You should be able to find the King Cobra for a lot less than that (at least before shipping), I paid $100 (open box unused) for mine at the Fun Ford Weekend swapmeet at Ennis, there were a number of vendors that were selling them from $140-160.
Spec II is definitely the way to go, or even Centerforce Dual Friction. Remember that you get what you pay for, and there is a reason why the King Cobra is $100 less.
GET THE SPEC!! I have burned through king cobras b4 and my spec stage II feels much better than a king cobra anyways. Pedal feel and response when worn in feels almost stock but better, it doesnt heat up easy at all.
The SPEC stage II is a more durable unit with a higher capacity. From a capacity standpoint, compare the stage I to the KC but I think even the stage I will out live the Ford.
Centerforce Dual Friction is what i just put in my 01 gt and i could tell a diff. but it wont lower our ets unless your clutch was slipping and you ran like a 15.5 like the slow.0's do. That is the only way that it would increase your etsi would perfer the Centerforce Dual Friction is stead of SPEC II just my .02 though
My clutch gave me ET because the stock was slipping pretty baddly. I didn't realize how badly until I switched it went from 13.0s to 12.8s. I have a king cobra and its working fine I try to go to the track at least once a month. I will say I've only had it since September. But it works great. I making 387lbft to the tires and don't have slippage problems what so ever. I drive on nitto 555r as well. You made need something stronger if you are running stickier tires. Bu5t think of your clutch as a fuse If you get something stronger than the rest of your drivetrain it will be more expensive to replace. Just my .02
I just got a SPEC 2 put in & it grabs much harder than stock. I do have Throwout Bearing whistling again, even worse than stock but I think it's cuz I'm running the stock cable/quadrant. I'm planning on ordering them soon.
I drove/raced the hell out of my King Cobra($150) and never had any problems. My car made 330/420 to the wheels with a 75 shot. I had it inspected when I had the new motor installed and was told it looked fine I only bought the Spec since I was adding quite a bit more power. If you don't plan on getting a power adder, it should be sufficient.