Steve

Remember - don't shoot the messenger because of the message. I was just told this just moments ago and wanted to pass it on.

From an extremely reliable inside source at SVT (who is best friends with my sister's husband), this is supposedly the gospel of a lot of what we will see in the new Cobra. This car is already scheduled to debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January of 2006 with delivery available in mid (May/June) 2006 as a MY2007. Prototypes that are on the streets today are almost indistinguishable from other SN197's other than tires and exhaust note. There are a couple using unorthodox hood arrangements but these are supposedly not the cars with the drivetrains we will see. Here is what I was told will be the heart and soul of the next Cobra. Time will tell...

Motor: 5.4 Supercharged, 3 valve heads (with HUGE valves), forged internals similar to the 4.6 (Crank, rods, etc), modestly rated (under rated actually) ~465 HP/495 lb ft Torque, using a twin screw S/C similar to that on the Ford GT but pullied differently, hence the lower HP. This motor was supposedly made official (in house only) just in the last few days. It will NOT be rated the equal or even close HP-wise as the Ford GT exotic for exclusivity reasons. It will have more restrictive intake/exhaust systems than the Ford GT which is partly to blame for the lower performance numbers. Also, a cold air induction system will purportedly being looked at as an option but may be standard if it can get past the bean counters.

Transmissions: 6 speed manuals standard with a heavy duty 5 speed auto (the tranny used on the Ford Superduty but programmed/geared differently) as an option in late '07 or the '08 M/Y.

Suspensions: A re-engineered, heavy duty IRS will be an option with a modified 3 link/panhard bar-live axle setup as the standard rear axle. SVT will be going for the Road Race buyer as well as the straight line racer with both axles optional. However, the Axle options are not set in stone as of the moment but look highly likely to be approved. The Cobra will be lowered about 1.5" from a stock GT.

Bodywork: The retro theme will continue with a serious nod to the '67 Shelby. The fenders may be flared more than the standard '05 but that is not for certain as of now. The ducktail will be factory installed. Also, no convertible is planned for now but no reason was given other than concerns over chassis reliability due to the torque volume.

According to "John Doe" (he does not want to get 'relieved' of his assignment), only 3 of the Cobra protos built so far have the S/C'd 5.4 in them. There are actually 6 or 7 on the streets now, not all at the same time but there are similarly painted versions of different cars. There are also supposed to be three Protos with 6+ liter motors in them, 2 with blowers, one that is N/A but these will not be used in the next generation Cobra.

Supposedly, the 6+ Liter motors (he does not know the precise specs on them) are a Hurricane based engine with radical camming and a "first for Ford style of fuel delivery." I have no idea what he means by that and he would not elaborate to my sister either - apparently he was only repeating what he was told.

Tires: Alledgedly, the 5.4 S/C'd cars are running 315's on the rears, 275's on the fronts using 18" rims. Similar setups are on the other Protos. However, the 315's may only be optional with 295's being the standard fare.

Performance: The 5.4 S/C'd cars have been clocked in the very low 12's (12.10-12.25) in the quarter at nearly 120 mph and have been traction limited, according to "John". They are also supposedly able to pull over 1 G in handling.

Per "John", SVT is also adding enormous brakes and will be using an air cooled Intercooler, opting away from the water cooled version used previously due to reliability concerns (?). Other touches will possibly include some form of active/adjustable suspension as an option but he did not know much about it.

Supposedly, we should expect a price to be in the very high $30k range (base price - 6 speed, live axle, base tire/wheel combos) according to his sources in the know.

Also - prototype Mach 1's are also on the streets. These are supposedly running N/A'd 5.4's, tuned for 370hp with the 6 speed transmissions for now and debate still ongoing about which auto to use. None of the proto Mach's are running the Shaker hood to keep them cloaked to spying eyes. This car is supposed to appear for the '06 M/Y with some final tweaking to be set in stone by Jan/Feb 2005.

"John Doe" is considered to be an extremely reliable source. He said that Ford will rely heavily on already built/designed components rather than exotic pieces.

He also said that Ford is hoping to stymie the rumored F-body's comeback sales numbers with more powerful engines in the V6/GT Mustang in M/Y 2007 cars, perhaps as high as 20% increases in HP/Torque with 10-12% increases in fuel economy. If true, we could be seeing 320/325 HP GT's in 2007! Purportedly, GM is planning to use detuned LS2's in the F-bodies and Ford wants to head them off early with upgraded 3v motors.

I believe this info to be highly accurate based upon the source.

mustangfun101

You are going to get alot of non-believers but we'll see what the future holds, I'll hold my opinion until I see the official word. Thanks for the post though, it's nice to start dreaming. Besides, the info you got could change by that time.

ov3n

Hmm.... Direct injection maybe?

captin kapla

If Ford is going to build the awesome Shelby GR-1 after production of the new Ford GT is done in a few years, then will have to put some distance between it and the upcoming SVT Cobra.

Ford would like to amortize costs from the Ford GT so they might make the Shelby GR-1. Also, Ford and Carroll Shelby renewed their partnership last year.

With a supercharger and with that much power, it would take a few mods to catch a Shelby GR-1 with its 605 hp V-10.


Read these two great articles.

http://www.motorsportscenter.com/article_276.shtml


http://www.motorsportscenter.com/article_444.shtml

PaulF

Great info, Steve!

Wow, this makes me really happy...the only question that I have here is the 370 hp....doesn't that seem a little out of line with the last edition of the Mach I? Because I thought the hp difference between the last GT and Mach was only something like 10-15hp? Even with a 325hp GT, that's a pretty good jump.

Not that I'm complaining or doubting your source!

VERY cool that they are looking to release the Mach I in '05 for the '06MY....Gonna have to start really saving my pennies now!

dannygat

there will be no mach 1 they are over it and want to make all the other se's, there may be a boss or a shelby but i dout any more mach's

Steve

Well, again - this is supposedly from the inside but it is not based on any hard evidence that I have in hand.

Yet.

Time will tell and even if only half of it is true, the next Cobra will be an awesome car!

As far as the Mach (or whatever they name the next S/E) goes, I DO think we will see that. And I do not think the rumored 370 hp is going to be far off.

PaulF

Hey, trust me, I'm hoping you're right!

Dumb question....what's the difference that seperates a Boss from a Mach I? Just Hp? Because honestly, they could boost the HP on an '05 and tweak it a little and slap any badging on it. Is there something specific that seperates these two models?

Sorry for the SuperNoob question...

dannygat

i think you are basically right, but i think the mach's have the shaker hoods

Steve

Well, the Shaker hood wasn't Mach specific in the '60's and early '70's. Boss's could have them as well as some other models, dependent upon the motor selected. So, really, they could put a Shaker on anything if they want to be retro-ish OR, they could leave them off entirely and either way, call it a Boss or a Mach or even a new name.

But from what I was told, it appears we'll see a higher horsepowered S/E of some name within the next several months and it will somewhat mirror the shaker hooded Mach's we saw in '03 and '04.

That would be GREAT!

:dance:

PaulF

Ok, I stopped being so lazy and did a web search for the '69 302 Boss Mustang

Looks like there was a Boss AND a Mach I version of the car in '69 and '70. The Boss seemd to have two different engines in '69 (302 at 290 hp and the 429 375 ho) while the Mach I came with an optional 3 engines (351 at 250 hp, 390 at 320 hp and the 428 at 335 hp)

So I would think that if Ford was to stick to tradition, the Boss and Mach I versions would BOTH be released, with the Boss being having slightly more hp. So you'd have a line up of something like:

Mustang V6
Mustang GT
Mustang Mach I
Mustang Boss

All for '06MY....then, I would assume, the SE versions would drop off for the '07MY when the Cobra comes out....

But then again, you know what happens when you assume...

WERKED 66

when the were made back in the late 60`s early 70`s you knew which car was which completely diffrent styles simular in some way but not exact



70 mach 1'




70 boss

PaulF

I LOVED that hood! I test drove a Black/Charcoal '04 Mach I last year and liked driving that a whole lot more than the Cobra, for some reason. Anyway, from a looks standpoint, the hood really hooked me.

Problem being....the wife didn't like it. At all.

Oh well, she just won't have to drive it! She can keep my '00 'Stang.

PaulF

Gotta love that Boss logo on the side in that picture....looks cool on the '05 in some of those photochops as well.

jgsmuzzy

Steve,

Thanks for the info, 465hp

dannygat

"Motor: 5.4 Supercharged, 3 valve heads (with HUGE valves), forged internals similar to the 4.6 (Crank, rods, etc), modestly rated (under rated actually) ~465 HP/495 lb ft Torque, using a twin screw S/C similar to that on the Ford GT but pullied differently, hence the lower HP. This motor was supposedly made official (in house only) just in the last few days. It will NOT be rated the equal or even close HP-wise as the Ford GT exotic for exclusivity reasons. It will have more restrictive intake/exhaust systems than the Ford GT which is partly to blame for the lower performance numbers. Also, a cold air induction system will purportedly being looked at as an option but may be standard if it can get past the bean counters."
It will definatly not have a motor that can even be compaired to the GT motor... the GT motor is all new as in the 5.4 block is not even the same block ford used in the F150's, and plus that motor with blower retails for $45k, much more then the entire new cobra will be

Robert

I'm not disputing the facts stated here, but remember, HTT was very clear when he stated that the Mach 1 had "been done" and they were looking at doing other special edtion models. I hope it's true...and I hope they do a Mach 1 in Redfire.

I DO hope that they don't use the same puny shaker scoop on this new car, though - the hood is too big. Something like the scoops on the '71 Mach 1's would rule, though! The concept scoops would be great, too...though I think somehow they will be reserved for the Cobra (since they're so similar to the 1967 Shelby that they claim to want to emulate).

Also, as to the Cobra, Motor Trend (or was it C&D) stated in an article this month - VERY specifically - that the next Cobra would appear in late '05 as an '06 MY. It also seems that if they're this far along in testing that they wouldn't need two more years to bring it to market.

Again, I mention that for what it's worth.

Now back to the (hopefully) awesome news: '06 Mach 1...YAY!!

Oh, yeah, and Mr. Ford, could we get some hood latches on those Mach 1's please...?

crazyhorse

Well Steve, I, too, hope your info is reliable. It is mostly in line with what other rumors and expectations have been given on the Cobra.

But, in the year and half I have been on this board I have seen numorous "reliable sources from my sister's husband's best friend." Often they turn out untrue or at the least distorted. A prime example is when the recent rumors floated that SVT was closing down and we all needed to send faxes to keep them from killing the Cobra. Another one about a year ago was that the 4.6 engine would not allow mods because of the computer system.

The only thing that does not seem right about this is the "optional this" and "optional that" on the Cobra. The SVT has always been a basically optionless car. Colors and spoiler delete were about it. My personal opinion is that if it has an auto, it will be SMG. We saw pictures of an SMG prototype in an SN-95 mustang about a year ago.

Again, I hope you are right and want to believe your source. Don't be surprised, however, to get numorous "BS" posts. I hope you prove them wrong in January at NAIAS.

crazyhorse

As far as Mach vs Boss. The Mach was more of a straight line performer and Boss more of a road race car. There has been a lot of speculation on this board about what each would be like in its modern day form. I don't know if it were on this board or on the one we had before the big crash in Jan. last year. Search around, you might find some interesting ideas.

I personally doubt both would exist in the same year. SEs appeal to a limited market. Having both would be too costly for less return.

Topnotch

There will be a convertible....The 05 convertible body is more structurally sound than a fox body with full roll cage!