ok, I have been looking around, trying to figure out what the main issues and concerns are with a Gen I V. So far it looks like the Diffs are the major fail point I need to worry about IF I were to buy a V. With that being said, let me say a bit about how a V will be driven under my Ownership...
Right now my Weekend toy/cruiser/hot rod is a 2001 Ford Lightning. My DD is an 05 CTS with the 3.6. I love the CTS. It works perfect for my life. Room for the kid, drives well, handles well, good economy, etc, etc, etc. The Lightning is modded and runs 12.6x @ 109 in the 1/4. I beat the crap out of both of them. The Lightning gets new rear rubber roughly every 8,000 miles and I have slicks for the track. The CTS gets about 15k miles on the rears (summer tires, the blizzaks are treated nice). I literally drive them like they are stolen. Every time I drive its sideways a bit, or spin from a stop sign, break torque tires into smoke, etc. While its not always extreme, i drive to have fun, but Im smart where and when I do it. With that being said, Im sure a V would not stay stock. Im sure there would be a lot of 5 grand clutch drops. It would see the drag strip and make 30 or so passes a year. I would be hard on it.
This leads me to believe that although a V would be a lot of fun, my wallet isnt fat enough to plunk diff after diff into it. However, it seems to fill what im looking for. The Lightning will go away if the V comes in. I want a V cuz I now a CTS fills my needs and works for my life. But is the V a car that will hold up to my abuse? The Lightning does. And I havent touched the internals of the driveline other than the trans got a shift kit. But its a truck. It handles like a truck and drives like a truck. I want a car thats useful, fun, and quick without spending thousands to make it sound before I can even make it more powerful. I can accept a thousand dollar price tag to beef it up, but it had better not fail. If it cant be done for a grand and hold up at stock power levels with street tires, I dont think I want to go that route.
So, is a Gen I V my car or do I pass and look for something else? Help me decide.
Chris
Right now my Weekend toy/cruiser/hot rod is a 2001 Ford Lightning. My DD is an 05 CTS with the 3.6. I love the CTS. It works perfect for my life. Room for the kid, drives well, handles well, good economy, etc, etc, etc. The Lightning is modded and runs 12.6x @ 109 in the 1/4. I beat the crap out of both of them. The Lightning gets new rear rubber roughly every 8,000 miles and I have slicks for the track. The CTS gets about 15k miles on the rears (summer tires, the blizzaks are treated nice). I literally drive them like they are stolen. Every time I drive its sideways a bit, or spin from a stop sign, break torque tires into smoke, etc. While its not always extreme, i drive to have fun, but Im smart where and when I do it. With that being said, Im sure a V would not stay stock. Im sure there would be a lot of 5 grand clutch drops. It would see the drag strip and make 30 or so passes a year. I would be hard on it.
This leads me to believe that although a V would be a lot of fun, my wallet isnt fat enough to plunk diff after diff into it. However, it seems to fill what im looking for. The Lightning will go away if the V comes in. I want a V cuz I now a CTS fills my needs and works for my life. But is the V a car that will hold up to my abuse? The Lightning does. And I havent touched the internals of the driveline other than the trans got a shift kit. But its a truck. It handles like a truck and drives like a truck. I want a car thats useful, fun, and quick without spending thousands to make it sound before I can even make it more powerful. I can accept a thousand dollar price tag to beef it up, but it had better not fail. If it cant be done for a grand and hold up at stock power levels with street tires, I dont think I want to go that route.
So, is a Gen I V my car or do I pass and look for something else? Help me decide.
Chris