2001 Cobra Advice

jmcmike

New Member
Aug 3, 2011
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Hey all. I'm new to the forum and Mustangs in general and I have a situation for which I am up for hearing a broad range of opinions. If you see my post duplicated on some of the forums you follow, sorry for the duplicate posts but I want to make sure I reach out to the Mustang community at large.


Background: Sort of middle aged dude, owned a wide range of cars in my time but have been a truck guy (Ford FTW) for many years. I have always wanted to own a yellow sports car and in my recent quest for replacing my truck (have grown tired of trucks really) I ended up buying a very clean 2001 yellow Mustang Cobra. I bought it from a well known used car dealer chain (hence the fact that it is very clean, visually and title-wise) and I paid, well too much probably.

The only mods done to my car are a Flowmaster cat-back exhuast and some after-market shocks/struts.


Based on my over-the-top geek-fueled research over the last 2 weeks I have come to the following conclusions:

1) Had I to do it all over again, I would have bought a yellow terminator via non-retail channels.

2) Since I can't "do it all over again" I am in possesion of a car that I paid dealer retail for and am therefore upside-down by a bit in this car.

3) Regardless, I am 'bound' to my new car. I love it really. Call it fate or providence, in any case, I love my Cobra.

4) No matter the love, I now realize (all too late of course) that unless I am blessed with the skill of the Stig himself, I can easily be walked by a number of new comer's, especially Terminators.

5) My car cannot compete with a ported Termintator without spending obscene amounts of money, more than it would take to sell my car at a loss and buy/port a terminator.


Goals: What do I really want to do with my car?

1) I am not up for spending the the money necessary to compete directly with ported terminators (looks like 8-10K)

2) I do want to ensure that with appropriate skill, I can beat a mostly stock terminator and at least hang with a ported terminator. (I don't mind losing, I just want to hang well enough to give props with dignity.)

3) This is a daily driver car (low miles FTW) and I may never bring it to a strip. I mostly care about stop-light to stop-light performance. I understand that a lot of this is based on skill, I can handle that slack. If I lose because of how I run, that's my fault.

So this brings me to my question (if you've hung in long enough you get a cookie).

What should I do?

I won't directly suggest the many options I know already, I've read enough to write a flippin' book on the subject. I just want a fresh specific opinion on these options from someone in, or close to, my situation. Feel free to smash my conclusions, so long as your advice fits my goals, go for it!

Thanks!

Justin
 
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I have 4.10's in my 97 and dont have any vibration issues. When I had my 01 Cobra I did midpipe catback and a tune and put down around 300rwhp. Gears would have made a big difference. Obviously this is nowhere near a 03 Cobra but it should make your 01 more fun to drive
 
Gears, intake, exhaust, pulleys and tune will all be good for added power, still not gonna run with an 03 Cobra unless you get a blower or another form of power adder.

Suspension will make your car much more response and predictable and it makes it more fun to drive.
You have good brakes, but if you went to a 2-piece rotor to save some unsprung weight, that would be an improvement.

Let us know if we can help with some recommendations.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I am leaning some sort of FI but not so much that my engine needs to be built.

In the mean time, if I am planning to go FI should I keep the gears down to 3.73?
 
3.73 is a nice gear for a power adder street car. There are plenty of people that do the 4.10's as well, and it's also a great gear for Cobras. The saying goes, "never fear the gear!"..lol

As long as your block is sound and has good compression still, you can do a lower boost set-up like 8-9psi, and with a good tune it will last.
 
I would definitely look into some sort of a power adder, given the criteria you mentioned. I think the biggest thing is, how big is your budget? You can often find used Vortech's for cheap on Corral Forums, if you're not adverse to buying used? You'll probably want to invest in a stronger transmission, as the T45 isn't the strongest thing known to man. Stronger half shafts for the IRS wouldn't be a bad idea either, since you're looking to increase the output.
 
Thank you all for your advice. I have pretty much decided what I am going to do. I am going to keep the car and build towards a low boost FI setup, between 400 and 450 RWHP.

I am going to start where it seems to matter most, beefing up the IRS and changing gears, probably 3.73. I'll probably do a new shifter and mid pipes either at the same time or shortly after. Then I'll start piecing together an Eaton swap. It may take a while to get it all done but that's OK. I am a low miles driver so I plan to enjoy this car for a few years at least.

Thanks again!