new cobra owner, have some ?'s

[Dr. Wu 2000]

Hi everyone. I am new to the svt forum, cause I just traded in my 2000 GT
for a 04' Redfire cobra. All I can say is WOW !!!!! Just started driving stick
yesterday when I drove it off the lot. It wasn't pretty. Guess it will just take
some practice. The start from a stop is my problem, once I am moving I am
fine. Now for the real question. What should my first mods be? I am thinking
CAI and full exhaust. How does that sound? Any feedback would be greatly
appreciated. Thanx.

 

[trents99]

Shifter
CAI
Exhaust

That'd be the order I would buy them. (unless you can afford them all at once )

Welcome BTW

 

[Beau]

shifter, CAI, smaller pulley/tune, exhaust, headers. you'll have a beast.

 

[BZ's_03_SVT]

cat back exhaust at least...give it that real muscle car sound to back up the power...i drive mine to get the mail at the mail box just to here it....and no i dont have a long road to my mailbox...its at the end of the driveway......hehehe

 

[95GTS]

First off, excellent choice for color. As far as mods go, like trents99 said above, shifter, cai, and cat-back are good choices. Hopefully with these mods, you might be able to keep your warranty if that concerns you. Headers were mentioned above but from what I've read they don't offer enough performance gains for the hassle. A pulley swap and tune will give you enough power to satisfy your needs, at least for a while.

 

[hoofbear]

Nice color. Go with the CAI, catback Maybe a mid-pipe and a shifter either a tri-x or a Pro 5.0. Forget the headers big pita for very little gain.

 

[Uncle Meat]

There are plenty of mods available for your new '04 Snake... Question is whether you value your warranty or not and what type of relationship you THINK you have with the service department. Before you start modding why don't you go talk to the service manager and see how he feels about modifications. Ask them whether a cat back or CAI will void your warranty. Most service departments will overlook these minor mods, some service departments are ANAL RETENTIVE though! Find out where your service department stands BEFORE you have to take the car in for warranty work.

You can mod the crap out of your car if you want, just be prepared to remove all the mods and replace them with stock parts if you ever need warranty work performed against the drive train. There are some possible trade offs you'll need to consider before you start adding pulleys, chips, headers, etc....

U.M.

 

[therunyan]

Cat back, Tri-Ax shifter..., but I'd do some early suspension mods on there as well, as they make a world of difference if you like the twisties.

By the way: Are you with me Dr. Wu? Are you really just a shadow of the man that I once knew...are you crazy? are you high? or just an ordinary guy?

Sorry Wu, couldn't resist -- Katy Lied is an awesome Dan disc...

 

[VetteKilla03]

Most these guys r leading u in the right direction. Definitely CAI, Shifter and at least a catback. I have a borla catback and it sounded sweet with the stock H-pipe. I've also heard A magnaflow and it sounds good too. If u r not concerned about the warranty....u can go with a smaller blower pulley/predator flash tuner. I would get the predator vs any chip b/c u can use the predator to customize ANY tune. If u want to richen/lean your A/F u can do that w/out having to burn another chip...its all there in the predator. Its really a remarkable tool.

 

[stvdman]

I wouldnt mod the car...yet. Mod the driver. Go to a off-track event or some other race related event and learn your car.

BTW, these car do have a light flywheel, even with the abudance of low end torque it can take a bit to get used to the initial clutch engagement, the revs drop quick if you just try to engage the clutch at idle speed. Youll get used to it though.

 

[URDONE]

Definately learn how to drive the car first. I think that is most important. You should start modding once you feel you have gotten everything out of the car as is. Then go with all the most stated above, along with some drag radials.

 

[Dr. Wu 2000]

Cat back, Tri-Ax shifter..., but I'd do some early suspension mods on there as well, as they make a world of difference if you like the twisties.

By the way: Are you with me Dr. Wu? Are you really just a shadow of the man that I once knew...are you crazy? are you high? or just an ordinary guy?

Sorry Wu, couldn't resist -- Katy Lied is an awesome Dan disc...

You are the first person to make reference to the song. Nice. I love Steely Dan. My favorite band. Becker and ***an rule! They are very
strange, but they write great songs. Favorite album: The Royal Scam. :worship:
Favorite song: too hard to pick. There are too many good one's. Aja

 

[Dr. Wu 2000]

You are the first person to make reference to the song. Nice. I love Steely Dan. My favorite band. Becker and ***an rule! They are very
strange, but they write great songs. Favorite album: The Royal Scam. :worship:
Favorite song: too hard to pick. There are too many good one's. Aja

You can't spell Donald's last name cause' the first 3 letters spell, uh, that's really weird. I'll spell it out: first *= F, second *= A, third *= G. That's his
last name.

 

[Wizard02]

You might want to consider MJ's IRS brace. Check out info on Svtperformance or modularfords.

 

[Friedchicken]

I don't think the brace is needed for stock power unless your are being a nut with the car.

Get a pro 5.0 shifter, borla stinger cat-back, JLT cai, and some subframes... then come back when you are ready for the next list heheh... It's a long slippery slope you are treading on my friend.

 

[stvdman]

If being a nut is shifting hard and fast (not power shifting), then that brace looks like some good insurance.

Pics of these aluminum pumpkin housing/covers all busted apart on relatively stock terminators makes that brace look REAL good.

 

[stvdman]

See happened again. Although not stock, this was on a 3-4 shift.

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100101

 

[Uncle Meat]

See happened again. Although not stock, this was on a 3-4 shift.

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100101

This guy is asking what his "first mods" should be.... that IRS brace would NOT be one of them.... unless he's taking his car to the dragstrip every weekend! You're NOT going to get the kind of traction needed to hook up and bust the diff while driving on the street!

Although the brace from MJ is a quality piece of hardware, it's not needed for a stock street Cobra, even if you power shifted... It's very rare for a stock or mildly modified 03/04 to bust their diff cover or rear end. Once you start adding more power (pulley/chip) or sticky tires, and running the car on a well prepped track, then yes by all means purchase one and install it. If you're stock and 95% street driven save your money...

U.M.

 

[Dr. Wu 2000]

Thanks for the info everyone. Meat you really know your s--t. The only mods
I am going to do is CAI, shifter, exhaust. I paid for extended warranty and
the snake will NEVER see track time. The car is a weekend driver. Company
cars rule. By the way, my driving skills are coming around nicely.
The only problem I am having now is when on a hill. What do you need to do
differently when rolling backwards. Is there a trick. Came real close to
rolling into someone tonight.

 

[Uncle Meat]

The only problem I am having now is when on a hill. What do you need to do differently when rolling backwards. Is there a trick. Came real close to rolling into someone tonight.

The trick is to be quick with the feet! You have to practice getting your right foot off of the brake pedal and onto the gas pedal while releasing the clutch with the left foot. It takes some time but with practice you'll get it. If it's a severe hill try using your parking brake to hold the car in place and then slowly release the parking brake handle while simultaneously releasing the clutch and feeding it gas.

U.M.