Should I blow all my money on my gt or save for a cobra?

blake44

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Aug 19, 2008
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I plan to get a new car in about 3 and 1/2 years and I want to get a 2003 cobra.

I have a 2003 mustang gt right now and want to put a twin cam in it or something along that with some other goodies but before I really start dumping cash in it should I just start saving for the cobra or just fully blow out my gt? It has 62k miles on it. How long should it last? I don't want to put too much money into it because I will only have it for another 3 or 4 years.

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By the way it looks so high because of the angle it's parked at on the driveway. I've already thought about dropping it but my pipes were customly welded on so if I go any lower I won't be able to make it over any speed bumps
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And I'm putting window tint, tail light tint, and new alpine type s speakers in it for Christmas.

If I'm going to save for the cobra, what else should I put in the gt and stop at?
 

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well if you already know ur only gona keep this car for 3 or so years start saving for that cobra, u got the wheels and exhaust so this car will look and sound good for the next 3 years while u save for that cobra
 
Personally, i'd keep the GT and build it to hell and back.

In 3-4 years your car won't be worth much compared to the Cobra, which I'm sure will still hold it's value the way that it has been since it's come out.

63k is nothing on these cars if they are mainatined well. I have 133k on mine and I beat the snot out of it, and have broken ZERO parts since I bought it with 93k on it.
 
well if you already know ur only gona keep this car for 3 or so years start saving for that cobra, u got the wheels and exhaust so this car will look and sound good for the next 3 years while u save for that cobra
Agreed - only if you plan on keeping the car for sure should you build it up. But generally i recommend building a GT over buying a 03 cobra. Even if you stay 2V - i've riden in many cobras - and at the end of the day 410rwhp is 410 rwhp. And in a lighter GT with the solid axle it's quite a ride. Yes they get way more power from bolt ones and have the exclusivity, but factor in being 3x's the price. A powerful GT is just the recipe for some smack down.
 
I say build the GT. From the pics I'd say you pretty much have all you need visually, so why not go ahead and beef it up some? As for the mileage, I would have to agree with what has been said above. I know some people that run their GT's pretty hard and have well over 100k miles on them with no problem.

Getting a Cobra would be cool no doubt, but when you have so much potential sitting in the driveway, how can you resist? :D
 
just build the GT its lighter and with the new trick flow heads that are out you can beat up on cobras all day long. that is if they are as good as they say they are. why go 4v when you have a 2v that flows better lol.
 
I'd agree with the most recent comments about building the GT, but don't go the NA route.

You said you want a cobra, but a lot will change in the next 3.5 years. By then, you may be married or have kids, or maybe both. ;) That will make it a lot more difficult to get your cobra, so enjoy what you have now.

Don't waste your time with NA bolt-ons. Go directly to a power adder, blowers are a lot of fun. Start saving for a blower now, and be sure to get the intercooled kit. When you get bored with that power level, you can add other bolt ons, like exhaust and a better intercooler, and smaller pulley for even more fun.

No need to worry about the mileage. Keep the maintance up and she will be good to you. My 97 has 156k miles and still runs great. It ran the unsually quick 14.2 with 150k miles even.
 
Only thing I'm worried about is this gt could possibly be a dud. The dealership I bought it from sold it to me and I had to drop 4 grand in it because of problems that they didn't tell me about. :mad: The intake manifold was cracked, all of the rims were completely warped which I found out when I got new tires and the old ones were taken off, a bunch of other little mishaps and so on. It makes me wonder if the car has been wrecked because if I look under the car it almost looks like there has been some bondo (sp?) put on the body underneath the car.
 
Intake manifold cracks are very common. It's a known problem and if the proper replacement with a metal crossover tube was installed, it will never be a problem.

It's hard to say what in the world would bend a wheel. You mean the run out was excessive or the wheel lips were bent? It's very common to put a bend in the wheel lip if you hit a curb head on. I have trouble imagining a situation in which all 4 wheels would be damaged with excessive runout without breaking. Poor manufacturing quality maybe. :shrug:
 
Well I would keep the GT you have now, Someone earlier mentioned that you may get married and have kids in three years.....you never know. You've got a great platform to start on right now, Keep your gt maintained and you will get tons of tire roasting miles out of it.

I would start with coil overs to get the ride height down to earth, then slap some gears (3.73) in there with a 100 shot...That'll make you fall in love with it all over again...you could get it all for around a grand if you find some good deals
 
Keep the GT, yeah cobras are awesome cars but if I was to go for another car I would pick up an S197s (cost less then a cobra) and go F/I. The s197s can hold a lot of power on the stock engine. I have a buddy running 440 rwhp (500+ crank) on his 2005 automatic GT. The car is a monster and all cost less then buying a cobra.
 
Keep the GT, yeah cobras are awesome cars but if I was to go for another car I would pick up an S197s (cost less then a cobra) and go F/I. The s197s can hold a lot of power on the stock engine. I have a buddy running 440 rwhp (500+ crank) on his 2005 automatic GT. The car is a monster and all cost less then buying a cobra.
just FYI, this is how I do it.
19%: 440/.81 = 543.2
20%: 440/.80 = 550
21%: 440/.79 = 556.96

My guess is a 5 speed auto is somewhere between #2 and 3
 
Keep the GT, yeah cobras are awesome cars but if I was to go for another car I would pick up an S197s (cost less then a cobra) and go F/I. The s197s can hold a lot of power on the stock engine. I have a buddy running 440 rwhp (500+ crank) on his 2005 automatic GT. The car is a monster and all cost less then buying a cobra.

The downside being that your friends 440RWHP car is maxed out and isn't bullet proof by any means. An 03-04 Cobra can make well into the 600RWHP range on the stock engine. I had the choice of going 03-04 Cobra or something else and I choose the Mach 1 because insurance was going to cost me double. The downside is that at 468RWHP I'm pushing the limit of the stock bottom end and have to build a shortblock if I want to add any power to the car. I still feel I made the right choice and am in the process of picking up parts for another short block. Really it should come down to what his goals are and go from there.

Bill
 
The downside being that your friends 440RWHP car is maxed out and isn't bullet proof by any means. An 03-04 Cobra can make well into the 600RWHP range on the stock engine. I had the choice of going 03-04 Cobra or something else and I choose the Mach 1 because insurance was going to cost me double. The downside is that at 468RWHP I'm pushing the limit of the stock bottom end and have to build a shortblock if I want to add any power to the car. I still feel I made the right choice and am in the process of picking up parts for another short block. Really it should come down to what his goals are and go from there.

Bill
Built shortblock:
New - $2250-2600
Built yourself with used cobra crank/block and new everything else scouting for deals - $1150-1700
Tumbler Port heads (if you want): $800
Lower intake (if you need): $700
IRS (if you want): Often free swap.
Cost of Cobra over a GT with same miles here - $15,000


:scratch:
 
The downside being that your friends 440RWHP car is maxed out and isn't bullet proof by any means. An 03-04 Cobra can make well into the 600RWHP range on the stock engine. I had the choice of going 03-04 Cobra or something else and I choose the Mach 1 because insurance was going to cost me double. The downside is that at 468RWHP I'm pushing the limit of the stock bottom end and have to build a shortblock if I want to add any power to the car. I still feel I made the right choice and am in the process of picking up parts for another short block. Really it should come down to what his goals are and go from there.

Bill

eh i dunno my brother has been on 471rwhp with his 07 GT for months now and just recently uped the boost to 12psi and is now putting down 507rwhp all stock motor. the 3vs hold a good bit of power. I have seen them making 600rwhp on stock motors as well. but then again i have seen some blow on 400rwhp. it all depends. same thing as the 2v. some blow on 350 some last past 500.

the main downside i see with a cobra is weight. they weigh like 3700lbs so you would need about 500rwhp to stay with a 450rwhp GT. my GT with full weight is 3400lbs.
 
I want to lower it but I'm already scraping on the speed bumps at my gym when I go over them if I hit them faster than 1mph so what do I do? Will lowering it a couple inches have me scraping everything? It's possible for me to avoid the speed bumps but I only have about 5 inches of clearance from the pipes to the ground
 
Built shortblock:
New - $2250-2600
Built yourself with used cobra crank/block and new everything else scouting for deals - $1150-1700
Tumbler Port heads (if you want): $800
Lower intake (if you need): $700
IRS (if you want): Often free swap.
Cost of Cobra over a GT with same miles here - $15,000


:scratch:

Uhh that would be a comparison from a GT to a 99, 01 Cobra not an 03 Cobra. Add in the eaton, intercooler, coolant tank, T-56 swap, 8 rib pulleys, injectors, fuel tank pumps and doesn't even get into the interior. Around here 03-04 Cobras are $20-25k, GTs anywhwere from $7-12k. By the time you add in the above and assuming you do it yourself that gap narrows alot. Not saying which is the best option but he was comparing his car to an 03-04 Cobra.

eh i dunno my brother has been on 471rwhp with his 07 GT for months now and just recently uped the boost to 12psi and is now putting down 507rwhp all stock motor. the 3vs hold a good bit of power. I have seen them making 600rwhp on stock motors as well. but then again i have seen some blow on 400rwhp. it all depends. same thing as the 2v. some blow on 350 some last past 500.

the main downside i see with a cobra is weight. they weigh like 3700lbs so you would need about 500rwhp to stay with a 450rwhp GT. my GT with full weight is 3400lbs.

Just because he's done it doesn't mean it's bullet proof. He and other pushing over 450RWHP is still pushing the limits of the stock bottom end. UPR had an '98 Cobra a long time ago with a stock engine that made 550RWHP and is the same crap bottom end I have in my Mach 1. I know it can be done but it's far from being bullet proof. A bad tank of gas, push it too hard one day or a bad tune and the engine is done for.

Yes weight is an issue but then again a couple of bolt ons and 500RWHP is no problem on those cars. Another example is UPR has a yellow 03 Cobra they just put a Hellion TT kit on and made 800+RWHP with it on a stock bottom end with low boost and a very conservative tune.

Bill
 
Uhh that would be a comparison from a GT to a 99, 01 Cobra not an 03 Cobra. Add in the eaton, intercooler, coolant tank, T-56 swap, 8 rib pulleys, injectors, fuel tank pumps and doesn't even get into the interior. Around here 03-04 Cobras are $20-25k, GTs anywhwere from $7-12k. By the time you add in the above and assuming you do it yourself that gap narrows alot. Not saying which is the best option but he was comparing his car to an 03-04 Cobra.
Since when does a 99/01 cobra have a built shortblock?
I was mainly comparing to the feature you implied that made a 03 cobra more suited - being able to handle power. Just saying if you want power then you don't need an 03 cobra. And you wouldn't need an 8rib kit and a dual pump tank to run the amount of power the M112 makes on the 03. But if you want the interior and looks might as well buy the cobra - but your post there was the first time anything other than power has been talked about. So I figured we were dealing more with "which would be best BANG for the buck" not bet investment, ride comfort, ect.