WHBM,
In the fall of 1999 was booked on a Delta L-1011-1 ATL to MIA, one of those flights that was full of cruse passengers. When I got to the airport and checked in I was in formed that there was equipment chage and my seat had been changed. The new equipment was a -500. That was the only -500 I ever flew on a domestic route.
As for the -500 being a "hot rod" we ferried a BA -500 from YYZ to PMD with, no cargo, only the crew and four passengers (7 people total) and very little in the way of catering. I have never experienced a takeoff like that one. I was in the second observer seat and it seemed like they released the brakes and pushed the throttles forward and we were climbing.