AthensLS1

iTrader: (2)

A good friend of mine who's had a '99 Cobra, '99 Trans Am, '02 or '01 supercharged Harley Ford truck, and now has a '03 Cobra came up to stay with me and hit up the UGA vs GA Southern game this weekend in Athens. His car has a 2.8" pulley, Borla catback, and a dyno tune and made 440rwhp and 480rwtq on a mustang dyno. This car made over 450rwtq from 2400rpms to 6000rpms. He also has some 315 Nitto drag radials on his stock 10th anniversary rims.

I thought that my little bolt-on Trans Am pulled pretty good with 340 rwhp, 4.11s in a Moser 12 bolt, and running 111-112 mph traps. There is absolutely no comparison to what... 450-460rwhp and 500rwtq if he had been on a dynojet no matter the heavy weight of the Cobra. 3 mods and his car makes that power on a very safe tune. Take away the catback and it cost $1000 to make that power since the catback didn't add much anyway. That's pretty sick.

This car pulls in 3rd gear like my car pulls in 1st. It's also impossible to get someone to race you because as soon as they realize what you're driving they decide that they don't want any even though a split second before they were itching to run. We went out looking for races before heading downtown last night and couldn't find a soul willing to run. All these posers just wanted to look good in their Corvettes with Ferrari body kits and 12" spoilers. There's one kid whose father owns a Dodge dealership and he drives a '01 or so Viper...we've been trying to track him down all weekend. That should be a hell of a run from a dig or a roll. I'm pretty sure that this Cobra would whip it badly from a dig because we're on drag radials and my buddy can drive.

I guess this post said a whole lot of nothing and didn't even have a kill story in it. I could go outside and line up with my Trans Am, but that would be a bit pointless and embarassing. He did run a guy in a C5 on his way to Athens who had boltons and a big cam and raped the guy pretty hard so I suppose I'll use that as my kill story.

Moral of the story...as soon as I'm out of college and making some real money I plan on buying an '03 Cobra. This is the sweetest car I've ever ridden in and it pulls like an absolute monster. The difference between my car and this one is night and day. I feel like I'm driving a Camry when I climb back into my TA. If you ever get a chance to go for a spin in a blown Cobra then take it. I now know what people mean when they say it feels like you're getting rear ended by a Mac truck due to a car's acceleration.

DD966

iTrader: (3)

When you get your real money, drop a supercharger in your Trans Am. I think you'll change your mind. It'd be cheaper than buying the Cobra (and faster too).

King02SS

I guess that depends on your definition of a big cam.

30th t/a

iTrader: (51)

most 03/04 cobras i see with that much rwhp are trapping 117-121mph. a c5 with a nice cam like the g5x2/x3 or something similar should be right with that so if that guy did have a cam sounds like he couldnt drive for shat.

reminds me of my buddy in his 03 z06 racing a modded sti. at a 50mph he dropped it into 3rd and got pulled then once he got into the powerband he realed the sti in and passed the sti. i told him he should have dropped it into 2nd and he would have been right in his power band and he wouldnt have gotten pulled off the start.

some people dont know how to get max performance outta thier car.

Vendetta

People who say this often have absolutely no idea what kind of money and time it takes to build a stable forced induction car. It's absolutely not that simple.

AthensLS1

iTrader: (2)

"I guess that depends on your definition of a big cam."

I forget the exact specs, but this car apparently had the same cam as another friend of ours Vette and it's in the 230ish duration, .580ish lift, 112 lsa range. Is that not a big cam for a car with no valve reliefs? What's your definition of a big cam?

"People who say this often have absolutely no idea what kind of money and time it takes to build a stable forced induction car. It's absolutely not that simple."

Exactly. The iron block in these Cobras can take a hell of a lot of abuse from what I read. There are a few people spraying their way to 600-700rwhp on stock internals.

"some people dont know how to get max performance outta thier car."

The friend I spoke of earlier ran a high 12 at 114mph in his bone stock C5...stock down to the air filter and runflat tires. Would you say that he knows how to handle his car? This time also was run at our local track...not at some mythical track in Texas where everyone runs .3 and 3mph faster. He now has a cam, headers, etc. This Cobra ran him while the Cobra was bone stock and it was neck and neck. The Cobra is now up another 80rwhp and 120 rwtq. What do you predict the outcome would be with a race now?

unit213

What he said...and there's no guarantee a blown LS1 will be faster. Can it be? Absolutely. Will every blown LS1 be faster than a '03 Cobra with the bolt ons? Nope.

The simple Cobra bolt ons plus a ported Eaton ($500 mod) = 125mph traps. Add in a little spray and hold the **** on... But I wouldn't know anything about that.

AthensLS1 - Your boy's Cobra wouldn't make more than 460rwhp tops on a dynojet...just fyi. The old 15% difference between MD and a dynojet doesn't apply. It's not possible to make 500+rwhp on a dynojet with those mods. It's still plenty of power. I'm not trying to detract from that...just trying to give you an accurate picture.

Flawless

I think the phrase "THere is always someone faster" couldnt apply more.

x phantom x

iTrader: (14)

Actually, that's "medium" sized now a days ... How bout a 242.4/249.1 duration, .609/.613 lift, 109 LSA ??


Honestly ... for a few hundred dollars, you can just spray your car. 340rwhp + 125 shot = over 450rwhp, safe for stock internals, and a considerably good chance to beat on that cobra. Btw, I agree with you and think the 03-04 cobra's are pretty badass, and it's awesome how fast they can get with some simple mods. I am still quite against their interior, and don't think they compare to the f and y bods looks wise.
.

King02SS

Yea that's average for a cam anymore IMO. Big would be 244 or more. That in a C5 though should be able to be pretty even with that cobra. No offense but maybe the C5 owner couldn't drive. That or the C5 was a stock stalled a4 which I doubt is even possible with a 230 cam if he wants to keep it alive. Plus anything can happen on the street so who knows. Props to him on the Cobra though I personally love Cobras and would own one in a heartbeat.

LS1Baron

Amen to that. I've beaten some crazy exotics, killer street cars, highly modded imports, etc.
I have also been beaten by some crazy exotics, killer street cars, highly modded imports, etc.
I never really gave up and said, "I'm going to buy a car like the one that just beat me." I love my car too much to do that.

AthensLS1

iTrader: (2)

"Actually, that's "medium" sized now a days ... How bout a 242.4/249.1 duration, .609/.613 lift, 109 LSA ??"

Hah, damn. I've been out of the whole car scene lately. I've been concentrating on college so that one day I can afford the high dollar builds. You simply can't build much of a car on a college budget so I quit trying after busting 5 sets of 10 bolt gears, buying the Moser, etc.


"Honestly ... for a few hundred dollars, you can just spray your car. 340rwhp + 125 shot = over 450rwhp, safe for stock internals, and a considerably good chance to beat on that cobra."

Definitely. I just like the fact that the Cobra's power is always on. You don't have to worry about bottle pressure, the bottle being full, the bottle being open, etc. I was really close to throwing a TNT kit on my car, but it's my daily driver and has to get me through college so I just became content with what I had.

"AthensLS1 - Your boy's Cobra wouldn't make more than 460rwhp tops on a dynojet...just fyi."

Yeah, he's just hoping to go from 440rwhp to 450rwhp and 480rwtq to maybe 500rwtq on the dynojet compared to the mustang dyno. He's also going to add an offroad x-pipe soon to try and bump the numbers a bit higher. My bud just built a new house so the funds are a little dry compared to what he'd like.

Overall, I'm very impressed by his car. I've ridden in a few friend's heads/cam 410ish rwhp/400rwtq LS1 cars and this Cobra definitely seems to have more ***** than those. The huge torque really makes it jump out of the hole even with the stock 3.55 gears. He had 4.30s in his old Cobra and 4.10s in the TA, but he says that he'll probably just stick with the stock gears in this car since he really likes the gas mileage and it makes so much torque that it's unneccesary. The 315 nittos can take wot in 1st gear right now, but might not be able to with the deep gear. Therefore, there's really no reason to go with a steep gear at the moment. If I could afford an '03 Cobra right now then I'd probably go for it and once I graduate from UGA in 3 more semesters the '03s might come down enough in price to where I can afford one.

The irs on his car is pretty slick through the twisties too. I used to have adj lcas, adj torque arm, adj panhard, subframes, granatelli springs, bilstein shocks/struts, addco 31mm front swaybar, and 1le rear swaybar and used to run Kumho victerracer v700 autocross tires on my ZR1 knockoff rims and this stock Cobra seems to corner just as good as my car with all those mods. It's a tight little package for a stock vehicle.

TT_Vert

iTrader: (12)

plus on the street heat soak is a very real factor. A cold dyno run of 500+RWHP means **** on the street. After blowers get hot they get heat soaked and lose a lot of efficiency. A 500+RWHP cobra at my track looses 3-4 tenths as the blower gets heat soaked. So on the street a car that runs the same hot as it does cold will fare very well against a power adder car that is heat soaked. Which is why i love my little c5 that runs within 8 hundredths run to run (back to back).

Dave

QuickBowtie

I got a buddy with a stock 03 cobra,when my car was stock, i raced him. He blew my doors. His car is still stock and mine sure as hell isnt. If i had a 12 bolt, a clutch and some drag radials, i'd race him. Hell, i probably beat him. Remember, blowers make good power up top, but medium size cams make great power all through-out the power band. 03 cobras are awesome cars, but i'd rather spray mine .

TT_Vert

iTrader: (12)

by me, 99% of the modded cobras go low 12 at best. The one I speak of has run a best of 12.1@113 but after a few runs hes 12.3-12.5s. He dyno'd over 500 RWHP has BFG drag radials and cuts 1.7 60' times. Im at byron usually once a month but lately once a week and i've seen quite a few of em. Was at GLD too a while back and same thing. But their track is a skating rink.. Perhaps these are the exceptions to the norm, i dunno

Dave

AthensLS1

iTrader: (2)

"blowers make good power up top, but medium size cams make great power all through-out the power band."

450rwtq at 2400rpm is nothing to sneeze at. It really gets the car moving well and is great in traffic.

"99% of the modded cobras go low 12 at best"

Yeah, he has no intention of making this car a track *****. I don't blame him. My car was a track ***** and I broke 5 rears and am on my 4th clutch. The car is also a rattle box compared to his newer car.

"plus on the street heat soak is a very real factor"

Yep, he took me for a ride right after his 3 hour drive and then took me for a ride later when the car was nice and cool on the way downtown. The later wot runs were even more dramatic than the first and the first ones were amazing.

Right now, I'd rather have a daily driver that runs really strong on the street as opposed to a car that 60's like a mother but only traps 110mph or so. I bet his car would trap in the 117-118mph range which isn't too shabby for $1500 in mods or so. It's more fun on the daily commute and you'll win more races on the street since you can't guarantee racing from a dig 100% of the time. When he does have to race from a stop then I don't see too many manual cars getting the jump on him with those big nittos and all that torque. A4's with big stalls are a different ballgame of course.

Maybe it's time to take out a student loan and invest in a cam, decently priced heads, some more fuel, and a tnt kit.

King02SS

Could do cam only. Do a t-rex and you won't even need heads. Or tsp's "magic stick". That alone should be easy 11s on stock suspension with some drag radials. You'll need a nasty stall and some gears though. I would just go with like a 3500 stall and spray a 150 shot if it was me. Geez I'm tired and bored can you tell lol.

S8ER95Z

iTrader: (3)

Hell I must know almost all the cars that make up the other 1% by now!! Ive seen a few

AthensLS1

iTrader: (2)

This Trex cam works without any cutting of the pistons? I don't remember the specs on it, but I remember that it's big.

DD966

iTrader: (3)

Are you trying to tell me that for $5000+/- I can't bolt-on a kick-***, 500+hp, supercharger? Now who's being unrealistic?