I have a 98 gt auto i wanted a stick but i got what i could get but im going to get bassani exhaust full, cold air intake, headers, iginition system, pullys and a better intake mani, now will i be able to keep up with a cobra which is a stick? and lets say the cars have the same mods which will outperform and by how much? thanks for your time

 

no, without doing some pretty serious trans work, a stick will run about 1/2 to 3/4 second faster than a auto all day long.

most of the issues are the gearing of the trans, and sloppy nature of it to make smooth shifts. also the low laucnch ability of a auto.

 

but add a shift kit and a higher converter and it's a whole new ballgame.

 

new ballgame yes, still a different league though

transbrake, manual valvebody , different gearset for 1 and 2 , shift kit, oil cooler, 3500 stall converter.........that'll put you in the same league

 

I'd say you'd have better luck keeping up with a stick GT than you will a Cobra, the Cobras are a good deal faster right out of the box.

 

you will always be down on power to the wheels.

on the price tags of the car all the horse power is taken from the flywheel. and the reason they do that is so that the manual transmission and the automatic transmission will have the same power. if they would have used Horse power to the wheels, the Manual would be higher then the automatic just the autoamtics soaks up more horse power before it hits the wheels.

even if there was a bad driver in the manual car, he would still win just because of the differences in horse power down to the wheels compared to the automatic.

the only bad thing about manual is that you spin wayyyy to easy. i dump the clutch at over 1k RPMs and its still roasting them

 

How hard would it be to convert my auto trans to a manual?

 

While that is true, an auto with a big stall and shift kit is going to be a better set up for a drag race. People forget that a higher stall not only lets you launch higher, but they also multiply torque, which is why, givin the right set up they out launch a stick.

 

Search function is your friend There are dozens and dozens of these threads around, go find those and you'l have your questions already answered instead of asking again. Google some write-ups.

 

Conversion would be pretty easy. Youll need - flywheel, starter, possibly engine spacer plate (check with dealer to make sure), clutch kit (pressure plate t/o bearing pilot bearing), youll need the trans complete with bellhousing- shift fork and shifter, clutch cable, brake/clutch pedal assembly, possibly a new crossmemeber, then youll need the interior trim bezel with boot. Youll also want to check with Ford to make sure the harmonic balancer isnt different, and I believe with your car you might need a manual ECU, maybe a reprogram. Then simply install.
-P.