99 Cobra performance

D-mann

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Dec 31, 2003
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I have read that the 99 Cobras had a recall because their engines were producing less than 300hp. Apparently they replaced the mufflers and intake manifolds of all the cobras. My question is what was their performance after that? I have seen a 1/4 mile time of 13.9 and 0-60 time of 5.4. Do those numbers refer to before or after the recall was done?
 
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Post-fix, these are 13.5 second cars in stock form. 0-60 at 5.5 is very close. Wheelhop and gearing is our only enemy in stock form. These cars are now very affordable due to the bad press they received. If it's had "the fix", it's just as strong as the '01. If you are contemplating purchasing one, see if it's had "the fix" (most if not all have) and go for it.
 
RAYS99COBRA said:
Post-fix, these are 13.5 second cars in stock form. 0-60 at 5.5 is very close. Wheelhop and gearing is our only enemy in stock form. These cars are now very affordable due to the bad press they received. If it's had "the fix", it's just as strong as the '01. If you are contemplating purchasing one, see if it's had "the fix" (most if not all have) and go for it.

Cool, I'm glad to hear from somebody that owns one. I'am looking at 99 Cobras cause the 01's are definitely more expensive. I was a little worried because the 99's had lower performance numbers than the 01's and if that was still true after "the fix" then I wouldn't get a 99. I agree that almost all cobras got the fix cause it shouldn't be too hard to recall only 5000 cars or so.
 
RAYS99COBRA said:
Post-fix, these are 13.5 second cars in stock form. 0-60 at 5.5 is very close. Wheelhop and gearing is our only enemy in stock form. These cars are now very affordable due to the bad press they received. If it's had "the fix", it's just as strong as the '01. If you are contemplating purchasing one, see if it's had "the fix" (most if not all have) and go for it.


the average joe will NOT run a 99 Cobra to a 13.5x. Average Joe will run a 13.8x if he's lucky. 0-60 is about right. NOTE: the 01 cobra has many favorable upgrades as compared to the 99 cobra (if the opportunity comes your way):

upgraded tranny T3650
upgraded seats
reinforced independent rear suspension (31 spline vs 28 spline on the 99)
polished rims
strengthened aluminum block

Good luck with your decision,
Chris
 
There is a sticker underneath the hood. It has the tech's name on it, if I remember correctly, along with a numeric code for what was done. Some techs put the sticker on the radiator support and others put it on the underside of the hood, for some reason. Mine was on the radiator support.

A few things were involved. They replaced the intake manifold, replaced the exhaust after the cats, changed the tensioner pulley and, I believe, reflashed the computer.

Get the '99. Replace the seats with good aftermarket seats. The regular seats are terrible, with no useful side bolstering or headrest. They are fairly comfortable for a long cruise, though. You can get good seats for a very reasonable price.

:flag: :nice:
 
lafear01 said:
upgraded tranny T3650
upgraded seats
reinforced independent rear suspension (31 spline vs 28 spline on the 99)
polished rims
strengthened aluminum block

Good luck with your decision,
Chris
Just my .02 but those trannies have not proven to be any better than the T45.
The 31 splines break just as easy as the 28. It's not the spline count but the shaft itself.
Strengthened block? Never heard that before.
 
Okay, here's what they did to my car and to every other one they fixed.
Replace the mufflers, replaced the intakes with either an extrude-honed intake or acid dipped intake(increased flow) and re-flashed the computer. That's it.
On my car they put a sticker on the front edge under the hood and the intake has a blue dot.
They also used a green dot and also a green & blue dot.
Do a search on this topic, there's quite a few threads about this here and also the corral.net
 
MC Cobra said:
Just my .02 but those trannies have not proven to be any better than the T45.
The 31 splines break just as easy as the 28. It's not the spline count but the shaft itself.
Strengthened block? Never heard that before.
I agree on the block, as far as I know, all aluminum 4.6L blocks were the same...
 
D-mann said:
Sorry to bring up some bad memories guys. I'm new to the site and didn't notice the search feature.

De-Mann,

Sorry for my "smart a$$" response and not being informative at all. You had an honest question by the way.

I just hate to see everytime that a 99 Cobra question comes up that the 99 vs. 01 debate always shows up.

The 99 Cobra's are great machines, so are the 01 Cobra's and all alike.

The 99 had thier "bad rap" due to the "low HP" but was fixed. Here in Stangnet there at least 50% of all 99 Cobra's that use this forum have been developed and making over 300 RWHP (345HP at the motor) easily.

If the 01 has better seats, that is a matter of taste. If they have 31 spline, that did not fixed anything over the 99s since that was not the problem and even today the 03s still break theirs being much stronger.

The 01s had their problems with the "Ping", "Wicked (on th bad side)" power curves (too many dips), and on and on and on.

What I'm triying to say here purchase (if you have not as of today) what better fits your taste, and pocket.

I had my Cobra since it had .7 miles in the odometer and I have loved every single of the 36XXX miles that I put on after.

The car has giving me NO PROBLEMS what so ever (other than a broken transmision my own fault of not having an aftermarket shifter and power shifting at o/a 14K and a broken passenger side half-shaft due to again, Drag Radials, good track and a healty 4500RPM launch. Other than that, the car made 264RWHP (303HP) before the fix, 291 (334HP) after the fix and now a few mods later :D 333RWHPs (383HP)! (all using about the 15% standard)

So, don't let people tell you that the 99s are weak, suck, had bad seats or what ever they want to say. For me, 99 are as good as the 01s and viseversa.

If you want to find out about the fix on a 99 Cobra, call 1800fordsvt and you will be good to go. Just provide them with the VIN number of the car of interest.

If you have more questions, please don't hesitate and ask or email me personally at [email protected]

Welcome to STANGNET!

Naz
 
I would have to concur with Naz.

Not all of the Cobras sold in 99 were down on power. Some were worse than others, and therefore benefitted greatly from "the fix" while others only noticed 3-5 horsepower from the exhaust swap. My car was an example of the latter, as it was making an estimated 318 hp at the flywheel the first time I took it to the dyno. After the fix my car dynoed at an estimated 331, but I had also changed to the K&N filter and yanked the silencer. Also, just so you don't get concerned about the tranny or halfshafts, I ran the stock halfshafts for about 6 months after I installed the SHM 5.2, and the stock tranny for about another year without any breakages. In my experience, the car was a great purchase. Besides that, I don't think I could be pissed off at Ford for anything because I have literally beat the crap out of this car since the day I bought it and haven't found anything wrong with it.