96 Cobra FLUNKED Dyno!

[hotpony]

So I ran my 96 Cobra on the dyno today, ran 274 hp, 280 ft/lb tq! I can't believe it was so low, another guy in my club ran a stock 97 Cobra with exhaust only and ran 294 hp / 300 ft/lb tq. I'm trying to figure out what was wrong, it had a really flat spot at about 4k-5k, then ramped up again. I was so pissed I just left without getting my printout but here's my mods to see if anyone has a clue.

SuperChips 1725 Tuner
K&N conical filter w/ heat shield
BBK 62mm Throttle body
Bassani X-Pipe w/ cats
Borla Cat-Back
4.30:1 gears
Steeda Radiator
Evans Water pump
Screamin Demon Coil Packs
Livewires
11" motorsport clutch
T56 Trans w/ Pro 5.0 shifter
Dynotech Alum. driveshaft
megabite jr. upper/lower control arms
Kenny Brown subframe connectors
Griggs Coilover Suspension (adj. Koni's) all around w/ CC plates
AJE tubular A-arms
Strut tower brace, Lower K-member brace
Solid rack bushings

There's only one code right now and it's not throwing the CEL, it's a rear oxygen sensor ckt fail, but I don't think that would throw it into limp mode or anything... Hrm, not sure about that actually, thought it also may have been my plugs so I pulled them and replaced today with just some new Autolites. I noticed the Autolite Platinums that were in there before were gapped at .060, so I just left the new ones at stock .040. Really no reason for a gap that big, even if the Screamin Demon coils w/ livewires may send the spark through that gap since I don't really have that many engine mods done anyways..

I just figured I'd be around 300rwhp I guess... Any input on the matter would be appreciated!

THANKS!

 

[RoadconeTuning]

you ever cleaned your IMRC's?

your car could just have had the piss beat out of it too... the other guy had a freak car. ive never heard of a SN95 cobra making right at 300 w/ minor boltons...

i wouldnt be to worried about the numbers. they seem fine to me and would explain why a bolt-on/gear'd GT can outrun a stock 96-98 cobra.

 

[Black'02]

Definately check the imrc plates. If you had a big flat spot in your curve its most likely at the point where they are set to open. They can get gunked up very easily over time.

Your friends car sound extremely high, especially for just exhaust. You are probably close to where you should, maybe slightly on the low end. Clean up those imrcs and run it again.

 

[02TruBlueGt]

Yea that sounds where right about where you should be. My friend has a 96 cobra with 50k miles on it and has full Bassani ehaust mid lengths all the way through cat with race pipes in and only made 275hp and 285 tq. You may just need to clean those IMRC's and a lil maintence, and if your not the first owner the orig owner could have beat the ever living hell out of that car dont worry though about your numbers. Its how well you can drive the car.

 

[Duke309]

keep in mind that if the two cars werent run on the same dyno the numbers could be off, especially if one was run on a mustang dyno and the other on a dynojet.

 

[sgarlic]

Maybe he was the 1st owner, and runs only quality synthetic fluids, changes his spark plugs every 10k, fuel filter every year, etc. Who knows what kind of things this person does to maintain his.

I feel your "pain" though. The first dyno day I went to here in town, an 02 GT with just a K&N filter and MAC catback put down 240hp/279tq, then me with my brand meticulously maintained 04 GT with O/R pipe, flows, K&N with removed silencer only put down 233/273.

 

[stangGT97]

Well, for starters, don't run platinum plugs if you want every last hp out of your motor. Try running a motorcraft or autolite copper plug instead. Also, closing the gap to 0.040" is too narrow, stock is 0.054" (I think that is true for the DOHCs). Also as stated, try cleaning the IRMCs those could be seriously gunked up

 

[BennyBlown2v]

Those numbers seem spot on to me! http://www.svtmustangcobraclub.com/media/pdfs/tech/IMRC_Cleaning.pdf Clean your IMRC's.

Long tubes would really wake the car up, and push you over the 300rwhp mark most likely.

 

[ADRENLN]

yea, your not way off...but the other guy is.

there is no way he is stock and only losing 10 hp through the drivetrain when the rest of us lose 40

 

[Stang|ess]

keep in mind that if the two cars werent run on the same dyno the numbers could be off, especially if one was run on a mustang dyno and the other on a dynojet.

They were both run on the same dyno within an hour or so of each other.

Mike's Cobra fell flat on it's face at 3000, when the secondaries were supposed to open.

 

[Duke309]

theres your answer then.

 

[04GTMustang]

ive learned to not listen to dynos. Heck i made 232rwhp in my 04 with some boltons when some stock ones make that and when i get to the track i walk all over stock gts and other bolton gts.

The track tells all

 

[Stang|ess]

Mike isn't hotpony. Mike is the guy who hit 29x on the other Cobra. Sorry for being vague.

 

[Stang|ess]

ive learned to not listen to dynos. Heck i made 232rwhp in my 04 with some boltons when some stock ones make that and when i get to the track i walk all over stock gts and other bolton gts.

The track tells all

But we don't have a race track anymore. Living in paradise is awesome!

 

[hotpony]

aahah.. True, sorry I haven't replied, been at the hospital welcoming our new baby boy to the world!! I've cleaned the IMRC's before, about 4 months ago to be exact, and I just had the upper intake off the other day while changing the plugs because I noticed that the BBK 62mm Throttle body was way bigger than the stock intake opening so I ported the intake out to match, but I was flicking the IMRC's and they were super smooth. Could be a controller problem.

It's ok, next on the list is a compression test, if everything checks out I'll put IMRC deletes and a Vortech S-trim, install my JBA headers I got and take the cats off..

That should wake her up! Thanks for all the replies!

 

[GToddyT5]

Did you guys also notice he's got a T56? They lose a little more power than a T45, no?

 

[tomustang]

I would lean into the tune and a/f ratio

 

[TGJ]

Don't forget a car with 4.30's will always show a lower HP number than it would with 3.27's. That did play a part with why your numbers are low and the other Cobra is high. It doesn't explain it all though.

 

[blackfang]

Ok here is my input. I dynoed mine when it was stock with 4.30's mac o/r h pipe, magnaflow dumps and a K&N and I put down 273/263 in August 2004.

SuperChips 1725 Tuner- not going to give you a huge gain
K&N conical filter w/ heat shield- good for small hp less than 7
BBK 62mm Throttle body- will net you zero gains
Bassani X-Pipe w/ cats- This will net a decent 10 hp
Borla Cat-Back- Also good for a few ponies, but nothing big
4.30:1 gears- will cause a lower rwhp reading
Screamin Demon Coil Packs- does absolutely nothing for you, the stockers handle 1500 hp. No gains to be had really
Livewires- see above
T56 Trans w/ Pro 5.0 shifter- might also have an affect with those gears

I would lean towards the dyno operator. Why? Because your friends Cobra dynoed 1 hp less than a full bolt on, full exhaust longtubes- catback, short runner intake, tuned 96-98 Cobra and something is way off here. He shouldnt be making that power with an exhaust. Now if hye had Longtubes and a tune I can see 285ish, but that has yet to be mentioned.

 

[hotpony]

his Cobra has stock gears, only thing he has done is I think an h-pipe and cat-back? I agree that the dyno probably wasn't all that accurate and with the gears showing less HP I was unaware of that. I think the car feels pretty peppy, though, I'm pretty happy with it. It's also setup for more road racing/high speed with all the suspension modifications. And hey, it's nothing a Vortech can't fix