Jpjr said:
Can someone please tell me why they think (besides desire) that Ford would ever put the GT motor in the Cobra?
Ok then answer me why would Dodge put the engine of their 80k performance car into a 40k truck? I'll tell you why in a second.
Lets see, so your saying that they are going to pull the motor out of a $150,000 car and detune it for a $45k Cobra. Hmm.. so with a few thousands in mods the $45k Cobra driver could have similar performance as the GT driver.
1) The performance would be only similar in straight line alone.
2) As has already been said with those few thousand in mods you just talked about the CURRENT Cobra will have similiar straight line performance as the GT.
This isn't really all that big of a deal.
GET REAL. It's just like drug companies.. just because they invented viagara and it doesn't cost them a penny more to make an extra pill does not mean they will give the drug away for free. That R&D is no longer being expensed for accounting purposes. It's being allocated and amortized since the product was seen to fruition.
Yet you will see companies make and sell generic drugs that do the exact same thing they just don't have the name brand. They are getting two markets for the price of one. The people who have the money to buy name brand and those who don't
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Bottom Line: Ford could not sell the GT for $150k and put the same motor in the Cobra. It's not profitable. This is a big reason why they will likely outsource the Cobra anyway. For product placement/pricing stategical purposes, I would expect to see a 4v 4.6 supercharged at up to 405rwhp. IMO That's the BEST you can hope for.. and certainly not a disappointment.
A GT powered Cobra would no more affect the sales of the Ford GT as the SRT-10 Ram is affecting the sales of the Viper. People with that kind of money are less inclined to get the "best bang for the buck". These people will be cross shopping with Ferraris not Cobras. Ford could have a 600 horsepower Cobra and they'd still sell every last GT they would make and likely they'll sell them at above sticker. Because even if both guys pulled off the lot at the same time and even if the Cobra was able to keep up to the GT on the highway...guess what. One guy is driving a 150k supercar the other guy is just driving ANOTHER Mustang. Heads will turn and necks will snap, panties will drench,skirts will fly up and jaws will drop when the GT drives by.
When the Cobra comes snorting by the only people that will be looking will be other gear heads. For the longest time you could do a little work on an American V8 and blow away exotics and supercars for far less. Does that hurt the sales of those cars? No. Not one bit. Why? Because you are buying an image as much as you are buying a car.
Now I'm not saying Ford is going to do this or whether it would make sense for them to. I'm just saying that the Ford GT would have little to nothing to do with their choice to or not to put the twin screw 5.4 in the Cobra.
I will say this though hearing what Dodge and GM are rumored to have up their sleeves...Ford better step up to the plate with something powerful in the Cobra. 400 RWHP ain't gonna get it done.