I have a stock 98 Cobra, my last trip to the track I got a 14.5. I have about $1000.00 for mods. I was going to go with 3.73 Ford Motorsport gears, BBK Fenderwell Induction, Pullies. Is this a good list of first mods, and are the 3.73 gears anygood at cruising on the freeway. I drive this car 30 miles on the freeway at 80 mph daily. What would you do. Im also setting a little aside for Eibach Sportlines.
Will this make the 13's
- Thread starter xlr857
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I'd get 4.10 Minimum. That's $200 for the gears and couple hundred more for the install. Oh - your going to need a speedcal or custom chip to correct your speedo. Speedcal runs about $200. BBK intake? Id go denscharger or wms intake. I also hear it makes a bit more hp than the densecharger. I think nazman wrote something about that. So that's 280 bucks for a denscharger. Did we burn $1000 yet? Get your Eibachs! 13's? Stock quarter is 13.5 sec.
94CobraPace
Founding Member
I agree with Sinister, 98 Cobras should be in the mid 13's with decent driver and traction. How about drag radials?
I ran 14.5 @ 98 mph. I also had a 2.4 60ft time which really sucks. Ive only had two passes since I bought the car a few weeks ago. Heres a question. I tach out in third gear about 200 ft before the finish line. Do these cars make power all the way to the redline or should I be shifting sooner. The funny thing is my 60ft time I dont understand I had no tire spin I just let the clutch out from an idle and floored it when I was rolling. What do you guys launch at. Also if I install 3.73 gears will I notice a difference. And also with 4.10 will the car still be streetable for long trips on the freeway. My friend is a mechanic so I dont have to worry about any install prices. My car is a 98 and has 64,000 miles. Ive been reading on a procharger but Im not real sure how long the motor will hold. Im very new to mustangs I just traded my LS1 Z-28 which ran low 13's with just exhaust. All my friends have transams and camaro's and Im catching alot of ****. So I need to show them what this car can do. I can feel the potential I just need to work a few minor details out.
full exhaust you'll be running low 13's.
I ran one pass when I first bought the car. 13.6 @ 106. I know the car is capable of better than that too. If you are doing gears you should do 4.10's. 3.73's are gonna be a waste of your money. The 4.10's at 80 mph are something like 2800 RPM, prolly closer to 2900 RPM. So its definately streetable. Don't be too afraid of spinout when launching. You gotta think about it, but don't go easy on the gas when launching it. I launch at about 3000 on Street Tires and just slam the gas straight through. The 98 Cobra's will take a beating and keep going, atleast from what I've seen.
Good Luck!
I ran one pass when I first bought the car. 13.6 @ 106. I know the car is capable of better than that too. If you are doing gears you should do 4.10's. 3.73's are gonna be a waste of your money. The 4.10's at 80 mph are something like 2800 RPM, prolly closer to 2900 RPM. So its definately streetable. Don't be too afraid of spinout when launching. You gotta think about it, but don't go easy on the gas when launching it. I launch at about 3000 on Street Tires and just slam the gas straight through. The 98 Cobra's will take a beating and keep going, atleast from what I've seen.
Good Luck!
doogz
Founding Member
xlr857 said:
Do NOT buy the BBK cold air kit. I repeat, do NOT buy the BBK cold air kit. I'm using the WMS full velocity kit w/95mm MAF. It's the full kit from TB to fenderwell. I bought mine used and it provided, by far, the most noticable gains on my car.
Pullies are a great mod, however go only with Steeda or ASP. They are not the piggyback style, meaning you don't put them on your existing pullies; they replace them.
Gears are a wonderful mod! Although my cobra is not daily driven, I have 3.73's in mine (from previous owner) and it is definately NOT an ideal gear. I'd much rather prefer the 4.30 in mine. To get the most performance out of yours, definately go with gears. 4.30's sound steep if you aren't used to hearing them but these motors rev to 7k and don't produce near-peak numbers until after 3k. The gears help it the motor to get there quicker. FYI, Bob Cosby has a daily driven '99 with 4.56's that has about 70k on the internally-stock motor and he is still getting around 26mpg on the highway with the 4.56's.
Buy yourself an aftermarket shifter, especially if you are going to see track duty. I have the b&m short throw and absolutely love it. Another popular brand is the Steeda Tri-Ax. You can get them for around ~150, but definately do NOT go to the track again without it.
My suggestions for 1k:
1.) Shifter (Steeda, B&M, Pro-5.0) ~$150
2.) Midpipe (H-pipe, X-pipe) ~$100-450
3.) Gears (4.30/4.10) ~$500
4.) CAI (Densecharger/WMS) ~$150-450
Pick and choose. For $1,000 i'd get a shifter, 4.30's, a used densecharger, and a used midpipe.
djtech
Founding Member
xlr857 said:
I'm not sure what 98's go but I'm guessing high 13's stock. I know the 99/01 model was rated 13.8 so you should be able to make it near that.
I suggest you get gears ($180+) and steeda pulley's ($150+) first. Both make a noticable impact.
I've heard good things about wms too. It is a good deal at around $450 for the whole system including a new MAF!
However, you should get a new exhaust system first. You can't get them all with your $1000 budget but you can get some. I've got JBA headers ($500+), bassani x-pipe ($300+) and a borla catback ($600+) that I love.
I got my catback first as I heard it was the most restrictive. Then I got the midpipe and finally the headers.
HTH!
DirtySanchez
Founding Member
xlr857 said:
If you're wrapping out third before the traps, you already have gears (probably 4:10's). The best bang for your buck in terms of power will be an H or X pipe and catback. Sticky tires are what you really need in order to lower your ETs though.
I have stock gears in my 97 cobra and ran a 13.82 at 104.5 mph completely stock on street tires 2.2 60' with rpm left in 3rd..w/ stock gears your good to 110mph or a little more in 3rd(i think the book says 115mph max in 3rd)..IF YOUR OUT OF RPM IN 3RD YOU ALREADY HAVE GEARS!..sounds like 3.73 or 4.10...when i put gears in my car i'll be going w/ 4.30's....
a_turbo_stang
Member
Drive it like you stole it, and you should be in low 13's. The '98 Cobras are pretty quick just stock.
i just ran a 13.42 at 104.8 with a 2.06 60ft time on nittos. get sticky tires and some exhaust, but don't get less than 4.10's for gears. you do shift close to the end of the track but its not horrible, and they're great as a daily driver. i ran a 14.1 stock at like 102.9, i couldn't get traction ever so whatever mods i did helped only slightly. make sure you get nittos or go to a track that has wicked traction.
I have to agree that if ur wrapping up 3rd... you probably already have gears. Ur problem is in ur 60' times, that 2.4 is killing you.
I would suggest you buy some drag radials ($300) and a Steeda TriAx ($150). traction will improve and ur shifting will be better.
then get an off-road mid pipe ($150-$200) and some u/d pullies ($180) this should give u some nice extra power... with practice u SHOULD be able to pull low 13s with these mods.
If you are positive that u do not have gears, go with 4.30s (DO NOT FEAR THE GEAR) good luck
I would suggest you buy some drag radials ($300) and a Steeda TriAx ($150). traction will improve and ur shifting will be better.
then get an off-road mid pipe ($150-$200) and some u/d pullies ($180) this should give u some nice extra power... with practice u SHOULD be able to pull low 13s with these mods.
If you are positive that u do not have gears, go with 4.30s (DO NOT FEAR THE GEAR) good luck
i have a 99 cobra with a densecharger intake soon to be a pro-m 80 mm maf,
bbk 62 mm throttle body, steeda pulleys, tri axe shifter, mac hi flo catted h-pipe, mac cat back exaughst, eibachs
original gears still installed,
how fast should i run the 1/4
i just had mac long tubes but i herd horrible stories so i returned them and ime about to go with bbk Lts or kooks longtubes
how fast you think after the header mod
bbk 62 mm throttle body, steeda pulleys, tri axe shifter, mac hi flo catted h-pipe, mac cat back exaughst, eibachs
original gears still installed,
how fast should i run the 1/4
i just had mac long tubes but i herd horrible stories so i returned them and ime about to go with bbk Lts or kooks longtubes
how fast you think after the header mod
01MustangMan
Founding Member
Some of you guys have good times from your cobra's.. My friends 98 cobra ran 14.2 best.. No matter who drove it... I woudl have though 14.5 wasnt all that bad??
DirtySanchez
Founding Member
xlr857 said:
Here's a calculator that will deduce your rear end gear ratio from rpm and speed: http://www.corral.net/tech/gearcalc.html
