anyone know what the limitation on the motor and transmissions in the 96-98 cobra are? i'm lookin at buying one and am interested in putting a kenne bell supercharger or whipple on in. also, any tips or pointers would be much appreciated.

anyone who has a power added on their 4v cobra, 1/4 times and hp info would be great too, cause i'm still debating on if i really wanna do this. sn-95's are getting pretty old.

i'm driving a 95 honda accord right now and don't think i can take it much longer!

 

Well sn95 cobras can hold up to 450 rwhp pretty well, witha good tune, of course. As for the whipple and kenne bell kits, i would probably recommend either procharger or vortech instead. Procharger and vortech offer intercooling, which is healthier for ur motor. U cannot utilize an intercooler on the kenne bell kit on the 96-98 cobras, without major modifications.

 

If you want around 475rwhp or more... then you should probably go with a Terminator... unless you feel like building a motor/tranny/suspension + still having to buy your choice of blower... 03-04 cobra's are the only way to go when you want that much power... If you want 400-450rwhp then you can get by with a new edge GT or cobra's... its your choice...

 

yeah, thats what i really want is a termie but they still average $25,000. i figure a could get a sn-95 cobra and supercharge it for about $10-12,000. i will probably end up waiting it out and just buying a terminator unless ford comes out with a car worth buying for less then 65k in the next year or two.

 

There are plenty of aftermarket supercharging options for these cobras, your problem will run into if you get into 500+ hp range, the T-45 tranny is crap and the cast internals in your engine will not hold high boost. You'll probably end up replacing those parts anyways at some point. If you just want to boost and be good with it, you may want to look more into getting an SN-95, if your looking for a 600+ hp monster than a terminator may be more down your ally. Only you know how far you wanna take this project.

if you decide to go with a supercharger, centrifical superchargers will be a little easier on parts for daily driving, but there is nothing wrong with a kb or whipple for that fun-to-drive factor

 

From what i see so often, 96-98 Cobra's with a procharger @ 10lbs, is 450-475rwhp with everything else stock. Sounds pretty stout to me. I was lucky enough to hit 400rwhp on 10lbs with mods [&:].

But my 400rwhp is fun!

 

From a Sean Hyland 4.6l Builder's Guide

As with the GT engine, the basic 4V engine components are durable up to 450hp, above which, the rods and pistons need to be changed out. The Cobra engine already comes with a forged steel crankshaft, which we are still using even at 1600 hp.

As for the tranny

The T-45 trannys are not known for their reliability, especially behind the Cobra engine. Although the stock 2-valve engines were not too hard on the T-45, they started breaking once the owners started adding superchargers and nitrous. As usual, some owners can get more life from their trannys than others. I have a couple of clients with 500+ hp cars and after five or six years, they still have the original transmission.

If you get a cobra made in the mid 2000s it will be the T-3650. And the newer cobras come with the beast T-56. More specifically the 2000 Cobra R, and the03-04Cobras. That is the tranny you want if your going for more HP, 440 ft-lb torque capacity.

If your going crazy, you can get the Tremec TKO 500 or TKO 600. They both refer to the trannys torque capacity.


Esentially this book has many setups. I can tell you exactly what you need to do, with how ever much HP your looking for. Just let me know.

 

REGARDLESS OF AGE OF THREAD, this rule still and has since they been around applies, Kenne bell twin screw s/c's are innercooled, the awesome part is they are self contained, meaning less plumbing. This was an ignorant comment from someone who has not researched much on availability or specs on aftermarket suppliers, prices and specs. A kenne bell 2.1 is their current model will gain 100-150hp on top of the existing 305 rated from factory do the math. Subtract 15% for driveline "manual" trans, and there is your RWHP numbers estimate. Twin Screw are always going to be the better type of Supercharger, less boost lag, more direct air, less plumbing, meaning more air delivery quicker, and less parasitic loss off of the supercharger itself. You lose 10-15hp roughly with a KB vs 20-25 from paxton,vortech, etc.

 

The TR-3650 is the best bang for buck transmission out there. Proformance Transmissions in North Carolina will rebuild a Tr-3650 and guarantee it to 700 ft. lbs of torque at $1700. This is more than the $3,000 TKO or T-56, which in comparison are rated at 600 ft lbs. All the guy asks is you give him a 2 week lead time, you pay freight to and from, and he wants your core as well. Not too bad of a deal for a little over $2,000 pretty much anywhere in the cont. USA, and your old ragged Tr-3650. He used heat treat/nitrogen techniques to harden syncro's, gears, etc to make a beast out of that transmission as well as the most up to date bearings, shims, forks, etc.