Just bought an '03 Cobra, need advice...

[STEEDA85GT]

Ive posted several times in the past couple weeks narrowing down my search and finally got to take my black '03 home today!!! 16K miles, polished wheels, pretty much in the wrapper short of some paint work to the front end which allowed me to purchase it well back of book value. Kind of a long, obstacle filled process but found out it was all very well worth it from driving the car all day today...I'm sooo happy to be back in a 'stang, let alone the one car I've dreamed about owning since I saw it unveiled.

I was initially doing research leaning toward '98s and '01s when this deal popped up and I jumped on it. I know after today I want a shifter and I owned a Tri-Ax previously for my '85 but wanted to know the concensus for the 6-speed cars...I know there are a lot of Pro 5.0 fans out there too. Exhaust will also be done this coming week and I'm thinking about keeping the factory exhaust manifolds/headers, a Bassani X and cat back. To keep things on a budget I'm gonna go with the aluminized series. If anyone has any other combos they think sound better please let me know.

Lastly, what are the next steps mod wise for these cars? I know pulleys are popular but should I beef up the IRS before looking that way? Do they make a power programmer/chip for these cars, is it worth it? I'd like to get about as far as I can without voiding the factory warranty if at all possible.

Also, how many days did it take you all to wipe the stupid grin off your face after taking delivery of your car Thank you guys in advance for your help, it's good to be back.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Ive posted several times in the past couple weeks narrowing down my search and finally got to take my black '03 home today!!! 16K miles, polished wheels, pretty much in the wrapper short of some paint work to the front end which allowed me to purchase it well back of book value. Kind of a long, obstacle filled process but found out it was all very well worth it from driving the car all day today...I'm sooo happy to be back in a 'stang, let alone the one car I've dreamed about owning since I saw it unveiled.

I was initially doing research leaning toward '98s and '01s when this deal popped up and I jumped on it. I know after today I want a shifter and I owned a Tri-Ax previously for my '85 but wanted to know the concensus for the 6-speed cars...I know there are a lot of Pro 5.0 fans out there too. Exhaust will also be done this coming week and I'm thinking about keeping the factory exhaust manifolds/headers, a Bassani X and cat back. To keep things on a budget I'm gonna go with the aluminized series. If anyone has any other combos they think sound better please let me know.

Lastly, what are the next steps mod wise for these cars? I know pulleys are popular but should I beef up the IRS before looking that way? Do they make a power programmer/chip for these cars, is it worth it? I'd like to get about as far as I can without voiding the factory warranty if at all possible.

Also, how many days did it take you all to wipe the stupid grin off your face after taking delivery of your car Thank you guys in advance for your help, it's good to be back.

All of your questions have been previously answered in this forum at least 2 or 3 times. Run a quick search and if you don't find the exact answer to a specific question please feel free to post it up.

U.M.

 

[MiamiFan1354]

If you want to stay in warranty, then pretty much all you can do is Cat Back and Intake. I've seen cars get voided for anything beyond that, but if you can take it off, you should be fine. I run the Stock IRS and I'm right at 12.0 and that was before sticky tires. Here is what I would do, in order..:

Bassani X and Cat Back
JLT True CAI
Pro 5.0 with MGW handle
UPR 3 hook Clutch Quad and firewall adj
Nitto 315/35 555Rs
__________________
With that, you should easily and I mean easily be at 12.4-12.2 with just a semi good driver.. THEN you got choices. I went 2.75 upper, but I would have liked to have gone this route.:

2.93 Upper
4Lb lower
New Belt
Custom Dyno Tune (I have the Predator but Amazon tuned the car for me.)
Brisk Plugs
Strut Tower Brace
Full Length Subs
IRS Brace
______________________________
Now you should drop into the 11's.. THEN

Ported Blower
55lb injectors
Twin Focus Pumps or a BAP
MAFxtender or SCT MAF

I wouldn't start to mess with the IRS until you get down here.. You MAY break a halfshaft along the way, but you would do that sooner or later any way. You may want to get some bushings and a launch bar. Kenny Brown has big kits that help out.
______________________
That will pretty much max out what you can do with the stock blower... and you should be right around that 11.50 mark, where you'll start to get into full drag race mode. After that, you'll be ready for a whipple or KB, solid rear, Auto Trans and everything else... I'm working on Whipple right now, but I skipped the port. I'm at 12.000000000000 at 117 MPH on the stock tires, with a 1.8 60'.

Hope this helps!

 

[ironmedic]

dude get a QMP exhaust setup! they sound nice!

 

[alfman9]

Im going with the new MGW shifter. I cant decide between Bassani and Magnaflow for exhaust. I went with K&N Fipk and am looking at a superchips or predator tuner. And yea, that stupid grin is still on my face.

 

[Uncle Meat]

I went with K&N Fipk and am looking at a superchips or predator tuner.

That's a no-brainer.... the Predator is leaps and bounds ahead/better than the Superchips tuner.

U.M.

 

[KnRs88]

If you want to stay in warranty, then pretty much all you can do is Cat Back and Intake. I've seen cars get voided for anything beyond that, but if you can take it off, you should be fine. I run the Stock IRS and I'm right at 12.0 and that was before sticky tires. Here is what I would do, in order..:

Bassani X and Cat Back
JLT True CAI
Pro 5.0 with MGW handle
UPR 3 hook Clutch Quad and firewall adj
Nitto 315/35 555Rs
__________________
With that, you should easily and I mean easily be at 12.4-12.2 with just a semi good driver.. THEN you got choices. I went 2.75 upper, but I would have liked to have gone this route.:

2.93 Upper
4Lb lower
New Belt
Custom Dyno Tune (I have the Predator but Amazon tuned the car for me.)
Brisk Plugs
Strut Tower Brace
Full Length Subs
IRS Brace
______________________________
Now you should drop into the 11's.. THEN

Ported Blower
55lb injectors
Twin Focus Pumps or a BAP
MAFxtender or SCT MAF

I wouldn't start to mess with the IRS until you get down here.. You MAY break a halfshaft along the way, but you would do that sooner or later any way. You may want to get some bushings and a launch bar. Kenny Brown has big kits that help out.
______________________
That will pretty much max out what you can do with the stock blower... and you should be right around that 11.50 mark, where you'll start to get into full drag race mode. After that, you'll be ready for a whipple or KB, solid rear, Auto Trans and everything else... I'm working on Whipple right now, but I skipped the port. I'm at 12.000000000000 at 117 MPH on the stock tires, with a 1.8 60'.

Hope this helps!

Will those 315 nittos fit on the stock 9" wheel?

 

[Uncle Meat]

Will those 315 nittos fit on the stock 9" wheel?

Yup. No rubbing either! But don't try this with any other 315, only the Nitto because it runs much more narrow than a standard 315 width tire.

U.M.

 

[KnRs88]

Yup. No rubbing either! But don't try this with any other 315, only the Nitto because it runs much more narrow than a standard 315 width tire.

U.M.

Thanks for the info, also do you know if they would rub with the AFS 10.5" wide wheels?


Thanks
Rich

 

[Uncle Meat]

Thanks for the info, also do you know if they would rub with the AFS 10.5" wide wheels?


Thanks
Rich

Yes! The IRS bolt will come in contact with the sidewall of the Nitto 315 on an AFS 10.5 rim when the suspension is fully unloaded. This is the combo I'm currently running and I replaced my stock IRS bolt with a button head bolt to prevent this from happening. You can just as easily grind the head down on the stock IRS bolt to get the needed clearence.

U.M.

 

[MiamiFan1354]

I run BFG315/35/17s on ASF 17x10.5s. Would have rubbed, so I shaved the bolt and put in 1/4 inch spacers. No problems at all!! Runs great.. but it's not the cheapest set up. Just go with the nittos on the stock rims.. Good setup, and you just bought the car, so no reason to go out and buy new rims already..

 

[STEEDA85GT]

thanks for the help guys...im a few hundred miles in and absolutely love the car. had one more question...the car came with the stock airbox setup in the trunk as well as a random grooved pulley and belt. im attaching a pic of the pulley...its about 3-3/4" in diameter where the belt would sit, about 4" to the flanges, and im not sure which one it is...I looked and cant see anything blatantly aftermarket. i couldnt really see the factory s/c pulley under the cover sooo im not sure if maybe that was swapped out by the original owner??? the car pegs the boost gauge but ive never really driven another '03+ Cobra to tell where the needle should be under throttle. having bought the car wholesale you dont exactly get service records or anything so im still combing the car over.

also she pings pretty badly under full throttle...originally i thought it was the gas that had sat in there a month so i took it easy and burnt it all out but two fresh tanks of 93 later its still pinging under boost...doesnt sound normal?

thanks for the advice on the mods...im gonna go with bassani exhaust and a pro-5.0 for now. any help on the pulley/pinging situation would be greatly appreciated. thanks again.

 

[STEEDA85GT]

...also a pic of the new ride the mystery pulley was attached to. Not too shabby for $19K!

 

[Uncle Meat]

thanks for the help guys...im a few hundred miles in and absolutely love the car. had one more question...the car came with the stock airbox setup in the trunk as well as a random grooved pulley and belt. im attaching a pic of the pulley...its about 3-3/4" in diameter where the belt would sit, about 4" to the flanges, and im not sure which one it is...I looked and cant see anything blatantly aftermarket. i couldnt really see the factory s/c pulley under the cover sooo im not sure if maybe that was swapped out by the original owner??? the car pegs the boost gauge but ive never really driven another '03+ Cobra to tell where the needle should be under throttle. having bought the car wholesale you dont exactly get service records or anything so im still combing the car over.

also she pings pretty badly under full throttle...originally i thought it was the gas that had sat in there a month so i took it easy and burnt it all out but two fresh tanks of 93 later its still pinging under boost...doesnt sound normal?

The picture you posted along with the measurements provided leads me to believe the pulley in your trunk is the stock (3.65") one. With a belt in the trunk too I'm betting the previous owner has installed at least a 2.93 pulley or smaller. As for the boost gauge, on a stock Cobra it will come close to the "10" mark on a really cold day, if you are pegging it then you most definately have a smaller supercharger pulley installed. Since the stock airbox is in the trunk it sounds like you have a CAI installed too. You might want to crawl underneath and see if it has an aftermarket cat-back...

Now listen to my advice here about the pinging.....

GO GET THIS CAR TUNED ON A DYNO ASAP! Nothing will destroy your supercharged motor faster than detonation (pinging)!!!!!! Do NOT get on it anymore, PERIOD! NONE! NO MORE WOT. You need to stay out of it COMPLETELY!

You also need to pull the passenger side kick panel and inspect the EEC. Check the port on the side of the computer and see if there is an aftermarket chip plugged in. If there is get the name off of the chip because you're going to need a re-burn!

You've got yourself a nice Cobra there STEEDA85GT, don't melt the motor now by running a bad tune! If you can hear the engine pinging over the whine of the supercharger, you've got a MAJOR problem and need to rectify it ASAP! I just hope that damage hasn't already been done.... it's very possible the previous owner added a 2.93 or smaller pulley and a CAI, but never got the combo tuned. Now the engine is possibly damaged and that's why the previous owner dumped the car. Get it checked out NOW, you could be looking at some very expensive repairs!

U.M.

 

[MiamiFan1354]

Very true.. Could you take a pic of the engine for us.. It could help out a lot. Try to take off the pulley cover.. that would be even better! It's just three bolts.. pretty simple..

How loud is your exhaust?? Stock cobra exhaust is real quite... You may already have exhaust on there.. I just hope you didn't get something that's already messed up..

do like Meat said.. I wouldn't get into boost again until you got your car tuned.. I wouldn't even try just putting it on a dyno. You may have a flashed tune, where you won't be able to see that chip. You def have after market parts on this car, so i would be REAL careful driving it until you get someone who knows about these cars to look at it..

 

[STEEDA85GT]

Just made an appointment for Tueday morning at Ramsey's here in town...going to use a Predator and then put her on the dyno to fine tune. The exhaust is stock...stock size tips, stock midpipe, and it's quiet. Doesnt look like the EEC has been tampered with at all. I knew it had a Steeda CAI. Im guessing some idiot owned the car before and just tossed on a pulley and figured he was done. Hopefully minimal damage has been done in its 16K mile life. Outside of the boost issues the car idles a little bit rough at times but runs perfectly otherwise. No unusual noises and gauges/fluids check out ok.

Trust me I'll stay out of it until I get it on the dyno Tuesday. Hell, knowing me I'll probably avoid driving it in general until then. Thanks again guys...more to come next week.

 

[STEEDA85GT]

Just got back from Ramsey's and cant say enough about the guys over there, they were a HUGE help. My past cars have all been n/a carb'd cars and this is a whole new world to me. Big, big difference but pretty amazing.

Car definitely has a 2.80 pulley and had an old Diablo pulley chip in the ECU. Pulled the old chip and ran the Predator tune...a world of difference. I'm going get exhaust on the car (within the next couple weeks) before putting it on the dyno. Everything appears to be ok though...have a feeling I dodged a bullet on this one.

Thanks again to everyone, especially U.M., for the guidance.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Just got back from Ramsey's and cant say enough about the guys over there, they were a HUGE help. My past cars have all been n/a carb'd cars and this is a whole new world to me. Big, big difference but pretty amazing.

Car definitely has a 2.80 pulley and had an old Diablo pulley chip in the ECU. Pulled the old chip and ran the Predator tune...a world of difference. I'm going get exhaust on the car (within the next couple weeks) before putting it on the dyno. Everything appears to be ok though...have a feeling I dodged a bullet on this one.

Thanks again to everyone, especially U.M., for the guidance.

Glad to hear everything seems to be okay! Kind of funny the tune on the Diablo chip wasn't up to par. Wonder who the original owner got it from? What did your A/F end up being before and after the tuning? Additionally, you might want to pull the plugs (if you haven't already) and give them a good look. With all the pinging the car was doing previously they are probably in poor shape.

U.M.

 

[STEEDA85GT]

The guys at Ramsey said the Predator is leaps and bounds ahead of the old chip technology from Diablo. They pulled the chip and read it...installed October '03 by dealer "721", i'm guessing somewhere in TX where the car came from. I didnt get a chance to check out the fuel ratios (was told the predator runs a bit rich which is fine for now) but the tune definitely eliminated any pinging. The plugs looked alright when i pulled them this afternoon but I'm gonna toss in a new set along with the standard oil change, etc. this coming weekend.

 

[marcus95]

That's the biggest bullet you ever dodged. Congrats on your purchase. Sounds like a steal. Uncle knows his stuff and this is a perfect example of how important information sharing is on these boards.

Nice