03 Cobra mods?

a_turbo_stang · Nov 1, 2004

Hi all I was wanting to know some good mods to do to these Cobras? A friend is getting one and wanting to know where to start?

MiamiFan1354 · Nov 1, 2004

If you want to stay in warranty, then pretty much all you can do is Cat Back and Intake. I've seen cars get voided for anything beyond that, but if you can take it off, you should be fine. I run the Stock IRS and I'm right at 12.0 and that was before sticky tires. Here is what I would do, in order..:

Bassani X and Cat Back
JLT True CAI
Pro 5.0 with MGW handle
UPR 3 hook Clutch Quad and firewall adj
Nitto 315/35 555Rs
__________________
With that, you should easily and I mean easily be at 12.4-12.2 with just a semi good driver.. THEN you got choices. I went 2.75 upper, but I would have liked to have gone this route.:

2.93 Upper
4Lb lower
New Belt
Custom Dyno Tune (I have the Predator but Amazon tuned the car for me.)
Brisk Plugs
Strut Tower Brace
Full Length Subs
IRS Brace
______________________________
Now you should drop into the 11's.. THEN

Ported Blower
55lb injectors
Twin Focus Pumps or a BAP
MAFxtender or SCT MAF

I wouldn't start to mess with the IRS until you get down here.. You MAY break a halfshaft along the way, but you would do that sooner or later any way. You may want to get some bushings and a launch bar. Kenny Brown has big kits that help out.
______________________
That will pretty much max out what you can do with the stock blower... and you should be right around that 11.50 mark, where you'll start to get into full drag race mode. After that, you'll be ready for a whipple or KB, solid rear, Auto Trans and everything else... I'm working on Whipple right now, but I skipped the port. I'm at 12.000000000000 at 117 MPH on the stock tires, with a 1.8 60'.

Hope this helps!

Nicks98Cobra · Nov 1, 2004

I think we need to make a sticky thread for "what should I do first" and "what should I do next" threads because there is new one everyday.

BLU-BLZ 03SNAKE · Nov 2, 2004

just read my signature. i can have all my mods off int 2 hrs.....fyi if youre worried about warranty work.
Jay

ironmedic · Nov 2, 2004

i really wish i had an 03, it kills me that i dont!

Silver95Stint · Nov 2, 2004

ironmedic said:
i really wish i had an 03, it kills me that i dont!

Truer words were never spoken. I can't wait till I get back to the states.

Uncle Meat · Nov 3, 2004

BLU-BLZ 03SNAKE said:
just read my signature. i can have all my mods off int 2 hrs.....fyi if youre worried about warranty work.
Jay

How do you hide the scrape marks on the Eaton snout shaft? One of the first places inspected by the field reps when major warranty work is required...

U.M.

Tat98Cobra · Nov 3, 2004

Uncle Meat said:
How do you hide the scrape marks on the Eaton snout shaft? One of the first places inspected by the field reps when major warranty work is required...

U.M.

Hmmm - interesting, My pulley came off so easily with Billetflow's puller . There are no scrape marks on it at all

peace

Dr. Wu 2000 · Nov 3, 2004

Like everyone else said, CAI, exhaust, Predator, and a nice shifter: MGW, Pro. 5.0, Tri-ax. Then decide about the warranty and do pulley swap.

BLU-BLZ 03SNAKE · Nov 4, 2004

Tat98Cobra said:
Hmmm - interesting, My pulley came off so easily with Billetflow's puller . There are no scrape marks on it at all

peace

im with Tat98. not a scratch on mine either. I was careful.

Uncle Meat · Nov 4, 2004

BLU-BLZ 03SNAKE said:
im with Tat98. not a scratch on mine either. I was careful.

The couple I've looked at up close were pretty obvious, at least it was to me. I guess being careful with the install/uninstall and a quality pulley puller makes a difference!

U.M.

Derek@amazon · Nov 7, 2004

BLU-BLZ 03SNAKE said:
just read my signature. i can have all my mods off int 2 hrs.....fyi if youre worried about warranty work.
Jay

they can detect that car has been modded due to how the preditor works, the computer counts how many times its been flashed. if the count doesnt match what ford has for your car. your warranty if declined

Derek@amazon · Nov 7, 2004

Uncle Meat said:
The couple I've looked at up close were pretty obvious, at least it was to me. I guess being careful with the install/uninstall and a quality pulley puller makes a difference!

U.M.

yup yup use the AMAZON puller (sorry it was designed by us) and it cant be detected

Uncle Meat · Nov 8, 2004

Derek@amazon said:
they can detect that car has been modded due to how the preditor works, the computer counts how many times its been flashed. if the count doesnt match what ford has for your car. your warranty if declined

Hey Derek... do you know this first hand, or is this just what you've been told? I really don't think the software that a SVT dealer has available can tell them how many times the car has been flashed. I think it can tell them the date of the last flash though. Last but not least, have you actually met anyone whose warranty was voided solely for a Predator flash being present?

U.M.

GrayCobra · Nov 10, 2004

Uncle Meat said:
Hey Derek... do you know this first hand, or is this just what you've been told? I really don't think the software that a SVT dealer has available can tell them how many times the car has been flashed. I think it can tell them the date of the last flash though. Last but not least, have you actually met anyone whose warranty was voided solely for a Predator flash being present?

U.M.

Yeah Derek I am interested in the answer to this as well. Thanks for putting the question out there Uncle Meat.

Derek@amazon · Nov 15, 2004

dunno many people who have blown motor. and the ones who have had chips

flyonthewall · Nov 16, 2004

Uncle Meat said:
Hey Derek... do you know this first hand, or is this just what you've been told? I really don't think the software that a SVT dealer has available can tell them how many times the car has been flashed. I think it can tell them the date of the last flash though. Last but not least, have you actually met anyone whose warranty was voided solely for a Predator flash being present?

U.M.

A Quote from our local Mustang site

"They can't tell if you've had a tune per se, BUT, and this is a really big but, when you remove the Predator tune from your ECU it sets a generic warning code of P1000. What that code really means is that the adaptive ECU has not had enough drive cycles to establish an emissions standard, etc., etc. It's the same code you would get if you disconnected the battery ( and interestingly enouhg it will cause you to fail an ODBII emissions test! ).

The Predator will set that code when you swap back to your stock tune because it essentially wipes out the memory on your ECU and then re-installs the stock tune. The code will clear itself essentially over time, but you have to get a sufficient number of drive cycles in widely varried conditions which can take a while obviously. If you show up at the dealership w/ an ECU that presents a P1000 code they will take that as evidence that you have had an aftermarket tune on the car and they can and will try to void your warranty.

Trust me on this one, I've been there personally!

This is why most folks wait 'til they are out of warranty before doing the poolie and tune gig! Just an FYI!"

And another
"Can't you clear the code with the predator? ( I'm in IL and I have no emmisions) and if not can't you just pull the batt cable and take it in and tell them that you had to jump it cause your wife left the lights on.

No, the P1000 apparently is the one code you can't clear. Apparently it is a code that says all the codes were wiped out by a reboot of some sort. Essentially the dealerships will try to take that as circumstantial evidence that the ECU has been tampered w/ which will void your warranty. If you showed up w/ this code on a Ford Taurus though, noone would bat an eyelash but since it's on a Cobra, especially a supercharged one, they get really finicky about changing the stock tune and then covering warranty work.

You can say that you had disconnected the battery for some other reason, and they have no way of disproving that. I found all of this out because that is exactly what happened to me but the dealership tried to say that I had changed the tune and then changed it back ( along w/ having a N2O kit that never existed! ). Generally that's going to more hassle than it's worth so you might as well do all the other bolt-ons and save the pulley and tune for after warranty. "

Uncle Meat · Nov 16, 2004

flyonthewall said:
A Quote from our local Mustang site

"They can't tell if you've had a tune per se, BUT, and this is a really big but, when you remove the Predator tune from your ECU it sets a generic warning code of P1000. What that code really means is that the adaptive ECU has not had enough drive cycles to establish an emissions standard, etc., etc. It's the same code you would get if you disconnected the battery ( and interestingly enouhg it will cause you to fail an ODBII emissions test! ).

The Predator will set that code when you swap back to your stock tune because it essentially wipes out the memory on your ECU and then re-installs the stock tune. The code will clear itself essentially over time, but you have to get a sufficient number of drive cycles in widely varried conditions which can take a while obviously. If you show up at the dealership w/ an ECU that presents a P1000 code they will take that as evidence that you have had an aftermarket tune on the car and they can and will try to void your warranty.

Trust me on this one, I've been there personally!

This is why most folks wait 'til they are out of warranty before doing the poolie and tune gig! Just an FYI!"

And another
"Can't you clear the code with the predator? ( I'm in IL and I have no emmisions) and if not can't you just pull the batt cable and take it in and tell them that you had to jump it cause your wife left the lights on.

No, the P1000 apparently is the one code you can't clear. Apparently it is a code that says all the codes were wiped out by a reboot of some sort. Essentially the dealerships will try to take that as circumstantial evidence that the ECU has been tampered w/ which will void your warranty. If you showed up w/ this code on a Ford Taurus though, noone would bat an eyelash but since it's on a Cobra, especially a supercharged one, they get really finicky about changing the stock tune and then covering warranty work.

You can say that you had disconnected the battery for some other reason, and they have no way of disproving that. I found all of this out because that is exactly what happened to me but the dealership tried to say that I had changed the tune and then changed it back ( along w/ having a N2O kit that never existed! ). Generally that's going to more hassle than it's worth so you might as well do all the other bolt-ons and save the pulley and tune for after warranty. "

That's sounds logical to me... The question is will your service department be looking specifically for a P1000 code? I mean I guess it all depends on the reason the car is being returned for warranty work in the first place. If I am having the car looked at for the "Vibe" or a leaking rear diff cover, then I highly doubt they would be hooking up a code scanner to the ECU. Plus, it wouldn't take but a few drive cycles to clear that code out of memory... If I remember correctly it takes 5 seperate driving cycles for the ECU to learn the new adaptive fuel trims... I think Ford would be hard pressed to prove you had flashed the ECU when all is said and done....

U.M.

Dr. Wu 2000 · Nov 16, 2004

great info

Jpjr · Nov 16, 2004

Regarding the P1000 code, and this may not be true, but I have heard from a current Ford mechanic that the P1000 code will clear out after approx. 10 startups since a flash. Like someone else said, all this code is saying is that the other codes were cleared out and the computer has not fully reset itself. The mechanic told me that it is really as easy as turning your ignition 10 times. I guess the take-away here is to not take your car in directly after a re-flash if you can help it. Drive it around for a week or so if it will run...

Regarding the pulley, Doug at Billetflow (his shop happens to be about 10 minutes from where I work) swears that he can change a pulley with no evidence or markings on the snout. Again, I can't speak for this since I've never done it.. but it would not surprise me if a professional could keep things clean.

As far as 'Ford being able to tell every time you've flashed'.. well that I do not believe. From what I've consistently read, the computer can only tell how many times the negative battery cable has been disconnected. And for modders, that happens often. You can create your own logical explanation for this, but mine is that I have installed a subwoofer in my car. In fact I have an additional power wire and fuse running to my battery terminal. I would simply say that I am always screwing around with my stereo repositioning my sub or something like that.. Sadly, its true

On that note, some good preventative mods can never hurt.. like the LFP heat exchanger that is on sale right now @$299!!

03 Cobra mods?

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