to the point of being downright unsafe. Sure, IRS works great on cars. I won't argue that. But on a truck, there is nothing currently out there that can replace the strength of a live axle.

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Haha I remember seeing one of the Toyota pickup episodes, they lit it on fire, drove it through some crumbling brick walls, dropped heavy shit on it, drove it through trees, and the only way they stopped it from running was LOSING IT IN THE SEA. They tied it up in like 4 feet of water at low tide, and let high tide roll in. High tide receded, and poof, no truck. Fucking Nuts.
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Yeah, that Toyota HiLux episode was solid. It was amazing what that diesel pickup went through and still ran...

 

I liked the review. I've never been a big Lightning fan (where's the manual transmission?) and he's right on many levels. Some of his comments were off-color, but who cares?

 

BTW...the "right hand dash conversion" MAY be a LOT cheaper in fit and finish than our run-of-the-mill left hand drive standard dashes. Plus, 33k quid is damn near $50,000...I'd be pissed too if stuff looked cheap.

 

On a side note, if any of you that still think the U.S. is the economic-powerhouse standard of the world really should pick up an Economist, BusinessWeek, or WSJ...we ain't exactly in our prime right now.

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Are you recommending that trucks go to IRS? Like the failure that honda brought out?

Nothing billed as a sport vehicle should have Live axles.

Tow vehicles = Live axle

Off road = Live Axle

work truck = live axle

OMG teh fazt sport truxors!= IRS, responcive steering, and proper brakes. They should at least try to make it actualy sporty, not just lower and an supercharge it then bill it as badass. As it is, it's not good at anything but Dyno's. It'd be a great tow truck, if the rear was sprung for it.

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Nothing billed as a sport vehicle should have Live axles.

Tow vehicles = Live axle

Off road = Live Axle

work truck = live axle

OMG teh fazt sport truxors!= IRS, responcive steering, and proper brakes. They should at least try to make it actualy sporty, not just lower and an supercharge it then bill it as badass. As it is, it's not good at anything but Dyno's. It'd be a great tow truck, if the rear was sprung for it.

 

The Lightning's tow rating is shit, since Ford made a half ass attempt at making a sport truck out of it

 

It is possible to make a well handling vehicle out of something with a live axle. If you would leave the world of thunderchickens, you might see some examples from time to time

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