Hello everyone, I have a few questions that I hope you can help me out with.

1. Which would be a better purchase for me? I am looking for a summer car, something with atleast 400 horsepower. Would I be better off with a 88-92 5.0 or a 03-04 Cobra?

2. How expensive is it to upgrade a 5.0 to reach 400hp or more?

3. My current vehicle is turbo charged and I would like to either turbo or supercharge the mustang. Which is best for a street/track car?

4. How strong are the transmissions on the 5.0s? What HP range are they capable of?

I have many more questions if you guys are willing to help it is much apprecaited! Thanks all

 

1. Cobra will put you close to your goal
2. if you want 400 at the rwhp then ALOT Cause then you'll need to upgrade suspension,driveline and alot of other stuff to handle 400rwhp
3.turbo is good because it doesn't rob any power from the crank as exhaust gases spool up the turbos
4.It's not how strong they are that matters it's how they are abused...I ran low 11's on a 300 ft lbs t-5 but then again I didn't do John Force burnouts or 5 to 6k launches at the track......but if you want a 400 rwhp stang then upgrade the tranny or you'll be seriouslly pushing well past the t-5's capibility to safely handle that power output when racing

 

hci with an s trim is 400, then get a tremec and you are set.

 

you can upgrade the 5.0 for a hell of a lot cheaper than you could the cobra. buy a nice 5.0 for like 5g's but a supercharger on it for 3 tune and fuel upgrades 1g better tranny like 1500

you will have 10g's in the 5.0 and 03-04 cobras are around what 25?

 

If he's only looking for 400hp then the 03/04 Cobra may be better as they are pretty close to that stock. Exhaust and a pully change would probably put you at or over that to the wheels. I'd probably pick the 5.0 though as they are cheaper to begin with and havea much bigger aftermarket. Getting 400hp on a 5.0 N/A wouldbe pretty expensive so FI wouldprobably be cheaper there. The sub-92 5.0's have better internals that would handle the boost better also. The stock T-5 is good to 300-330 lb/ft torque so 400hp would be past the limits of the trans, but itmay last awhile if you are gentle with it.

 

if you have the money to get the cobra GET IT!

 

Thanks all


For those that said 5.0 thats the way Id like to go. I was considering picking up a 5.0 engine and tearing it down to replace the internals. New cam's, new crank/pistons and whatever else needs replaced for the project. I guess you would consider this a stroker kit? Im familar with turbos on imports, you need to do fuel upgrades, Intercooler, turbo and all supporting lines/mods. What would a decent turbo run if I were to buy andbore amotor? Again Id like atleast 400hp sorry for the confussion for I had a v6 mustang previously and sold it for a 06 wrx limited edition. Now that I had a turbo in my car I want a V8 boosted.

So the termie is pretty expensive, Id like to have one but I think a 5.0 would be cheaper and would get more HP per dollar spent. Anyone agree?

 

I'm sorry but what is HCI? Thanks Strim is a supercharger correct? And tremec is atransmission?

Hci= Headers? Catback? Intake?

 

HCI= Heads, Cam, Intake. S-trim is a supercharger, and Tremec is a transmission/manual.

 

Thats what my decision was between my car and a terminator. Since Ive always wanted a SN95, and the bigger engines, I decided that since the parts are cheaper, a h/c/i +SC woudl set me at the 390 that the termie has. If you dont want to mod, or you want the reliablity of the new car, get the Termie.