03 Snake or Saleen SC?

After having an 01' GT that I converted to a Saleen (full body kit, Series IV supercharger) and the Cobra I have now, I would hands down go with the Cobra. My Gt ur Saleen made 309rwhp 318 rwtq 8psi. Saleen uses a good supercharger (whipple) but their intake is way too restrictive = low numbers. Good luck

Yellow Cobra said:

I think the horsepower gains from the supercharger are about the same for both cars. Ford over rated the HP on the 2001 Cobras and they under rated the HP on the 2003s. The stock FWHP for the 2003s is at least 425 and the RWHP is 360-380.

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You are absolutely correct about the HP ratings for the '03 Cobras YELLOW COBRA.

Ford had to under rate them for insurance reasons ect. Just like back in the 60's and 70's with the HEMI's. The HEMI was rated and 425 at the flywheel, but it was more in the neighborhood of 500+.

I'm a Ford Employee, but I work at a Visteon Plant(Thanks UAW! ). We have a dyno here at the plant. Everything from Minivans to Superduty Diesels gets run on.

Back before the S/C Cobras came out, I was talking to one of the guys from Experimental Engineering who just finished doing a few pulls with a '03 Cobra and I asked what #'s she gave. He showed me the print out and it read pulls of 385,383,392 and 389 RWHP! He said that they did some test at night, with lower air temps and the #'s were in the 390-395 range.

He also told me of runs that did with a S/C S281. The results were in the 330-340 RWHP range.

You have to ask yourself the Question which one you want to spend you hard earned $ on. Personally when I do the math it makes a hell of a lot more sence to me to buy the S/C Cobra, which makes more power and costs less than the Saleen.

Why not buy a MACH1 and Supercharge it?????????????? Think about it 4.6L 4v, Solid rear axle,31 spline limited slip.

What ever you decided buy what you want to buy. As long as it's not a ***GOT Foreign P.O.S. Tuner Car!

i have a 99 cobra and ime very close to saleens
i say 03 04 all the way

GT JAY said:

Why not buy a MACH1 and Supercharge it?????????????? Think about it 4.6L 4v, Solid rear axle,31 spline limited slip.

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The only problem with that is the Cobra has a built bottom will last much longer, Mach does not.

get the 03' and put the new Procharger kit on it!

There is a reason why the 03/04's are called Terminators. I will agree that the 281E is awesome but you could take the $20k difference between the 2 and have an 800-900 hp snake that would kill everything you encountered. But that is my bias opinion.

yz250 said:

I can't decide which one to buy, an 03 Cobra or a supercharged S-281. Would the Cobra outrun these pretty good? Also my friend has a Stage 3 Roush. I wanna kick his butt cause he whoops me in my 01 Cobra right now. Just wanted input on which one to buy. Also if i go with the 03 and i upgrade to the smaller blower pulley, what else would i have to do (ex, chip, fuel injectors, etc). Thanks guys!

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Well, let's see:

03 Cobra: More horsepower stock, much more potential for increases than the already blown Saleen, DOHC 4V, cast iron block, forged crank, rods and pistons, 6 speed tranny, not as flashy, several thousand less than the Saleen.

Saleen: Less horsepower, less potential for horsepower, SOHC 2V, aluminum block, no forged internals, 5 speed tranny, more flashy, more expensive.

Simple choice in my mind.