97GT03SVT

Yeah I heard that to put headers on, the whole motor has to come out of the car. i'm considering a whipple charger... but im not sure who streetible the car will be. My friend has a 600HP modded 02' Saleen S281 and it's hard to keep the thing on the road. I mean the car gets no traction whatsoever. I know this sounds crazy but the car really isnt fun to drive because its so hard to control the power. With that kinda power i'll probably have to go with a solid rear too. Right now i'm gonna hold off on any major mods for now and just go with an X-pipe and catback and start to stiffen the frame before any major power is added (this car is way to quiet)

97GT03SVT

Oh by the way our cars are twins, mine is Redfire too!

DrunkenDragon713

Anything over 450hp I'd get the solid rear axle. The IRS is garbage... Poor design slapped into a car not made for it. If you upgrade the bushings and weld a bracing to it, you'd be safe to the high 400s. When I buy my cobra, the first mod I'm doing is the axle swap, but I'll be keeping the IRS incase I ever sell the car. Be worth more stock than modded.

PearBear

I'm curious as to where you're getting your information, since you are woefully misinformed about the capabilities of the IRS in the 03 Cobra

Knight

I would agree the the IRS works just fine on much higher hp cars then 450hp.

Its not ideal if you were only worried about drag racing but nothing wrong with keeping the irs.

97GT03SVT

Yeah its not a track car, just a toy to drive 1 or two times a week in the summer so.... i'm not too worried about the IRS, but i must admit the wheel hop can get annoying (though a solid rear wheel hops too you will notice the irs does much more)

Valentino

MM sells complete delrin bushing sets that will eliminate most of the hop in your IRS. Don't swap to a solid axle and ruin the car unless you're only gonna drag it.

97GT03SVT

thanks for the info, i'll check it out

DrunkenDragon713

Also make sure you buy the correct size bolt. Ford puts a 7mm (i think) and the correct size should be 9mm. Nore sure about the exact sizes, but it's about a 2mm diffecence and it strengthens is a lot. Most of the torque goes through one small area and if it's not strong enough it'll tear apart the IRS. Make sure you get someone who's done this before to help you. Myself, and 2 buddies of mine spent 10 hours doing this to one. Granted we also welded 2 braces inside the wheel well, and replaced the mid-pipe, which took us about 2 hours.

Also, my information about the p.o.s. IRS comes from the several people I know that have had to replace it b/c of the wheel hop, before the bushing upgrade was available. Even with the stock power, the car can still tear that IRS up. It takes maybe about 2 hours longer to rip out the IRS and put in a live-axle, as it takes to upgrade the IRS. By putting the live-axle in, you'll have a lighter ride, and you won't have to worry about the IRS anymore. You'll sacrafice alittle ride quality, but the piece of mind is worth much more to me.

When I buy my cobra, the first mod I'm doing is taking out the IRS and putting in a live-axle. My plans are to make it into a 800hp beast, that is still street legal, so that IRS has to go. I'm going to keep all the stock parts, that way if I ever to decide to sell her, it'll be worth more if it's put back to near stock specs.

Valentino

They incorrectly installed 12mm bolts when they should have been 14mm. Search the user "postban" at SVTP, he installed a solid axle in his cobra and besides the worse ride he said it still wheel hopped. His second cobra he level 5'd the IRS and he's much happier with it. The solid axle isn't the answer to everything

PearBear

also for the record, my 06 wheelhopped just as bad as either of my cobras