Theres also the 1995 and 1999 Saleen S351 which produces 495hp and 490 ft.lbs. stock. I think thats the fastest production based mustang ever.....

 

i thought they ran mid 12's same as a E

 

The S351's did run mid 11's, but had a little more mph than the E, showing they had more hp.

 

By defenition, wouldn't the cobra have more POTENTIAL than the E, although not as much out of the box HP? I mean, it is a 4v...so anything you can do the E, you can do to the cobra with greater gains?

 

i was in this same situation 6-8 months ago, i started reading and listening to people that know what they're talking about and i went with an '03 cobra. the bottom end on a 03/04 cobra can handle waaaaay more power then a bottom end on a s281e, plus the 03/04's react way better to mods. if your goin with a s351 plan on spending 60k, if your gonna spend that much just get a new cobra or get the new z06 comin out

 

What I meant by that was stock potential vs. stock potential. More specificly, the full potential of each blower. The most hp the Cobra is capable of without a blower switch is around 500 ish rwhp. The E car's huge 2.4 L twin screw blower is capable of 24 psi, if you wanted it. Yes, the 4 valve engine is more capable than the E car's 2v, but the E car's heads are ported and flow a lot better than a gt 2v heads, also, the cam change in the E car helps trmendously, and the redline on an E car is the same as a Cobras. Here's what I tell the people that don't think the E car's all forged, all aluminum motor can handle big power. I know 2 guys that have run 700 rwhp on the E car, running BIG boost with zero issues. I ran 550 rwhp on mine without updating anything except the tune and the blower pulley, and it was very streetable. It's a myth that the E car's engine can't handle big hp.