Gen2 as a daily driver???

[lightngsvt]

Can any of you guys give me an *unbiased* opinion on using a gen2 as a daily driver? Especially in a cold climate like Michigan? How bad is the gas mileage? Noise? comfort? I am 70% of the way to trading my 00 ZX3 and 99 Mustang GT for an new or slightly used Gen2 2 (to go along wiht my 93) and the new L would have to be my daily driver at least until this coming fall when I can save enough cash to buy another smaller car for winter (hopefully another Focus). Anyway just wanted input from the experts! Thanks!

 

[slapshot]

I drive mine everyday about 45 miles roundtrip to work. It is a blast. Granted, the mas mileage isn't spectacular, avg about 16-17 in city and hwy driving, but I didn't buy it for the mileage. LOL

The ride is no worse than any other performance vehicle. I have owned Mustang's, etc and I don't mind the ride at all. The noise is nice, they make a nice sound. Road/wind noise isn't too bad until you approach triple digits. Seats are comfy, very adjustable. I drive in FL, so I can't say anything about them in cold/snowy weather.
:tu:

 

[jeff2001silver]

mine is a daily driver. I got a sh!tty set of ford 16' wheels and 225/75 snow tires. The truck looks terrible but they have helped the two times it snowed here. 10,000 miles in six months with no problems.

 

[Gitchi Manitou]

Chuck,
I did it for the first year. Never again. Never mind the fact that I wanna save this truck, the drive in the snow is horrendous! Since your L1 is your toy, you might feel different about it, but my L2 is my baby and I'd like it to stay pristine. Just don't expect it to be a nice drive when it snows.Other than that, it's an incredible daily driver.

 

[T-Bone]

Chuck,

I drive mine as my daily driver, but it sucks in the winter when there is any snow on the road. The best thing I have found to do is leave it in second gear untill you have to shift into 3rd, It does not seem to spin as much on acceleration. I would garage it if I had the room and the extra car for the winter time.

The summer is a diiferent story, I love to drive it anytime. The only complant that I have about it is the road walk it can give you at times because of the size of the tires up front. You hit un-even pavement and it willwalk atound on you.

 

[Hamrhead]

It WILL go in the snow,,, to a point. I have yet to reach that point and have driven it in up to about 6 inches of snow. Stock tires and wheels, but I do toss a couple 80# bags of 'weight' all the way in the back of the bed, behind the axle. I have a cargo bar to hold them in place. Let me clear up what I said about driving it in the snow. Basically that means I got caught out in the snow, and the drive was only to get home. Don't think the L's were made for joyrides in foul weather.

Otherwise the truck is comfortable, gets a stellar 13mpg (hehe, my right foot:h ), and is a blast on the highway. As far as noise, well I had to replace my stock muffler and air intake because it was too quiet!

 

[Black Light]

I drive mine everyday about 45 miles roundtrip to work. It is a blast. Granted, the mas mileage isn't spectacular, avg about 16-17 in city and hwy driving, but I didn't buy it for the mileage. LOL

16-17 mpg??! Damn! I'm lucky to get 10mpg! Did you chip it to get that kind of fuel economy?? The best fuel economy I ever had on my 2000 L was like 12mpg and that was almost strictly highway driving! I do drive kinda hard, but not too hard. You gotta teach me how to drive, unless you drive your L like a 4-banger Camry of course! :Y

 

[lightngsvt]

OK you guys are scaring me now! Im not so sure this is the best beast if you have to drive it daily! And I dont know that I could do a new L plus my Focus ZX3 and insure them plus my 93 (full coverage of course). Hmmmmmmmmm........

 

[Earldw]

I have driven my '01 all winter here in the Chicago burbs. In the snow, you might as well have four ski's instead of tires. I commute 18 miles each way to work, get about 11 mpg. It costs about $30 to fill up with 92 octane each week. It makes absoulutley no logical sense to drive a 4500 pound, high power. low milage vehicle to work each and every day. What I should do is go out and buy a mid 80's japaneese ***tbox that has 85 ponies under the hood, gets 35 mpg and doesn't matter one little bit if all four fenders are rusted completely through.
Having said all that, there is nothing that I look forward to each day nearly as much as my drive to and from work. It makes going to work each day fun, and coming home an adventure. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
If economics or convenince are issues, pass on the Lightning.
If you love Lightnings as much as I do, there is just about nothing that will keep your truck off the road.

 

[lightning Jeff]

Do it, I took my L out of storage for a week. Had to drive it, So much fun to drive. Can not beleave the people that come up to me to talk about the truck. You will love one.:tu:

 

[tommy s]

Go for it

Hey Chuck,

I had your same concerns last March when I bought my 2001. It was going to be my daily driver, but that's what steered me to the Lightning. I was drooling over them since they came out and decided to make the plunge. I figured, hell, I'll kick myself if I buy it and I'll kick myself if I don't, so I bought it Let me just say I'd rather drive nothing else every day. It always puts a smile on my face driving to and from work, I look forward to it every morning. As far as mileage, 15 mpg plus or minus a few depending on how much competition is out there in a given week. It's relatively comfortable, kinda loud which is soon to be fixed by the Bassani catback sitting on my floor I'm in Metro Detroit and drive 20 mi each way to work through the concrete jungle known as Detroit Freeways. Stay out of the boost and drive reasonably when it's crappy out and you'll be fine, I worry about the other person more than me, I've seen many people in big vehicles (Excursions, Tahoes, whatever) thinking they're invincible when there's 4 inches of snow on the road going 80, yikes, stay away. Anyways, as my girlfriend could tell you, I'm VERY protective of this thing, and still drive it everyday. The toughest thing is finding the time to wash it every 2 days to get rid of the salt, but I manage :tu: TS

 

[01Lightning]

I drive mine 50 miles to work (100 miles a day) almost every day. It gets 14 MPH. I've never had a problem in the rain or even freezing rain once with the stock Eagle F1's. When winter came I bought a set of 17" F250 Supercrew aluminum wheels with BF Goodrich all season tires. I don't plan on driving it in the snow but I know that undoubtedly it will happen sometime. I have an old '87 Bronco II that I use for the snow and an occasional day here and there. I hate to stack that many miles on it, but I think I am going to buy another run-around car soon anyway so I can split the 35,000 miles a year that I drive between several vehicles. I love to drive it, I just wish it wasn't 100+ miles a day to work and back. I haven't driven it in the snow with the BFG's (and I really don't intend to), but I know that I've gotta be careful even on the dry pavement. "B" traction is a far cry from the F1's "AA". It's a lot easier to slide the back end around and sometimes I do it unknowingly. At least I'm saving miles on the F1's, they are 3x more expensive than the BFG's.

If you live in a climate that snow will far -- I would definitely recommend that you get a 2nd vehicle for the snowy days. I'm pretty confident that I'd be OK if I got caught because I am a very careful driver in the snow, but I can only control so much. The truck just isn't made for snow in any respect. It's very hard to walk outside and choose the Bronco over the L, and there has been several times that I had all intentions of driving the Bronco, and low-and-behold I drive the L anyway. Just can't say no to it.

Bottom line: If it's gonna be your ONLY vehicle, then I wouldn't recommend it as a daily driver. Give yourself at least the option of at least one other car.

 

[Kerrdogg]

Mine is my daily driver, crap hauler, trailer tower, whatever. Love the truck, reminds me of an overgrown AOD equipped 5.0 Mustang that is actually fast . I average around 15mpg and drive approx 50 miles a day in combined stop and go and hiway driving. The big front tires seem to follow the road a bit but out on a smooth section of hiway you'll only want to go faster and faster.

Can't comment on the winter issue as it's not a concern in S Florida but would suggest buying an L if you feel the need to have the baddest truck around.

 

[svtruck]

Ha! I think "01Lightning" and I have the longest daily commutes to work of anyone on here, I drive 100 miles round trip to work as well, I get 16 MPG, not sure about you other guys getting less...that sucks. I mean it even stickers at 16MPGvhighway from Ford! If it gets less I would complain. Mine is completely stock performance wise.

 

[roger]

I drive mine 35 miles to work here in the midwest. Being a daily driver was my goal when I bought it. Eventually it'll be the tow vehicle for my factory five (once I get it that is ). The fact that it runs 12's and is tossable around corners is a definate plus. As far as snow, I've been REAL lucky not to have been in very much snow, but I do have a set of snows that I can slap on if the need arises.

Since you're in MI, I'd strongly suggest a good set of snow tires and 3-4 tubes of sand that you can locate behind the axle as was suggested. An alternate (narrow) set of tires for the front would be a good idea also, as the 10.4" of tread the stock Goodyears provide isn't good for snow navigation.

One thing about driving them in the winter--they absolutely LOVE cold air :tu:

Good Luck with whatever you decide!

 

[lightngsvt]

thanks guys! It seems to be a mixed bag of "dont buy it to drive everyday" and "drive it, youll love it!". I would never and have never, driven my 93 as a daily driver and Ive owned it since new. Now I have the (almost) ideal situation of my 93 L as my toy, my 99 GT convertible as my summer driver and my ZX3 as my winter driver. But with the price of a new Lightnign I dont think I could swing my Focus payment real easily (plus house, bilss, insurance, etc). Id love to get a daily driver if I get a gen 2, but what is relatively cool and fun to drove and only costs $1000-2500? I could always get a 87-93 Stang 4 cyl and "restore" it to 5.0 specs... Oh man now Im thinking of another garage queen and another project! You guys are corrupting me! LOL!

 

[tommy s]

adding fuel to the fire

Chuck, how many big storms have we had so far this year? I count one (even that was pretty weak compared to years past) knock on wood. hmmmmmmmm.....

Oh I almost forgot, where are the Yoopers at? I know there's a few here, now they usually get the REAL winter weather (except this year from what I can tell) TS

 

[Black Light]

I just want to add that although this truck seems to be plagued by some problems such as cracking fog lights, aweful traction in the snow, and the clunk, and the milage is absolutely terrible (I already asked the dealer about the 10mpg and they told me to keep my foot off the gas... yeah right! ), I still think this truck rocks.

Let's just say that since I bought it in the summer of 2001 I have not lost a single race, and there are no problems passing any other vehicle (at least that I have seen so far). There seems to be no car or truck out there truly willing to race an L. Those that do try fail miserably. I have embarrassed many mustangs and camaros in it.

I used to own a '99 Grand Prix GTP and my average was about 17mpg, but that car had only 240hp. Grand Prix GTP's are cool cars, but there are too many cars out there that are much faster nowadays. 10mpg for 360hp is understandable considering L's bigger weight. You don't buy this truck for economy. This truck is meant for fun. Serious fun. And if you want to play, you gotta pay. I consider all the gas money I spend to be my entertainment expenses. Every day I drive this truck is like riding a rollercoaster for free.

The biggest thing about the L is not really its insane power, but the looks you get from people. When you sit at the red light you can see people admiringly looking at that Lightning badge and drool all over themselves.

I have gotten lots of positive comments on my old '99 Grand Prix GTP, but I couldn't even imagine how many comments I would get in my 2000 L. I hear them almost every day and they are great ego boosters.

 

[TampaBlack99]

If you drive it daily you might not want to add to much modifications. I see some of you get 15-16 mpg, while I get 7 to 8 mpg (no chip)

 

[slapshot]

16-17 mpg??! Damn! I'm lucky to get 10mpg! Did you chip it to get that kind of fuel economy?? The best fuel economy I ever had on my 2000 L was like 12mpg and that was almost strictly highway driving! I do drive kinda hard, but not too hard. You gotta teach me how to drive, unless you drive your L like a 4-banger Camry of course! :Y

I should have explained that I guess. 75% of my trip is highway, usually a constant 70-85 mph trip. Coming home is 1-2AM, so most light are green, so I don't have the normal stop and go. The best MPG I got was 17, my normal avg is about 15, sometimes lower, depends on the "fun factor"

No, it isn't chipped......YET