forget the gto, its the evo matters

[bigmr2]

Really now, all this talk about the GTO and it is the little Japanese EVO that pulls o to 60 in 4.7 seconds and 4.2 with $1500.00 in mods, 72 gs on the skidpad and insane slalom times (bettered only by the Viper and Porsche Turbo).

All for under $30,000.00. Now please someone help me, this car has gotten me pretty depressed because I thought I had the best bang for buck in history. Maybe the Cobra is the optimal balance of street, track and strip.

I mean $4000.00 in well placed mods (kenne bell mainly) can net me 600 plus HP--and I would suppose lower 1/4 miles.

Really, forget the GTO. Its not GM that anyone has to worry about for the money. Tell me all why the Cobra is a superior sports car to the EVO.

[Sixgun]

You get more chicks with a Cobra!:)

[Banshee365]

Because you're driving american muscle. The evo may be fast but I would much rather be in a Cobra any day, even a stock one. There's not like having twice as many cylinders to listen to, and a blower...

-Kelly

[HAGREEN]

jeez. it is a rice burner!!

[1CEBITN]

The Cobra will do 4.7 0-60 or better with a good driver, and with $1500 in mods, it can turn 11s in the quarter with 450 at the wheels. The Evo can't match that, nor can it match the top end of the Cobra. By the way, I paid less for my Cobra brand new with 16 miles on it than I could have gotten an Evo for. Bang for the buck, I think the Cobra still wins.

[5.0 guy]

J-**** or American muscle?, no comparison!

[jboselly]

The Evo is one horrendously ugly car, as with the Wrx Sti. The Cobra goes fast and looks good doing it. Also, the import car scene is a fad that will more than likely go away in a few years when the kids driving those vehicles grow up and develop taste. Mustangs have been around for almost 40 years.

[HAGREEN]

does that evo have dual fart cans?

[DaleM]

Never trust a car that you need to grease your body up to fit in the driver seat! p.s. wheres the torque!

[norcal_cobra]

Originally posted by jboselly
The Evo is one horrendously ugly car, as with the Wrx Sti. The Cobra goes fast and looks good doing it. Also, the import car scene is a fad that will more than likely go away in a few years when the kids driving those vehicles grow up and develop taste. Mustangs have been around for almost 40 years.

:( Unfortunately, I think you're wrong jboselly. Just as many of us grew up admiring and later owning American muscle cars, the next generation will do the same with the imports. Evidence that this is not just a passing fad is everywhere from the selection of mags at the newstand, to movies/TV, to high school parking lots. Heck, out here in CA I've been seeing these ricer rides on the streets for well over 10 years, fads never last that long. And the saddest thing about it is that the whole import scene is still on its' way up. Thank God my kid still wants to get a muscle car when he's old enough.

-norcal_cobra

[CGOESCHEL]

And remember........the guys doing 4.7 to 4.2 in the EVO's are dropping the clutch at around 5000 to 6000 to get those numbers. Just think of all the components that have to deal with that stress in a 4wd car. Not to mention the clutch in those cars is weak. My friend has a new one with a new downpipe and exhaust, chip etc. and I routinely wax his ass.

[bigmr2]

Its great to hear all this feedback. This just confirms that people with intelligence pick this ride. I had a rodded out MR2 for awhile and liked it, but I have always been obsessed with bang for the buck and prefer American rides. I also have an Alfa Romeo Spider (for the chicks--that is in my mind as I am happily married although my wife barely tolerates my cars). I lived in Japan and Italy, so its that kind of thing.

Anyway, my love of sports cars started with my first 5.0. After that car there was no turning back.

Now, what I would really like to know is this: is it possible that the Cobra is the best combo of street, track and strip car for the buck ever? That's a tall order, I know, but it is impossible for one car to be the best in absolutely everything. I know, for example, that there is a problem with wheel hop at the strip with the IRS, but a good driver can accomodate it. I also know that the mags raved about this car at the track for awhile. I also know that this car is amazing for add-ons and reliablility. I mean you just can't take many cars up to 500 hp at the rear wheels without having reliability issues very often, and with even 400 HP at the rear wheels you are talking about a serious drag car.

Does anyone have an opinion on this? For the record I have read about every article written on this car and I also read about 10 car magazines a month and keep a website on cars so I would like to compile a definitive description of the Cobra.

2003 Cobra Silver
BBK Long Tubes
Bassani X-pipe
Bassani cat-back
CAI
2.8 pulley
Autologic chip

More to come:
Possible gear change
Single blade throttle body
Sub-frame connectors
Kenne Bell (I will do this dammit. I will. I must have the most HP in the freakking world!! for the buck w/o NOS--just because the Cobra makes it possible.)

[1CEBITN]

Just FYI, I don't think Bassani makes a "shorty" X pipe. With the BBK LTs, you will have to buy a "shorty" type mid pipe to accomodate the longer headers. Also, with just those mods, you won't see much rwhp increase with either the LTs or the mid pipe on the 03 but I guess that depends on your definition of bang for the buck. You will get the biggest bang for the buck with just the catback and CAI/pulley combo. That alone will put you over 400 rwhp. Once you have the KB on the car, the mid pipe and LTs will probably help a little better though. If you are definitely going to do the KB, go ahead and do the full exhaust.

Don't mess with the gears, it is hard enough to keep the tires grabbing on the street stock, let alone as you add power. The throttle bodies don't seem to add much power either so save your money.

Think about it this way, instead of buying all the stuff on that list, you could just buy a KB blower, run less boost, and be well over 500 at the wheels with the stock cats on the car and that is just with the KB, CAI, chip, and catback (less than $5k total). The list of mods you propose would only put you around 450 rwhp (without the KB) and majorly overspin the Eaton creating excessive heat in the engine bay, making heat soak worse.

[OKC03Cobra]

Think about it this way, instead of buying all the stuff on that list, you could just buy a KB blower, run less boost, and be well over 500 at the wheels with the stock cats on the car and that is just with the KB, CAI, chip, and catback (less than $5k total). The list of mods you propose would only put you around 450 rwhp (without the KB) and majorly overspin the Eaton creating excessive heat in the engine bay, making heat soak worse.

You might want to wait for the new Procharger. From what I have read you can get the same rwhp with less boost.

[dennish]

There's too much room for opinion here. I sat in an EVO at the track and immediately ordered a Recaro seat for my Cobra.

The Recaro let my fat a$$ feel much better as well as offers a better position for controling the car.

The heritage of a Mustang is what's important here, not the curent list of available cars to choose from. I think WRX's are awesome, but I won't give the Japenese my money, much less any other country.....well,,,,,,if I had more, a lot more, I'd have to get a Ferrari, or a Mercedes, BMW, or sump'n...I don't know.

I am an American car buyer first though, I don't care how good the imports are, I would only do it for the finest if I had BIG MONEY. Especially since it costs BIG MONEY.

[ChicagoMike]

Sure the Evo will get traction off the line because of ALL WHEEL DRIVE.

The U.S. Spec version of the Evo has no ACD or AYC and clocks only 0-60 in around 5.1 seconds when you rev it near redline and drop the clutch. It's known that the transmission will only take several of these drops, and you can say good bye to your tranny and clutch. It's not good to do that in ANY car.

The Cobra will eat the Evo up at highway speeds. Plus the Cobra is a V8, the Evo is a 4 banger running EXCESSIVE amounts of boost. I'm willing to bet if you beat on both cars equally, the V8 engine will last longer.

Mike

[ken harkness]

I have raced my Cobra on several occasions on Road Coarses. Last summer, I was at California Speedway running a time trial. I was in the Novice class 3. I consider myself to be fairly quick, and have many mods (467RWHP). I was PASSED (only after 3-4 laps of tag) by a modded Evo on the tight California Road Coarse. Keep in mind, I was passing WAY more cars than were passing me, and was on the track with Ferrari's, Porchses, Z06's, GT's, other Cobras, and a myriad of other cars. I do NOT have slicks, and was running the stock F1's. Only three cars passed me all day in the 4 heats: one a Ferrari (modded and full cage w/ slicks), the Evo (with slicks), and a Porche. Make no mistake, these cars are fast in the turns, and all you guys who think it's all about HP will get your clock cleaned by much less powerful cars. If you don't think it can happen to you, get involved in racing, and you will see the light. Keep in mind, I stomped him on the straights, but he had R compound slicks, and was much quicker in the turns. Make no mistake, I plan to return next season with Kumho R compound slicks, my new Porterfield race brake pads with Motul fluid, and a Recaro for my 5-point harness which is required. I plan to inhale him and most others out there. Payback is a b*#^@h! I'll hope to drive by and say "You've been Terminated Girly Man". LOL.
:jawdrop:

[OKC03Cobra]

Originally posted by ken harkness
I have raced my Cobra on several occasions on Road Coarses. Last summer, I was at California Speedway running a time trial. I was in the Novice class 3. I consider myself to be fairly quick, and have many mods (467RWHP). I was PASSED (only after 3-4 laps of tag) by a modded Evo on the tight California Road Coarse. Keep in mind, I was passing WAY more cars than were passing me, and was on the track with Ferrari's, Porchses, Z06's, GT's, other Cobras, and a myriad of other cars. I do NOT have slicks, and was running the stock F1's. Only three cars passed me all day in the 4 heats: one a Ferrari (modded and full cage w/ slicks), the Evo (with slicks), and a Porche. Make no mistake, these cars are fast in the turns, and all you guys who think it's all about HP will get your clock cleaned by much less powerful cars. If you don't think it can happen to you, get involved in racing, and you will see the light. Keep in mind, I stomped him on the straights, but he had R compound slicks, and was much quicker in the turns. Make no mistake, I plan to return next season with Kumho R compound slicks, my new Porterfield race brake pads with Motul fluid, and a Recaro for my 5-point harness which is required. I plan to inhale him and most others out there. Payback is a b*#^@h! I'll hope to drive by and say "You've been Terminated Girly Man". LOL.
:jawdrop:

$2k in suspension mods will turn the 03 Cobra into a road course monster.

[rhorton]

I think it comes down to this, Style vs. new tradition!

What do you really want to do with the car?

I started with the import scene back in the 90's with civic's and integra's. Light cars with alot of boost! Oh, and every ricer has an import

The reason I went to the muscle scene, JUST PLAN HORSE POWER! With a cobra, your in a different class....

[ChicagoMike]

I'd like to add something else...

The Evo .. the Cobra ... the Subaru WRX STi ... the Corvette ... the Viper...

These are all wonderful cars. Some accelerate faster, some turn and stick like glue better, some have that killer AWD traction.

It's all per the driver, and per taste. Ok I'll admit that I don't like the Evo that much since the U.S. Spec is watered down. But all of these cars are race capable and have pros and cons.

[jboselly]

rhorton:

With looking at all your mods, I would think that there is just about nothing short of a jet that could keep up with you.