03/04 Cobra Terminator

[Husqy510]

Anyone here ever own one? I'm looking for a new car to play around with and I've always loved the look and sound of these. I've had multiple fox bodies and currently own a 2015 GT, but I don't know too much about the Terminator

 

[Runs2rch]

Helping a buddy get his ready for state ref. They were great for the time. Made 600/585 with a 2.3 Whipple. Pulling the longtubes, along with every other non 50 state part.

IRS cradle in a car not designed for IRS doesn't work that well. They need a Delrin kit, and full suspension to work well.

I had an 04. Made 485 rwhp with just a 2.76 upper.

They are fun. I think a Coyote platform is much better though. 03/04 Cobra is a basically a Fox body with a heavy ass IRS shoved under it

 

[Deception88]

I had an 03 Cobra with a 2.2 Kenne Bell 620rwhp. IRS needs the delrin bushings if you are keeping it or swap to a Single axle.

Also depending on the year you could have bad heads. I kept blowing spark plugs out of the head and had to helicoil pretty much all of them lol. I think mid 03 onwards have the updated heads.

I loved that car, wish I didn’t sell it.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

I had an 04.

Good cars, but basically a fast ‘78 Fairmont. They were archaic lol.

Pretty bulletproof but you need to run a conservative tune if you mod them. The factory piston to wall clearance was really tight, and will scuff a piston of you really beat on the car with a poor tune.

Mine was setup for road course duty. Custom coil overs, Brembo brakes, full Maximum Motorsports package, Delrin IRS, diff and subframe bushings.

They will wheelhop with the stock suspension, and need a diff girdle. They will break the rear diff cover if you wheel hop them hard enough, so the girdle or upgraded rear cover is cheap insurance.

I had a fully ported stock blower and intake with a 3.1 upper pulley, made 485 to the tires with very little boost and low intake temps.

I ran that setup so it would not overheat or pull timing on the road course.

Also the diffs run really hot if you run them hard on the track.

 

[ToMorrow44]

I’ve always wanted one in Sonic Blue. Hard to find and they definitely hold their value well. It was this article that got me interested in them, fairly easy to make power with them. Although 690hp doesn’t sound like a lot anymore...
https://m.facebook.com/notes/mustang/horse-power-fords-690-hp-svt-mustang-cobra/403886741237/

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

I’ve always wanted one in Sonic Blue. Hard to find and they definitely hold their value well. It was this article that got me interested in them, fairly easy to make power with them. Although 690hp doesn’t sound like a lot anymore...
https://m.facebook.com/notes/mustang/horse-power-fords-690-hp-svt-mustang-cobra/403886741237/

690 HP and 690 in a modern car are 2 different things.

A 690 HP Cobra will absolutely smoke a Hellcat or other 700 HP modern muscle car from a roll. but you will need drag radials to get it to hook up. It is 500+ lbs lighter, and the gearing is more aggressive.

Keep in mind, there is no stability control and rudimentary traction control that was useless, so you wanted it disabled anyway.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

690 HP and 690 in a modern car are 2 different things.

A 690 HP Cobra will absolutely smoke a Hellcat or other 700 HP modern muscle car from a roll. but you will need drag radials to get it to hook up. It is 500+ lbs lighter, and the gearing is more aggressive.

Keep in mind, there is no stability control and rudimentary traction control that was useless, so you wanted it disabled anyway.

Maybe.... If you did a shit load of other mods to it as well. Also, 690hp is almost double what it made stock.

I would love to see that race though cause I bet dollars to doughnuts the modern car smokes the Terminator.

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[LargeOrangeFont]

Maybe.... If you did a shit load of other mods to it as well. Also, 690hp is almost double what it made stock.

I would love to see that race though cause I bet dollars to doughnuts the modern car smokes the Terminator.

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Power to weight is an actual thing.

It’s not going to beat a 700 HP Corvette.

It’s going to beat ZL1 Camaros, Hellcats, CTSVs GT500s etc. The modern muscle cars are all much heavier. It is sad that we are now calling a 3600 mustang relatively light lol.

It is a handful to drive at that power level. Again, nothing like a modern 700 HP car.

My 475 HP RX7 was faster than my 560 HP Terminator, which was faster than my 625 HP CTSV.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Power to weight is an actual thing.

It’s not going to beat a 700 HP Corvette.

It’s going to beat ZL1 Camaros, Hellcats, CTSVs GT500s etc. The modern muscle cars are all much heavier. It is sad that we are now calling a 3600 mustang relatively light lol.

It is a handful to drive at that power level. Again, nothing like a modern 700 HP car.

My 475 HP RX7 was faster than my 560 HP Terminator, which was faster than my 625 HP CTSV.

Oh I know. And around a track it's even more noticable. But with the new technology in modern cars and the much improved drivetrains with far more efficient and quicker shifting transmissions as well as better aero negate a lot of that weight difference in a straight line.

I'm just saying I think a 03/04 mustang with 690 horsepower is gonna have a hard time running 10's without current tech as well.

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[LargeOrangeFont]

Oh I know. And around a track it's even more noticable. But with the new technology in modern cars and the much improved drivetrains with far more efficient and quicker shifting transmissions as well as better aero negate a lot of that weight difference in a straight line.

I'm just saying I think a 03/04 mustang with 690 horsepower is gonna have a hard time running 10's without current tech as well.

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We were running mid/low elevens in terminators with 550 HP 15 years ago.

They are sticks unless you swap them, so you have to drive them, and you need good tires for traction, they had horrible traction control.

It is a Fox body mustang underneath.... everyone has had them figured out for 30 years. I can build a Fox body for about 10-12 grand that will run 10s.

 

[Runs2rch]

We were running mid/low elevens in terminators with 550 HP 15 years ago.

They are sticks unless you swap them, so you have to drive them, and you need good tires for traction, they had horrible traction control.

It is a Fox body mustang underneath.... everyone has has them figured out for 30 years. I can build a Fox body for about 10-12 grand that will run 10s.

Exactly. Knew a guy Dave that went by Pmachy on the forums. His Cobra made 456 rwhp. Upper only all suspension. On ET streets at LACR I watched him rip off a 10.86 pass. He could flat out row a T56.

People don't get just how fast an 03/04 Cobra can be. Plenty of 2.3 cars making high 600's to the ground on pump reliably. My buddies car is set up like yours was. Super safe for road course action.

I used to love stomping on old dudes in Vipers and Vets. In the Lightnings were the best. No one ever suspected a mid 11 second street truck.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Lol I remember Pmachy.

 

[Runs2rch]

Lol I remember Pmachy.

Back in the SocalTerminator days haha.

 

[EBT531]

Basically what everyone else said. Swap to a solid axle or do a bushing kit etc. to the rear or it'll hop. Otherwise a fun car thats probably pretty affordable now

 

[sintax]

Power to weight is an actual thing.

haha quote of 2019

 

[sintax]

In the Lightnings were the best. No one ever suspected a mid 11 second street truck.

except the dudes in Sy's who hunted them to death. Lots of hurt feelings in that first 660'

 

[pronstar]

If only today’s power gains didn’t come with the weight penalty.

This thread brings back some good memories of getting power out of Ford mod motors.

My ‘97 5.4L expedition had a P1-SC Procharger, 11.5 psi.
318 hp / 410 lb-ft at the wheels.

V8 trucks today make more power (wheels or crank) without forced induction.


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[4Waters]

Exactly. Knew a guy Dave that went by Pmachy on the forums. His Cobra made 456 rwhp. Upper only all suspension. On ET streets at LACR I watched him rip off a 10.86 pass. He could flat out row a T56.

People don't get just how fast an 03/04 Cobra can be. Plenty of 2.3 cars making high 600's to the ground on pump reliably. My buddies car is set up like yours was. Super safe for road course action.

I used to love stomping on old dudes in Vipers and Vets. In the Lightnings were the best. No one ever suspected a mid 11 second street truck.

That's a low 10 twenties- high 10 teens at Bakersfield easily, if the conditions are right it could run 10.0's. I had a buddy that picked up 9 tenths going from LACR to Bakersfield back to back weekends.

 

[BONER]

I used to love stomping on old dudes in Vipers and Vets. In the Lightnings were the best. No one ever suspected a mid 11 second street truck.

I used to smash street bikes in mine. This was the end goal, and motivation behind the Build:

 

[BONER]

I worked on Termi's for awhile when I was turning wrenches at a Mustang Shop. Cool Cars for sure. As mentioned they do wheel hop but alot of work arounds. Whipple makes bolt on Kits for just about any power you want.

If I were to build one, I'd put a nice Rotating Assembly in it set up loose to rev, a Valvetrain to support 8k RPM's, 4.0L or bigger Whipple, and a face plated TKO600 5 spd. I personally would keep the IRS and build it accordingly. And HRE Wheels are must. They look so sexy.

 

[spectras only]

haha quote of 2019

You can add HP/Ton

My buddy's Noble M400, 2350 lbs , 450HP vs my Viper, 3200lbs 450HP

 

[spectras only]

My son's 03 Cobra