Realistic gains for Cobra Intake swap?

bloopbloob

Member
Sep 27, 2006
578
4
16
Alberta
just wondering what you guys think i might gain by swapping to a cobra manifold? (ya ya ya... 1 MILLION HP!, i'm just waiting for it:) ) I just want to justify putting one on this year, but with all the $$$ (which i dont have to begin with) i've spent on my car this year, i haven't really noticed any real power gains. So what does a cobra do for a stock engine? What would it do for mine? I'm sure my intake is the big restriction right now, so i'm hoping it would let my other mods do their job a lot better and i might actually get a significant increase over what a stock engine might. Guesses?
 
i don't have any numbers to post but i noticed a difference when i rebuilt my motor and put a cobra intake on. of course, i put a bunch of other mods on too. from what i'm told, its about 20-25hp gain over the stock intake. i notice it most in mid to higher-ish rpms. i think it's definitely worth it.
 
is that rwhp or fwhp?

Uh...it IS a Mustang, right?

i'm just kinda choked i spent a few grand on LT's and exhaust, and maf/tb etc leading into the manifold, and didnt really see a difference.

A few GRAND!? For what?



anyway those won't give you much power on their own; they're moreso supportive modifications to go along with the big ones. Ignore the "gain 20HP!" claims from a MAF or whatever. On a stock engine, the stock MAF and TB are fine. Going too big on both, on the other hand, will also hurt performance.

But w/the Cobra intake you should see gains in the mid-20s. And that 70mm TB will work better then w/the much improved airflow.
 
Right now, unless you got larger plans in the future, just get your stock lower ported, if you can wait a week or two to get it back. If not, buy an intake and swap in a day. I'd go for a Performer intake or similar, they have a little room for growth later and a nice useable powerband.

I would expect 10-15 flywheel horsepower from a Cobra intake swap alone, realistically.
 
LOL duh. I'm on meds, gimme some slack :)

haha. its ok. maybe i have the special edition F&F fwd 91GT, ya never know!

i know all the advertised hp gains are bunk. which is why i asked for realistic gains i could expect. I just figure its all opened up before, and after the intake now, so i was hoping to get some real improvements if i do this swap.

as for the $$$, i live in canada, so between shipping and duties and taxes, exchange rates, etc... on top of the parts, it adds up quick. chrome bbk LT's (+$550 install:bang: ), o/r x, maf, c&l intake tube, polished tb, polished egr spacer, polished u/d pullies, a/c delete kit yadayada
 
Right now, unless you got larger plans in the future, just get your stock lower ported, if you can wait a week or two to get it back. If not, buy an intake and swap in a day. I'd go for a Performer intake or similar, they have a little room for growth later and a nice useable powerband.

I would expect 10-15 flywheel horsepower from a Cobra intake swap alone, realistically.

I'd planned just to do the cobra now, since my E7's are ported and i don't want fitment issues or a mismatched setup in the future. I hope to buy a TF top end kit next year, so then i'll just sell the cobra. It's also a DD(kinda) so i dont really want it down for a week or two.]

edit: BUT, for maybe 10 hp rwhp increase, i dont think its worth the time or effort! I was really hoping to see 20 or 30 at the rear with my mods. (My heads were professionally ported and polished) Is this not going to happen? (I had thought a new intake would let me see gains until my heads became the biggest restriction again.) If so, maybe i'll just wait for the top end kit and only have to do it once.
 
I would say skip on it this year. Because next year, you will want to do heads or a cam. That means you will have to just take it back off again. I doubt it would improve 20-25HP. The 93 Cobras were 240HP vs. 225 GT/LX's. they had different heads/cam and intake. I know the 93 Cobras are "underrated" but that isn't enough gain for the money without the heads and cam.
 
I'd planned just to do the cobra now, since my E7's are ported and i don't want fitment issues or a mismatched setup in the future. I hope to buy a TF top end kit next year, so then i'll just sell the cobra. It's also a DD(kinda) so i dont really want it down for a week or two.]

edit: BUT, for maybe 10 hp rwhp increase, i dont think its worth the time or effort! I was really hoping to see 20 or 30 at the rear with my mods. (My heads were professionally ported and polished) Is this not going to happen? (I had thought a new intake would let me see gains until my heads became the biggest restriction again.) If so, maybe i'll just wait for the top end kit and only have to do it once.

i also have p/p E7's, a mild cam and the cobra intake, and the combo is great:nice:
 
Right now, unless you got larger plans in the future, just get your stock lower ported, if you can wait a week or two to get it back. If not, buy an intake and swap in a day. I'd go for a Performer intake or similar, they have a little room for growth later and a nice useable powerband.

I would expect 10-15 flywheel horsepower from a Cobra intake swap alone, realistically.

Great advise, you can buy a ported lower from Tmoss and send him yours as a core.
 
hmmm... you have any track times or dyno #'s?

I have a similar combo, some head work, Cobra intake, stock cam... Ive been 12.95 @ 106 on the 18" street tires and 12.56 4 years ago on slicks. Car used to make 272/316, with the 18s and a different exhaust made 258/295 (made this power on the 12.95 street tire run).

With just a Cobra intake, exhaust, gears and tires it went 13.05 @ 103 on a tire.

87fox, whose Camaro did you run, what color? I ran a red Z28 and walked a car or two on him, and a silver LS1 on a 3rd gear roll and we were dead even. (Closed Course)
 
you knew i was gonna do it as soon as i saw this.

1 million H.P.
Dr_Evil.jpg
 
I have a similar combo, some head work, Cobra intake, stock cam... Ive been 12.95 @ 106 on the 18" street tires and 12.56 4 years ago on slicks. Car used to make 272/316, with the 18s and a different exhaust made 258/295 (made this power on the 12.95 street tire run).

With just a Cobra intake, exhaust, gears and tires it went 13.05 @ 103 on a tire.

87fox, whose Camaro did you run, what color? I ran a red Z28 and walked a car or two on him, and a silver LS1 on a 3rd gear roll and we were dead even. (Closed Course)

the camaro was a silverish/grayish LS1, just bumped into him on the uhh highway lol