POLL: reccomendations for my 98 Cobra Summer mod

I voted other. How do you feel about replacing your stock exhaust? A new midpipe and catback should have noticable gains.

I'd go for performance mods over comfort myself. That is until I get 500 or more ponies

VerbalKint said:

I'm going to be putting about $1000 or so into my new 1998 Cobra this summer, and I'm thinking about going down one of two routes. Before I go into them, here's my current list of mods:

Steeda pulleys and T/A, C&L MAF and inlet pipe (soon to be installed), K&N drop in filter, stock gears, Steeda Tri-Ax, Bilstein shocks, Eiback ProKit springs, BBK CC plates, H&R rear spacers, 255/50 Firestone Firehawk tires, Blaupunkt HU and 5-disc changer. Besides those, the car is stock.
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Also, anyone know the cost of a good chip-n-dynotune?

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VerbalKint said:

I've also thought about replacing the factory exhaust, but for the cost of that I believe I can get a lot more performance out of the beast. I actually might add the exhaust instead of dyno tuning the car, and then getting it tuned next fall or something, or maybe I'll just do it all at once.

I know it's probably been covered before, but about what rwhp can I expect from the above mods? Refresher: C&L MAF and inlet pipe, Steeda T/A and pulleys, Magnaflow exhaust (maybe), and a good chip-n-tune.

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For performance in a 4v'er 4.6....gears vs. exhaust....hmm.....

Why such a desire to get a tune? I think tune's are very important but do you have any symptoms that make you think you need one? Factory settings can work well with the bolt ons you've got.

Catback & midpipe are easy installs. If I can do it anyone can

VerbalKint said:

I've also thought about replacing the factory exhaust, but for the cost of that I believe I can get a lot more performance out of the beast. I actually might add the exhaust instead of dyno tuning the car, and then getting it tuned next fall or something, or maybe I'll just do it all at once.

I know it's probably been covered before, but about what rwhp can I expect from the above mods? Refresher: C&L MAF and inlet pipe, Steeda T/A and pulleys, Magnaflow exhaust (maybe), and a good chip-n-tune.

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I suggest a midpipe, gears, and a set of drag radials or upper and lower control arms.

Your right you should stay with catalytic converter, CA is very strict about these things.

You’re correct in your statement that changing just the mid-pipe wouldn't show much gain with the stock cat-back. I changed just my cat-back a couple years ago. I didn't notice much SOTP gains but it sounded a lot better (BTW, I like o/r X pipe sound but this is referring to the sound of the stock h w/ a Borla cat-back). My stock cat-back was 2.25 inch, Borla’s is 2.5.

Similar to the above statement changing just the cat-back and not the midpipe may not show the desirable gains either. Depends on how well each piece is flowing in your current setup. Really replacing both at the same time would be ideal. After I slapped on my o/r X and JBA headers I noticed gains.

I have not purchased a new air-intake yet because I was told our motor had to exhale better before any major gains could be seen with intake parts .

Gear changing I hear is a great way to take off faster in our cars. Mine has peak power around 5000-6200rpm and doesn't have a whole lot under 4000rpm. I can't wait to change my gear. I was planning on 4.56's but have changed my mind and already ordered 3.73's (along with a lot of bushings and a brace).

Unfortunately I ordered my gears from Speed Concepts and asked them NOT to require a signature (I'm never home when UPS delivers). Of course, they did the exact opposite and now it sounds like my gears are on the way back to speed concepts. I called UPS right after I seen they delivered and they were suppose to deliver it at my work. I call today and it says the package is on its way back to the shipper. Arrgghh

VerbalKint said:

I was thinking about getting DR's, but I really won't see too much track time. Also, I would have to get wheels to go with, since my car sees a lot of highway miles. DR's + highway miles = $$$. As for getting a midpipe, I want to stay with a catalytic system. Not only does it make it a little more legal in So Cal (who wants to pay the $2000 fine for me if I'm caught without cats?), but I don't like the sound of an O/R pipe. Another thing, I've heard that merely replacing the midpipe doesn't offer as much gains as doing a cat-back system. I could be wrong, but that was the general feeling I got from reading a lot of posts. Now a combination of the two... that would be ideal, but a little pricey.

As for getting a tune, I don't need it now, but after the C&L stuff, although it wouldn't be necessary, I might be able to aqueeze some more power out of it.

I've done a lot of exhaust installs on all kinds of cars, but they were all just bolt on stuff. I have the Stalker rear bumper, and it has those square exhaust tips that need to be welded on. Besides that it's no biggy. Maybe I'll just get better at welding and try it myself this summer.

Here's what I have been thinking about after some feedback: gears and cat-back exhaust. Magnaflow cat-back. This will actually knock the price down some... hey, maybe I can actually save some money! Imagine that...

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