03 cobra IRS in a 93 Gt Pics

[67coupe]

I was of the same opinion until I took a ride in a friends 03 cobra. This car had full exhaust, wipple charger, 14lbs, etc. It has dynoed at 500+rwhp. Sure, it had minor wheel hop in 1st gear. But, it had amazing traction the rest of the time. After riding through some turns, I was sold.

Also, my car is a daily driver and I plan on auto-crossing frequently after the swap. My goals for the car do not involve ultimate drag strip performance. To each his own.

 

[89gtstalker]

I did it for two reasons, the first is I do open track days, and have always wanted to do this swap. The IRS makes the car handle much more predictable and alot better then the stick rear end. Also, the price was right, so I decided to do it.

The front spindles are from a 95 mustang that I used. I still need to look into a bump steer kit of some kind.

The brackets are $150. They are CNC machined and a very high quality peice that allows for direct bolt in. It is a lot better installation as opposed to having to drill a second hole in the side of the frame, directly above the existing one and weakening the mounting location. Its well worth the money after the fact to have it bolt right in, in the correct location.

The car is a new car the way it rides now. It is very solid and tight and handles great. No body roll anymore, no drum brakes, you can punch it going into a corner and the back end grips instead of breaking loose and slidding out. It is the road course drivers advantage that these things aren't so great for drag racing, especially when the drag racers try putting down big hp numbers and cant hook up, and want to get rid of the stuff as fast as possible. The thing is if you put the same money into an irs getting bushings, and all the other aftermarket components, you can eliminate the wheel hop, and probably for the same price you have to put into a stick axle with upper/lower control arms, bushings, upgraded axles, spools. And the ride with the IRS is really smooth

The wheels Im running are 17 x 8 stock 01 cobra/03 gt wheels. I have 275 on the back and 245 on the front. I have a minor rubbing issue on the drivers side, I need to adjust the rear camber just a little bit more, and it will be fine. This is with rolled fenders, however. 245s should be fine all around. The rear track is a little wider with the IRS compared to the 93 8.8.

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[89gtstalker]

Also, for the exhaust, I ended up getting the flowmaster cat back from the same guy I got the IRS from, the mufflers are a direct bolt on, no modification, and use the stock mounting locations which are a part of the IRS frame work. I havent put on the rear pipes yet, but if you get the rear most hangers from the cobra, they bolt onto the rear impact bar, and should fit as well. The only issue may be that the cobra rear bumper cover has the two cut outs for the exhaust, and the stock 93 rear bumper does not. I may be looking into using a 93 cobra rear bumper to allow the stock pipes to mount up, as opposed to cutting the gt bumper.

 

[Sicarius428]

I picked up an 04 cobra IRS for 460 minus brakes and shocks. Considering that the 03/04 has 3.55s stock, 31 spline axles, 5 lug and provisions for cobra brakes I think that is a steal compared to rebuilding my tired solid axle with the same setup. I don't have a lot of power and don't go to the drag strip. I wanted better street maners and handling mainly. Probably help balance out a fox because it is a bit light in the rear.
Kevin

 

[QUICK91LX]

man oh man that car is sweet

what color blue is that? seems very close to the color I want to paint my car, just with the stock silver two tone.

 

[89gtstalker]

The color is sonic blue.

 

[Modular2v]

i have a sonic blue 03 gt with the same rims!

 

[QUICK91LX]

man that looks great in sonic blue...i have a friend who did his car in sonic blue and the paint job is not of great quality and it really affects the color. this is the reason i shyed away from sonic blue...now im a bit more attracted to it...