kn7671

Just curious how owners of Mustang Cobras from 1996-2001 feel?

Since the Cobra's came with the 300hp DOHC 4V 4.6L engine, and since you paid a premium for the Cobra's, how does it make you feel knowing that the base 2005 Mustang GT will come with a 4.6L 3V 300hp+ engine that is just as powerful, if not more, than the 1996-2001 Cobra's?

I know Ford never promised that the Cobra's would always be the top dog , but it seems to me that if you are going to market and sell a higher HP special edition model in limited numbers, then the base model should not have ever come close to treading on Cobra territory. I'm sure this is why Ford dumped the '02 Cobras offshore, and made the '03-'04 Cobras have a 90hp+ jump. They wanted Cobra owners to feel they had something special.

Food for thought, enjoy!

crazyhorse

Cars will always evolve into better vehicles. The Cobra owners of those years paid close to what the GT will be stickering for. The '93 Cobra had about 260hp. My '79 Cobra had 140 hp, should we limit the GT to 120?

to limit the current GT because of the Cobra of years ago would be silly. As long as the Cobra grows with it.

05Pony

If the case you are making is that ford should never creep up on the cobra's then where would the improvements come from? The exterior and interior are greatly improved but as a customer I would expect performance improvement as well. The people with the older cobras should not expect ford to say well we made a 300 hp cobra so our 05 mustang must remain less than that. They should be happy because the new cobra should have 400+ hp at least.
Just my $.02 ^_^

Eric B

I own a 98 Cobra Convertible and have no problem with this at all. It's part of the rat race, there will always be a more powerful car in the future. Actually the Mach 1 already touched the old Cobra values, so nothing new here. And besides I don't really consider a Cobra to be anything more than a Mustang with a bigger engine, some tweaks and a nicer front bumper cover. It's basically the same car, with the same lame hiney suspension and brakes that are slightly less worse than the GT ones. The fact that they limit production has more to do with lack of sales potential than with keeping it exclusive I think. A Ford GT is exclusive, a Cobra isn't. If you want one you can buy one almost anywhere.

98GT

In comparison, when I got my 98 GT the HP rating was 225 and I got it late in the model year only to find out a few months later that the 99 Gt was rated at 260. :bang: Big difference in HP. I remember the Cobras in 98 were going at 260 HP.

Boomer

They still own a SVT cobras, and will still have less of them on the road, and keep their price/value, compared to the lowly 05 GT, more power or not.

Ask Mach1 owners how they feel about a car that has close to the same power, and better handling for cheaper....same deal....
They have a limited edition car.

You pay for that right.

Powerwise, I'd HOPE that they keep rising to keep up with competition.
Cobra's are still kickin

bullittman

Tell you what, I owned a 96 Cobra for 5 years......If the 05 runs as good as that car I'll be REAL happy! Those cars loved to rev and felt great !

adrenalin

I agree with all of the replies. FORD would not limit the hp on the newer models just to keep previous model owners happy. My 97 GT has 225 HP, which, is no longer impressive when you find out that the V6 is now packing 200HP. My 77 Cobra (long gone) was fast in its day but now would have a hard time racing a cavalier Z24.

Boomer

Adrenalin...don't you know CavalierZ24s can beat anything????
Cobra's, Vipers, Maclaren F1s...you name it.
hehehe

Not saying that some mustang owners are any better with their stories sometimes, but I mean...comeon...JBody owners are in a different reality

André

Personally I think this HP race is overkill.
When is it going to be enough ?
...as the F bodies proved you can win this battle and lose the war. Almost all mustang owners (including GTs) really don't care much about drag racing and quarter mile times, they are more concerned with comfort, ride and handling, quality, reliability and so on... of course you can't be against better technology and the new 4.6L does offer that !

adrenalin

Ya my 95 Z24 kicked butt, then again I wanted my 05 GT license plate to read "IEATRICE"

Purple Hayz

I see where you are going with this, but I agree with what most folks are saying. It's cool to compare the Mustang GT and the Cobra, but only "within" a given model year, NOT across them. :nono: Think about it. There would be no end to the debate. A 96 corvette owner might be furious to learn that a 2004 300C could smoke him, but then again Chrylser didn't have a 340hp V8 in 1996. I imagine that upcoming 05 Mustang owners might be a littlle peeved if they took a glance through the crystal ball and saw a 2008 Five Hundred with 300hp ("Gee now a family sedan makes as much power as my mustang!" @#%^ ) Doesn't mean that Ford is screwing us over now. Quite the contrary. They are offering a powerful car at a given price point, at a given time, just as they did with every 96-01 Cobra.

The point is, all models will evolve over time. You should only expect folks to complain if the relative WITHIN year differences are uninpressive (meant: 1999 MY Cobra owners.....ouch!). The Cobras were pretty competitive in their day. The current 390 hp versions are equally competitive (if not more so) relative to the current competition (vettes, goats, f-bodies etc). I have no doubt that when the new Cobra comes out, it will be superior to the current GTs AND competitive with its cross-town rivals.

One final counterpoint. Did you ever consider that 96 Cobra owners might in fact be PROUD, knowing that their cars would still be relatively fast almost 10 years later?

mr-mstng

Somewhere around 500 hp I think is the practical limit before the gov't and insurance companies start taking notice. Above that, (unless you're dealing with an untra rare and expensive exotic), the auto manufacturers will be getting unwanted attention from wacko advocacy and consumers groups with their own agendas.

jgsmuzzy

I am actually suprised that the environmental groups aren't already kicking up a massive storm (or perhaps they are and I am not hearing about it).

My V6 gets howls of derision from some quarters about the amount of fossil fuel used, but I am thick skinned and couldn't care what they think!!

A high profile environmentalist here recently took a plane ride to somewhere in Europe. As far as I know, a large car with 4 occupants uses less fuel per passenger that a 737 does. Stupid environmentalist ! :bang:

69Mach1

even though the new mustang put out 300hp now what are the latest cobras putting out? cant compare new to old. look at like 80s ferraris and stuff like that. they didnt put out that much hp back then either, is a mustang better than a ferrari now?

crazyhorse

Somewhere around 500 hp I think is the practical limit before the gov't and insurance companies start taking notice. Above that, (unless you're dealing with an untra rare and expensive exotic), the auto manufacturers will be getting unwanted attention from wacko advocacy and consumers groups with their own agendas. [/b][/quote]
Yes, actually Coletti was recently quoted saying we had reached the limit (in reference to the 500 hp mark). He was saying the next Lightning will gain performance through weight saving parts rather than more HP.

Dr Iven

Yeah, weren't the late-80's Vettes only putting out 190 hp? I bet those guys are so angry about the C6 that they've decided to grow their mullets out some more. I'm sure everyone that owns a '96 Cobra now hates their car because a GT that is NINE years newer can keep up with it.

Just like guys with '80s Stang hatchbacks are p.o.'d that the new design looks so nice. Please.

If you think of buying a Mustang because you believe all other Mustangs to follow will be inferior, you should probably buy a Camaro. They won't get much better than a 2002 SS.

snkbtn99

No problems here at all. It only makes me look forward to adding a 3rd pony to my stable when the new SVT comes out ....

f e r

96-98 Cobras were rated @ 305HP I think. And SVT Cobra owners won't feel bad or anything about the new GT, they got already a beautiful hand built car/motor on their possesions. B)

f e r

Evil_Capri

96-98 Cobras were rated @ 305HP I think. And SVT Cobra owners won't feel bad or anything about the new GT, they got already a beautiful hand built car/motor on their possesions. B)

f e r [/b][/quote]
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