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We ran the car the way we drove it to the track, on street tires and without even adjusting the air pressure—we wanted to get the real-world numbers, what it would run every day without special preparation.
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SNAKE CHARMER

A Cobra That Can Sweet-Talk Your Right Foot Into Anything, and Better Yet, It’s Not a Pretender

If there is such a thing as an ’03 Cobra sleeper, and we’re not sure there is, this car could easily fill that vacancy. For those who know their Mustangs, the front fascia, hood and rear spoiler are all signs that this is not a car to underestimate. But the ’03 Cobra, mighty as it is, isn’t invincible. So, if you’re prowling the streets or the track in some modded Mach or souped SS, you might see this car and assume you’ve got something for it. You don’t—Ford Racing made sure of that, throwing practically its entire catalog at this car. But if you bought the best Mustang available, and it still isn’t enough for you, Ford Racing has something for you—and this car is living proof.

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Will Smith

Story & Photography

The Interior is a Dream

As you open the door, it’s a tight fit between the assorted bolsters of the Cobra R seat and the steering wheel, but once you slide down into position, the seat caresses you and shows you more love than William Shatner at a sci-fi convention. If that seat doesn’t feel quite right, reach down by your left knee and drift back to memories of those Reebok pumps you wore in high school. A few squeezes and the seat hugs you even tighter. It wants to go for a ride, too, and it’s willing to do anything to get its way. The shifter is a Ford Racing Hurst piece, while the knob and boot are 10th-anniversary Cobra parts. Shifting action is satisfyingly methodical; it takes a little effort on the clutch and shifter, but every shift is solid and rewarding. It doesn’t take too long to learn, either, that skipping a gear during shifts can help, since this one is perfectly happy running in just about any gear at just about any time.

Enhanced Gauges and Handling

Look up for a second to notice the Ford Racing gauges located in the pod on the A-pillar. Although the standard Cobra includes gauges to measure boost and water temperature, they’re useful for little more than confirming that you’re on the boost and that the car isn’t overheating. The A-pillar gauges are much more precise and accurate, making them important additions to this incredibly potent snake.

For its size, the car handles impeccably, and you can chalk up that prowess to the ’00 Cobra R springs fore and aft, as well as the 18×9-inch chrome FR500 wheels. BFGoodrich KDW tires measure 265/35ZR18 in front and 295/35ZR18 in back. With as much power as this car has on tap, stopping power is a priority, too. Thus, SVT added the ’00 Cobra R front brakes, which use Brembo four-piston calipers, slotted rotors, and competition pads. The rear calipers are also fitted with Cobra R-spec pads. SVT swapped out the stock 3.55 rear gears for a set of Ford Racing 3.73s. The package produces just a hint of understeer, but it doesn’t take much work on the throttle to correct that condition.

Unmatched Power Upgrades

If you’re Ford’s SVT division, the natural thing to do after you’ve designed the most powerful production Mustang ever is to raid the Ford Racing parts bin to make sure it’s that much more powerful. We all know that 390 hp just isn’t enough nowadays, so the first step was to replace the factory heads with Ford Racing’s FR500 heads, paired with Ford Racing high-lift cams. These heads and cams support considerably more airflow than the originals, so naturally the best way to make sure more air enters them is with an upgraded supercharger. That’s when the build team added the Ford Racing/Whipple twin-screw supercharger kit, producing 14 pounds of boost. To make sure the blower gets all the air it needs, a K&N FIPK replaces the stock intake system. Paul’s High Performance made sure the fuel system was up to the task. It designed a system in which twin Motorcraft 190-lb pumps feed a set of 60-lb injectors through its own high-flow fuel rails. A 90mm MAF and Ford Racing tuning do the rest.

Aggressive Exhaust System

What goes in must come out, so the exhaust chores begin with a set of Ford Racing ceramic-coated shorty headers. The shorties lead to a set of Bassani high-flow cats and an X-pipe. The final thing that the exhaust gases will see is the Ford Racing/Borla Cat-Back exhaust system. The racket the exhaust makes—well, normally we’d say it’s like nothing we’ve ever heard before. But then while we were downshifting, we recognized that sound. It sounds like a lion, and we don’t mean that in a figurative sense; the car actually sounds like a lion. The hard numbers don’t mean as much as the fact that this car is scary fast, but Ford recorded 601 hp and 529 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels, so it figures the crank numbers are about 690 and 620, respectively, and we have no cause to doubt that.

Driving Experience

We had the car for a week, and after day two we had an excuse planned for the inevitable ticket we felt coming. “I swear, officer, the car made me do it.” It would have been true, too—it’s hard to drive this Mustang less than 10 mph over the speed limit. As journalists, we don’t really get to drive racecars, so this Cobra is without question the fastest car this writer has ever driven. Remember that scene in “Spaceballs” where they jump to ludicrous speed and everything goes to plaid? Remember in “Star Trek” when the ship accelerates so fast the whole thing stretches before the back end can catch up to the front? If this isn’t the car P.J. O’Rourke described when he spoke of the Atomic Death Toboggan, it ought to be. It doesn’t like going slow, and it’s so beautifully loud that when you’re not driving the car just to listen to it, you’re constantly searching for the next gear to lower the rpm, and the noise level, a bit. But this soon becomes a losing game for you, for as soon as you find that next gear, the car has tricked your right foot into pushing the car faster yet, and you once again look for the next gear. What a game it plays with your mind.

Impressive Real-World Performance

There are a few (very few) cars that can run on par with this Cobra, but what’s really impressive about the way this car drives is the lack of drama to which it subjects you. Other cars with the same capabilities make more of a fuss about doing what this Cobra does with ease. Any car can be fast, but a truly fast car like this one is rarely civilized. Sure, it shakes a bit while you sit at a stoplight, but it never falters. It idles, it runs consistently at 190 degrees, and when you ask it to, it will sprint to 120 mph faster than Michael Moore at Hometown Buffet. Including purchase price and the price of upgrades, this is still less than a $50,000 car. In no other car will you find the combination of performance, convenience, and price as assembled here by Ford Racing and SVT. And the good news is you could duplicate it with ease.

On the Track

In addition to all the fun we had on the road, we took the Cobra to L.A. County Raceway to see how it would do on the track. We ran the car the way we drove it to the track, on street tires and without even adjusting the air pressure—we wanted to get the real-world numbers, what it would run every day without special preparation. The initial pass produced a 12.48-second run at 119.67 mph, but we knew the car was much faster than that. After experimenting with launch and shift techniques, the car ran an uncorrected best of 12.19 seconds at 120.92 mph. An 11-second pass would have been a bonus, but consider the larger context: two people comfortably drove the hour-plus drive to the track without carrying a single tool or change of tires; ran nearly 121 mph at an altitude of 2,700 feet; and drove home all on less than a full tank of gas. We did all this in a car on worn Z-rated low-profile street tires, a road-race suspension and a trunk full of camera equipment. So, while a few other cars may have outrun us on that day, none pulled off such a real-world accomplishment. To us that’s meaningful.

Conclusion: A Bad Influence

But for all it does right—and that’s a lot—this car really is a bad influence, the older kid your mom warned you about. It’s Kiefer Sutherland in “Stand By Me,” Marlon Brando in “The Wild Bunch.” The year 2003 marked the Cobra’s 10th anniversary, and now that it’s 12, it’s starting to smoke cigarettes and stay out late at night. It’s done more bad things at a young age than Drew Barrymore, but since it’s almost as pretty, we let it slide. But since we encourage this sort of behavior, it’s our fault, too. Tell you what: for our punishment, we’ll write “I will not speed and then blame it on my car” 100 times—with the Cobra’s rear tires.

Do it yourself:

  • Ford Racing 2000 SVT Cobra R springs, front and rear: M-5310-R00/M-5560-R00; MSRP $165/$139
  • Ford Racing 2000 SVT Cobra R front brake kit (slotted rotors, four-piston Brembo calipers,
  • competition brake pads): M-2300-X; MSRP $1,295
  • Ford Racing 2000 SVT Cobra R rear competition brake pads: M-2200-R00; MSRP $79.95
  • Ford Racing “FR500” chrome wheels, 18×9.0-inch: M-1007-F500C; MSRP $350/each
  • BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KD tires, 265/35-ZR18 front, 295/35-ZR18 rear; MSRP $1,150
  • K&N FIPK air cleaner kit: MSRP $149
  • Ford Racing Whipple twin-screw supercharger (14psi): M-6066-CT46; MSRP $3,150
  • Ford Racing high-lift camshafts: M-6550-T46; MSRP $1,495
  • Ford Racing high-flow four-valve, DOHC heads: M-6049-T46/M-6050-T46; MSRP $795/each
  • Ford Racing “Hi-Flow” shorty headers (ceramic coated): M-9430-E465; MSRP $355
  • Bassani high-flow catalytic converters and X-pipe: MSRP $699
  • Ford Racing Borla Cat-Back exhaust system: M-5230-MSC; MSRP $790
  • Ford Racing 3.73 rear-axle ratio ring-and-pinion gears: M-4209-F373-N; MSRP $199
  • Ford Racing Hurst shifter with stock shifter handle: M-7210-T56; MSRP $189
  • Paul’s High Performance fuel system upgrade: 60-lb injectors, injector harnesses, 90mm custom-calibrated mass air meter, fuel rails and line kit, and two Motorcraft 190-lph fuel pumps
  • Ford Racing 10th-Anniversary SVT Mustang Cobra shift knob: M-7213-C; MSRP $49.95
  • Ford Racing 10th-Anniversary SVT Mustang Cobra shift boot: M-7277-B; MSRP $49.95
  • Ford Racing 2000 Cobra R Recaro seats: M-16620-C; MSRP $2,599/pair
  • Ford Racing Auto Meter gauge pod with boost and water temp gauges: M-17556-M201/ M-10883-A200/M-11622-A200: MSRP $74.95/$75/$59.95
  • Base Vehicle MSRP: $33,125
  • Subtotal of parts: $13,908.75
TOTAL VALUE: $47,033.75

Editorial Note: These are 2005 prices. Twenty years later, expect to pay more.

ARTICLE SOURCES

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Ford Performance

(800) 367-3788

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