flewbyu

Hey guys, without getting to deep what are your opinons on makes a Cobra the beast that it is? I mean, pull of the lot from the dealer and you got a really smokin fast car ywah we know. I have my opinions but I want to know what the general thoughts are from the average guy on MF. Is it a name thing? Or is it justified>



So I guess besides the name what else do you think about them? Allot of customers ask me about this but I am curious what Joe Public thinks.

Thanks

bl1nk

Its a 5.4 liter with a blower and some suspension mods.. I believe its the exact same frame as the GT just with different body pieces. That and the Shelby name is about all there is to them. Same as its always been.

flewbyu

Hmmmm, kinda thought it was more than that. I guess thats all that is needed to be a beast on the street. Dont laugh to hard at this but,

Is there anything we can do to our cars to beat a stock Cobra EXCEPT Nitrous or SCharger/Turbo? Any Cobra I guess, pick one. I only seem to see the 2000ish Cobra's so I guess around that year. Just curious about this, want to know exactly why I will end up getting blown away and if there is anything with in reason I could do to prevent it. Besides not trying

BlackoutStang

Bear in mind, they have a bigger engine and a blower. So you're asking if there is any way to beat them N/A /w a smaller engine that makes a lot less power. Nah, with FI though, you could.

flewbyu

BlackoutStang- Yeah, I knew that would come up but since I dont know everything that can be bought for our cars to make speed I thought maybe there were enough mods that could get you in the race ya know? Just thought I would check. But you know what, I still think the next Cobra I see I am going see if he will go, I need to see first hand just how bad it will be so I will know how far it is i have to go. No shame in loosing a fight to a family member; it's better than running from them! ( I guess they could catch you anyway if you did run!)

CrazyAl

Aside from the Cobra name and special bodywork (cosmetic stuff) here are the differences:

(edit: new comment -- this post is about the GT500 cobra 2007)

1) Of course, the Cobra has a larger engine. It's a 5.4 L with a supercharger.
2) Larger front brakes
3) Stiffer rear sway bar
4) Wider rear tires
5) The exhaust is "different" for the different motor, but it's not really any "better"
6) 6-speed transmission

The main reason why it's such a beast, as you put it, is basically just the engine. It's close to 500 HP, so that's where it's all coming from. The "other factors" aren't that significant. The 6-speed is cool, and expensive, but it doesn't really make the car any faster, especially in a drag race.

I belive that you can certainly make a GT compete with the Cobra for FAR less money.

First off, the GT has a weight advantage of a few hundred lbs. That's good! Maximize it by ditching uneeded weight.

Second, the suspension and drivetrain of the two cars is basically the same. What differences there may be are not significant in the context of a drag race. Even a STOCK GT has problems getting traction. This is much worse on the Cobra: same lousy parts, but much more HP. All the mag reviews of the Cobra say that it's an awesome car, and everyone was sure it could get great times IF it could hook up.

So, if you want to take the cobra your #1 goal should be to utilize what power you've got and put it to the ground as best you can. Most drags are won in the first 1/8 mile, or less. Raw HP is not so important here. Second, mods that give you more power are an obvious choice too.

Take your GT. Get some good tires and work up your rear suspesion so it grips like glue. Drop some weight--rotating if possible--with mods like an aluminum flywheel and driveshaft. If it's an Auto instead, a new converter is going to be critical. Put in some lower gears (4.10, 4.30...). CAI, UDP, Tune, and ditch the CMCP system. Longtubes (or even ported heads) would be great if your budget allows. With a good driver you'll give a stock Cobra a run for its money. One of the recent mags was getting in the 12's on a GT with bolt-on mods just like these.

Of course, if the Cobra had even some basic mods (suspension and/or tires) then it'd be a different ball game.

But, slap a blower or turbo on the GT and you're in very similar HP territory, and the edge of the Cobra will be lost. If you want, you can build a "Cobra Clone" for far less than the cost of the real thing.

BlackoutStang

Yeah, I wish our cars were more like the Ls1's, where you can get insane N/A HP by adding a big cam. Anyway, I'd run him anyway, just because I don't mind losing, I just love to race.

Depending on the year though, you might not be up a against a blown v8... Since that wasn't until umm... 02 I think they started slapping in the Eaton and putting down ~390-400.

If it was a 2000, a full bolt on GT could probably walk it, since they are somewhere around 320hp... 02+ is a different story... no chance.

Regardless, good luck, they're a hell of a lot of car, and so are our GT's... No shame in losing to a fellow Mustang.

bl1nk

Replace the engine.... other than that, Al nailed it.

blackout

Only the 03-04 Cobra's were supercharged for your information, the 00 is N/A and a stock GT should rip apart. I raced an 03 with the mods in my signature and beat him by about a half car length, many people pull the BS flag but it's the truth(he was modded too). The car definately was a Cobra and not a ripoff i'm not an idiot, but I will definately say he was a bad driver, because I should not have won that race.

If you get an awesome suspension setup, some good tires, 4.10 gears, cai/tune, full exhaust, then you are in very good condition to compete with some of the modded Cobras out there to an extent.

-Jeff

bl1nk

Yeah, keep in mind the blown 03-04 cobras had 390 at the crank, figure 15% loss for drivetrain and youre looking at 330 at the wheels. Many GTs on this site are at that point or higher with bolt ons. Slap a blower on one of ours and youre well past what theyre pushin. Now our cars do weigh slightly more I think, but nothing too drastic. If youre trying to beat previous cobras that can be easily achieved.. assuming theyre not modded. Now if youre trying to beat the new one, youre looking at a nice little cash stack being spent on the stuff Al mentioned, but like he said, its much cheaper than what youd paid for one of them.