96 Cobra... what to do for starters?

[Fusion]

Hey all,

I'm about ready to close the deal on a 96 Cobra Coupe. I have owned many a performance car over the years but this will be my first Ford product. (Had Buick GN's, multiple corvettes, etc) Most cars have small tweaks you can do to them to help out performance without spending a lot of cash... Does the Cobra have any of these sitting under the hood waiting to be done?

Couple of other questions while I'm at it... does the Cobra require 92-93 octane gas?

And lastly... motor oil... what does everyone recommend? This is a Florida car and will be driven... a lot.

Thanks!

 

[missouri_guy197]

Exhaust(mid pipe and catback), pulleys, 4.10 gears or higher, and a shifter...that's a good start...

Cobra's don't require 92 or 93 octane, but they do require at least 91...they have 93 here as the premium so that's what I used...

As for motor oil...a lot of people like Mobil1 synthetic...5w30 for the 96-98 cars...I just use regular Castrol GTX 5w30 in mine...

 

[chrisbudl1]

I just got a 97, and even taking of the air silencer is noticiable. With most aftermarket parts, being a 4v you get more power vs. a 2v. Just spend some time reading the posts. generally gears, to get to and keep you in the power band, exhaust depending on setup is worth around 20 hp probably. Yes you do have to run premium gas, pulleys are suppossed to free up power. The list of mods is endless. Good luck

 

[N/A Cobra]

Go with 4.30 gears first, then free up the exhaust

 

[1996COBRA]

Start with...

-a shifter... it'll be easier on your tranny
-gears... i'd recommend 4.30s but definitely nothing less than 4.10s
-Drag radials... once you get the gears you'll know why
-exhaust... most go with the traditional o/r Hpipe and flows, it really gives it a nice rumble
-pulleys... nice HP gains

these 5 get my vote