'03's were rated at 305, '04's at 310

 

I'd go for the Mach. Also, 16,999 isn't bad. I paid $12,000 for a 2000 GT Vert with very low milage. Hostly, our opinions don't matter, it's all on what you like. Do you rather the cobra or the mach?

 

Well, basically, it is the Cobra engine. However, I remember reading somewhere that Ford used camshafts from the truck line to attain improved torque numbers (one of the main shortcomings of the Cobra 4V, IMHO). My choice would be the Mach, hands down!

 

Just a couple of things. One, the 04 Mach 1 was rated at the same 305hp 320tq as the 03 model. Find an 04 Mustang brochure and look it up. the "official" 305hp rating for both years was about 25-30hp lower than the actual number when owners put their cars on dynos. However, the automatic equipped Mach 1's were right around the 305-310hp range, so that might be the reason Ford rated them like they did.

The 32v motor in the 03/04 Mach 1 IS NOT the same motor that was used in the prior years Cobras! It was a new casting, done domestically as opposed to the Cobra Teksid block that was cast in Italy and assembled by hand at the Romeo Engine Plant. The Mach 1 engine was shared among the Mach 1, Mercury Marauder, and Lincoln Aviator SUV. It was designed with better heads (same as the 03/04 Cobra), and yes it does have cams from the Lincoln Navigator 5.4L to enhance the low end torque that was missing from the earlier Cobra 32v motors.

While the Mach 1 uses a 32v DOHC motor, it's suspension is very similiar, if not just about identical to the 2001 Bullitt GT, which dramatically alters it's road handling capabilities. It can go fast in a straight line, and it can hold its own on the curves. It's a pretty good overall package.

 

Having owned both an '03 & an '04 Mach I know my '03 was rated at 305 and when I bought the '04 it was rated at 310. This will back me up as it's from the Mach1 Registry.
http://www.mach1registry.org/forums/...&threadid=4529

 

Too funny! That thread from the Registry that you quote as gospel, it's my post that actually brings up the difference in horsepower ratings from 03 to 04 LOL!

The back story to that is this. For about a two week period in the late summer of 2003, Ford had put the news about the Mach 1 being produced again for 2004 out on their FordMedia web site. In the posting, they quoted the hp as 310 and the torque as 335. What they were doing was taking advantage of the fact that most 03 owners were getting considerably higher numbers than 305 when they got their cars on a dyno. Like I said, it only stayed up for about two weeks, and then it was changed back to 305hp and 325tq. But, in that two week period, a whole bunch of media outlets went with the numbers that were posted, and that's how that whole rumor got circulated. When the Mustang sales brochures for 2004 were printed up, again the horsepower and torque ratings were the same as they were in 2003, nothing had changed.

Now, if you think about it, no changes were made to the engines between model years that would have bumped the horsepower and torque numbers upward, if anything, they should have gone down a bit, since in 04 they went from 4-brick catalytic converters to 6-brick cats! The ECU was changed, but it seemed to be inferior to the one(s) used on the 03's, but I can't prove that claim one way or the other. They didn't paint the valve covers, and they eliminated the Shrader valve from the fuel rail, but they didn't up the compression, or alter the heads, or intake, or change the valves, cams, or pistons. So they didn't magically gain power from one year to the next.

 

Mach 1. Not sure what they were doing when they designed it...but they did it right. I think the Mach provides the best balance of looks and performance.

And for some reason...I cannot really accept the Cobra as a true Mustang. It was just so different. Just me I guess.

 

werd ....

 

NOT the same motor... two words for the uninformed "forged internals"

 

Mach, has a certain magic that the Cobra lacked.

 

Im not sure which car you are referring to as having forged internals. In comparison to the 2001 cobra and 2003/04 mach1, the motors are quite a bit alike. There are different head and cam profile configurations, but the lower end is pretty much the same. Cobra's had forged cranks as did manual tranny mach1's and the automatic mach1's had a cast crank.

 

buy both : ) unless the mach 1 is competition orange. then its the mach 1

 

Comp Orange is the best car color ever. When I saw mine on the lot I did what I had to do to get it in the garage!!!!!!

 

Mach 1. Any color. As long as it's a stick.

 

Mach 1-has a better torque curve, solid axle, and better heads (has 03-04 terminator heads)

 

What is "IRS"?

 

Independent Rear Suspension

As opposed to SRA. Solid Rear Axle.

 

Why was there no option on this thread to vote??

 

mach 1