You'll get raped. You have him at a slight weight advantage, but that's about it. He's got you with better heads and a better intake, both of which trump what few mods you have which are basically only exhaust and a ported intake (which really needs better heads to show true potential).
DOH i was thinking this was a 5.0 Cobra, not the 4.6 (forgot for a second that '96 was the first year for 4.6). Still i'd have to put my money on the Cobra since they put out similar power numbers as the 5.0 Cobras. You'll probably get him off the line but he'll pass you by the top end of the track.
DOH i was thinking this was a 5.0 Cobra, not the 4.6 (forgot for a second that '96 was the first year for 4.6). Still i'd have to put my money on the Cobra since they put out similar power numbers as the 5.0 Cobras. You'll probably get him off the line but he'll pass you by the top end of the track.
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The Cobra will kill him. If he (Cobra) can get traction then from first gear he will pull a lead. If he spins then it wont be till the top of second before he pulls in the lead. Yeah, the DOHC 4.6 is known to not have alot down low but it still has more then a stock displacment/head/cam 302
Stock vs stock, i'd put my money on a 96+ cobra vs a 5.0 cobra.
Granted, if i was to mod one, i'd get a 5.0 cobra. Parts are MUCH cheaper
That and there is not much to do to a 4.6 NA. Cams dont make enough of a difference on the 96-98s (usually 2 hp for $1000+). CAI for some absurd reason is double the GTs price.
A 4.6 DOHC will give you 400 rwhp on a street car with a bore and stroke and some head work.
A 5.0 will be similar with the same mods (but more displacment).
Now boost is another story all together. If you took a box stock Cobra and added forged pistons/rods and a blower/turbo the engine can make 750+ rwhp all day lomg and be reliable as a stock car. Cant do that with a stock 5.0 engine, it will split in half. So you figure a DART (or similar) block with heads and forged internals, intake, cam and turbo/supercharger to get to that same HP level and you will have spent double what you would be into the Cobra.
Difference is the 4.6 can still be driven easily on the street and can withstand another 450+ hp before you have to worry about failure.
Teksid DOHC > *
If you want to play that game, I'll build a stroked Windsor that should be good for at least 600 hp at the rear wheels, on pump gas, an easily tuned 8-10 lbs of boost, and a torque curve that would leave you with back problems. The built 4.6 short block might support it mechanically, but 750 hp from a small displacement motor like that doesn't come without copious amounts of boost, revving to the moon, and possibly even race fuel or some sort of a blend. Throw those same elements at a Dart or Boss-based stroked pushrod, and you'd be into 4-digit power territory. The one thing we still got on those new fangled high-tech cars is sheer size, baby!
Ahh, bench racing at its FINEST!
Its not a game buddy
So, lets take a 351 and punch it to a 408. Get the good forged internals and a big cenatri with a FMIC and run enough boost to make 650 at the wheels. Sweet combo that I would kill GTO to have for myself.
Take a 96-98 Cobra and try to spend the same ammount of money so throw away the "B" heads and go to "C" heads, leave the block and crank alone and get some nice forged pistons and rods. Then put a Whipple 3.4 on it with 03/04 intercooler stuff. Run the Whipple at its lowest boost settings.
What do we have? The Cobra is making the same (ish) power but it was a couple grand cheaper, is smoother, better mileage and makes more tourque at 1500 RPM then the 408 is making at 3K
You can drive it every day and get stuck in traffic with no problems while the A/C is blowing cold. Its not going to be tempermental depending on the tide.
Now, you want to go to the track. In the Cobra you load your track tune and install the 26lb pully so you can put down 900 rwhp.
Can the 408 do the same and will it hold together?
The engine is 30 year newer tech, you would think Ford would have been able to make it better then their old stuff, no?