My Best Buddy Bought a '99 SVT Cobra!
 

It's a pretty car, convertible and all. Low mileage from Florida. I'm happy for him because his last Stang was stolen so he's been 2 years without a toy.

Anyway, looking at the specs on this car I think he's got something to run with me in the 1/4 mile. I know it's been discussed here before but I can't remember what the concensus was. I've got a '95 LT1 ZF6 stock (Corsa in the spring), the Stang is a '99 SVT Cobra Vert - stock. From what I read, he's got the HP advantage, I've got a good torque advantage. Weight is about the same, I've got the rear gear advantage. I've also got a rear tire contact patch advantage.

So, has anyone lined up with one of these at the track? Just how fast are they?

:cheers:

You should easily beat him at the track. Those Cobra's are a bit heavy and never ran what the HP would suggest. Most of my friends have mustangs and I have owned many as well, the 96-02 Cobras were not fast at all. Now the 03-04's are very quick. You should be in the low 13's in the 1/4, he will be in the very upper 13's.

Plus its a convertible Cobra. Real world weight around 3600 I think. No threat. You should win. Ford over rated the engines in some of the early Cobra's, claiming 330hp (?) but I don't think many owners were seeing that on dyno runs. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember such.

My guess is you'll take him, the convert is heavy and flexes worse than the vette will with the roof bolted in, I drove a hardtop Cobra and 94 6 speed Vette back to back both stock, I decided right there I was buying a Vette, no comparison.

I agree with those above, You have a several hundred lb weight advantage, more hp more tq... Not saying they are slow, just not up with your vette. Should still be fun to race as you should win every time even if you mess up your launch a little.

hp on those is 320 from the factory. They usually dyno in the 270-275rwhp range. Being that its a vert, your weight advantage is huge (300-400lbs). The DOHC Cobras respond very well to bolt-ons..... I've seen many run low to mid 12's with bolt-ons (pulleys, headers, x-pipe, catback exhaust, gears). I have a friend that runs 12.7's@108 on drag radials in his 99 Cobra. It dyno'd at 310rwhp / 309 rwtq.

friends don't let friends buy FORDS what kind of a friend are you ??? Gosh... just playin.
You should toast him easy. I think those ran low 14's high 13's. If you are a good driver he'll see nothing but your back side.

Hey, thanks to all for the info. I'm waiting for the Spring to get a ride in it. Curious as to how it compares to my car. I've never been in a Stang that I liked before but this one has nice independant rear suspension. We'll see.

Keep in mind it's a Ford :smash:

Solid axle :ack:

It has IRS :rolleyes:

99' Cobra was the focus of a owner based complaint that the car did not put the advertised 320 HP. For recalled all the cars and fixed it by adding mufflers and intake manifolds.


For a interesting read, check this out.

http://www.blueovalnews.com/lawsuit_ford/

oh, my mistake
i thought the earliest cobras didnt have it

but still

mustang :ack:

Which would be from 93-98.

You couldn't talk him out of it??
 

Friends don't let friends drive F***'s.

On the serious side. Competition between the 2 of you will depend upon the driver. If you know your car and know how to drive it well, you will have the edge on the track.

Advantages for you

Weight

HP if running well

Traction

Torque on the bottom end.

RELIABILITY

Cons...

Trunk and passenger space

umm