1996 Explorer vs 1994/1995 Cobra

lenbo211

New Member
Dec 30, 2018
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Oregon
I seem to see a lot of threads dancing around this topic but not really touching on what I'm curious about.
Everything I've been able to research indicates that the '96 Explorer is basically the same motor as the '94/'95 Cobra with just the upper intake, throttle body, MAF and Filter being different.
Does anyone know the reasons why according to Wikipedia the HP on a 1996 V8 Explorer is listed at 210, but the 1994 and 1995 Mustang Cobra is more like 260 (or 275 Real World)?
Is that difference all wrapped up in the upper intake to air filter and emissions differences? 50 HP seems like a pretty big leap and before I buy the much less expensive option to the cobra motor, I'm curious if there is anything else different below the upper intake that I might be missing.
This is going into a race car that had the '95 Cobra motor in it that got destroyed.
 
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Camshaft.

Explorer cam is geared towards torque. Plenty down low but it runs out of steam at 4K rpm. Cobra is lighter so it's cam profile is geared towards a bit more top end HP.

Of course the 93-95 cobra cam isn't anything great either.

IMG_2399.GIF
 
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