Ive had both. Much more power, fuel economy and driveability with the 4v. But if your wanting a race car on a budget 5.0 is the way to go everything is cheaper.
I love racing my fox body, and the 20+ mpg my cobra gets as a daily driver.
it's what ever you like IMO. people who own 4v's will say "yeah 4v owns 5.0's" and people that own pushrod's will say that they own...each car has its pro's and con's...I personally love the 5.0 in my cobra with little mods/money i can go fast it all depends on heads, and what intake and cam you go with, i also LOVE the sound of a 5.0 (best sounding motor IMO) but 4v's have redicolous top end and with gears, exhaust,CAI they fly. If you wanna mod the car alot than hands down go with a 5.0, if you want too keep it mostly stock and still go fast get a 96-98.
Yes there are are some exceptions but lets face facts. The 94-95 comes stock with 245ish HP stock. The 4V comes with 305. Yes torque wins races but the 4V is still pulling long past where the 5.0 starts flattening out. Your buddy with the HCI car must be racing guys who can't drive or have Gts, because a typical HCI car is throwing down 300-350 with stock displacement while a typical blown 4V is putting down a tire-shredding 420+. The guy with the drag car could go faster if he had the same setup on a 4V car. You talk n/a power, but a stock 5.0 Cobra would have trouble hanging with a 99+ GT, let alone a stock n/a Cobra. There's alot to love with each car, but the 4Vs are stronger as delivered from ford.
If he meant 275 fwhp, then may be, but most people talk in regards of rear wheel, not fly wheel hp. So by that way of thinking, yah 40RWhp is a giant difference.
It's still a Cobra, and that is what matters.... just not a very powerful one stock.
Who cares what hp it is. The guy said they were underrated and you like an @ss, laughed at that. The best part is, he is right and you are wrong regardless of how you see it.