Poll...Honest opinions please.

[Unreal281]

ok guys...i'm kinda lost here, and don't know what to do.

i bought my 5spd GT when i was 19 and couldnt really afford much...

since then i have put pretty much everybolt on there is possible for the car including accufab 75mm tb/plenum, 3.73 gears, and longtubes...etc.

my issue is this:

now i have money, and the car that i have wanted for YEARS, an 03 Cobra, is now in my price range...

so...since it is RIDICULOUSLY hard to part ways with my GT, or even to think about it...

what would be better in the longrun?

1. buy a mongoose kit, mph shortblock, and other goodies...

2. sell it for an 03 cobra...

reason i am asking this is because i know many guys have gone from GTs to Cobras...

HELP!!!!!!!

 

[SaleenGT2001]

i'd say s/c built engine, trans and rearend. then your car will be better than a kewbra

 

[MrGame]

Cobra is a nicer all around car (interior, etc.) and the 4V sounds amazing, but the GT's an underdog car that can be an all-out beast when it's built right and a sleeper at the same time. If i had the money to, I'd build a sick GT before i sold my car for a Cobra, even though the 03-04 cobra is my dream car

 

[Dragstr05]

I'd keep the GT, unless you are very set on a Cobra.

I personally love the Cobra like many others around here do. Fact of the matter is, it would cost you THOUSANDS just to get the GT up to par with the Cobra, depending on what matters to you.

Here is my reasoning for keeping the GT. First, insurance. If you bought the car when you were 19, at best that puts you mid to late 20's and a Cobra is significantly more costly to insure. Second, cost on many grounds. You'll never get back for your GT what you put into it, NEVER. Assuming you sold the car for blue book value, add the cost of all your mods to the cost of the Cobra...is it still affordable? Remember that alot of these mods you may do all over again, some of them may even be more expensive. You will buy intake components, exhaust, wheels, (maybe gears), shifter, etc all over again.

Power is another important factor. A full bolt, blown GT with a built block, fuel system and driveline is one handfull of a car. It all starts to come down to what your setup is and how much power you want. You're going to start getting to the point where traction on the street is virtually non-existant in lower gears anyway; do you really need more?

All of this is really alot to consider. If your GT was stock, or near stock I'd say sell it and pick up a Cobra. But you need to think about how much you already have invested in your car and whether or not its worth it.

 

[spitfirees20]

Imagine your car with the built shortblock and mongoose kit tuned by mph with a ton of other goodies verses an 03' cobra with some bolt ons, because both will cost about the same. The gt is going to crush it, hands down. Not only that, your insurance will be lower, you will have a sleeper, and you never had to get rid of your original car, which you will regret. Plus, you can just make your look like an 03' cobra. I would deffinately keep the gt unless you seriously plan on making a track car, like the post above said it comes to a point where the power just gets unreasonable on the street.

 

[four six]

KEWBRA 4V FTMFW :SNSign:

 

[BurningRubber]

Id just keep the GT and modd the hell out of it.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

Added your pole for ya.

...and for what it's worth. If all you care about doing is going fast in a strait line, then by all means modify your GT. But if you care about handling, ride quality, braking, styling and resale value as well of the exclusivity of being one of the few people that actually own a Cobra along with the level of power that comes with it....then the Cobra should be your only option.

You can't duplicate the additional parts and performance associated with the Cobra for anywhere near the cost when using a run of the mill GT as your starting point.

 

[Unreal281]

Thanx alot guys...

I needed those opinions...

I've been stuck at 255 RWHP and 287 RWTQ for almost 2 yrs now...untuned...

Again guys...thank you for your help

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Just get a Cobra this fall, right after the first snowfall

 

[04DarkShadowGT]

If I was in your situatioin I would get a terminator assuming your car is paid off.

With the value of your car (appx 10K) and the price of a built motor, power adder, cooler, labor, cost to transport car, etc (15K+) you could buy a cobra.

If you owe $$ on your car, take the $$ you had to spend on the mods and pay the car off. Thats the smart thing to do.




Oh and if you do keep the GT, get a KB instead. I could kick myself in the nuts for not going with a 2.1L KB.

 

[UCF1Slider]

If you're planning on racing it you'd end up wanting to do a swap from the IRS to a solid rear axle anyways so if anything you might consider going to a Mach1 instead of a Cobra (also cheaper). But I would keep the GT... there's very little on the interior that's different than the Cobra, and the parts for the 32V are probably a lot more than for the 16V 4.6L but I have no idea cuz I haven't looked into it since I have a 16V. You can always get the parts to make your car look like a cobra if that's important to you as well.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[four six]

If you're planning on racing it you'd end up wanting to do a swap from the IRS to a solid rear axle anyways so if anything you might consider going to a Mach1 instead of a Cobra (also cheaper). But I would keep the GT... there's very little on the interior that's different than the Cobra, and the parts for the 32V are probably a lot more than for the 16V 4.6L but I have no idea cuz I haven't looked into it since I have a 16V. You can always get the parts to make your car look like a cobra if that's important to you as well.

Just my 2 cents.

^+1 Mach 1

 

[four six]

dp

 

[ProCharger GT]

Mod the GT

 

[5.0's 4 ever]

I would go for the cobra if you can actually afford it. Money wise its just the better choice, not to mention the rest of the positives. You do all that work to your GT you will be lucky to get a 1/4 of the money back you put into it if you sell. I put a ton of money into my 5.0s and lost my ass on both of them. If I didn't modify my 5.0s before I sold them my 96 mystic cobra (which was the mustang I always wanted) would of been turbocharged and pushing a 1000hp a long time ago.

 

[_jb_]

03 Cobra>00 GT in every aspect.

 

[DropTopPony]

I like having a GT...
If i was driving a near stock GT then i would consider ditching it for a Cobra but if you have alot of money in the GT you will never get it back and will take a big loss.

 

[Matt's 03 GT]

It's more even than I thought it would be.

I am going through this same debate currently. I will be able to have a Cobra within 1 year if everything goes as planned. I don't know if I should keep my mustang at that point and pay it off, or sell what I got and get the cobra.

You can easily make your mustang a 500 - 600 hp monster with your planned mod's which will spank most Cobras.

I voted to keep yours and build it because it's yours and you know the car.

 

[Red35th]

Never settle for what you really want unless you have to. Decide what you want, go from there.

I'd take the Cobra if I could get one though. More exclusive, better ride quality almost finished engine.