Trans Am vs. 99+ cobra

nmcgrawj · Sep 10, 2007

hey guys, i still havent made many moves since totalling my car. School started so im getting back into the swing of things(im actually bored in class right now ). Either way, i cant make a clear decision on which car i'd like to get next. I know i like the styling of the trans am more and obviously the LS1 motors are phenominal motors, but i have yet to hear a GM car(minus vettes) that sound as good as stangs. And also i think working on a stang is easier than working on a motor thats half under the front dash. But then again i've never tried out those 4.6's....especially those of the DOHC variety.

So with that said, what are your opinions? Dont give me any BS and just say "screw GM, get a stang!" cause u own a stang or whatever, give me some comments based on experience. I know some of u have had these cars or are in groups with friends that have them, so therefore are around them all day. Im NOT a brand fanatic thats just going to say Ford no matter what. The fact is both are proven to be solid cars, so yea....let me hear it!

Pokageek · Sep 10, 2007

There is no sound like a 4.6 or 5.0 period. They sound like the meanest beasts on the planet. That's why I left GM and came to Ford. The dohc's trade off to the trans is the low end GRUNT, and if you have had one, you will be missing it. If you haven't, then you won't notice.. I noticed and that's why I went larger on the cubes.

1slow95 · Sep 10, 2007

NOTHING is easier to work on than a 5.0 stang. The mod motors are easy to work with until you need to take the valve covers off. They're just too big to work on comfortably inside the car. Removing and reinstalling the transmission in a 4.6 stang is nowhere near as easy as removing the old T-5.

I have no experience with the GM cars. My cousin had an LT1 T/A and I know it was a pain to work on(i.e. spark plugs) The LSx's don't sound that bad with a good exhaust and a few mods.

My vote goes for a KB 99+ Stang.

ga94gt · Sep 10, 2007

I have some friends that have f-bodys and the only real good thing in the cars are the motors. The one thing that sticks out in my mind is the interior and how poor the craftmanship is. All the interior pieces rattle along with the door panals and the AC vents falling out.

One of the cars i was talking about has mid tubes,y-pipe,and catback, and it sounds NOwhere near as good as a mustang with same stuff done.

My vote 99+ stang just my 02. Good luck with the decsision

final5-0 · Sep 10, 2007

My best friend had a 99 Cobra and I drove it many times.

While it made 300 plus at the crank

It was only getting started to be felt at mid rpm

If you floored it at say 20mph in 3rd gear .......
it did not really pull much until about 4500 rpm

It was a real bow wow down low

Now ... if you did like a drag strip launch ........
it would move on out pretty good

As for me ... it was kinda like a light switch

Either ... all on ... OR ... all off

Not my idea of an ideal power band for a street car

Kinda like a two stroke bike
or
Turbo cars from the past

You had to have the R's up for any kind of power to be felt if you did not
want to have to wait for the power to build :Word:

Grady

xr8d302 · Sep 10, 2007

Trans Am's are dead sexy, and the low end grunt, as mentioned, is abundant compared to the 4.6. That could be solved with a few bucks put into your modular though

Sound - throw some magnapacks on your 4.6 and you'll never be happier. That said, a good exhaust on a 5.7 sounds quite impressive as well, but it'll never be the same as your mustang sound

Alas, I have to stress, the build quality of the Trans Am and Camaro are horrible at best. It will squeak and rattle from day one, and get much worse over time. If it's a T-top, (not even sure if they made those for the TA's during the last few years), be prepared for some serious leakage problems, and last, but not least, the passenger side hump in the floor is a big inconvenience to any passengers you might have.

Grn92LX · Sep 10, 2007

Cobra and don't be afraid to gear it accordingly. My buddy has an 01 and it rides REAL nice and looks great in my rearview

drewzx3 · Sep 10, 2007

My friend had a 98 with a a few slp parts and hypertech but it was an automatic. It ran good but it wasnt that impressive. I hated the interior riding on the passenger side I couldnt even hardly see over the dash. I'm 5'8". Airbags popped out while just riding down the road to.

5spd GT · Sep 10, 2007

I have raced both a 99 (pre-intake fix) and 01. My mild h/c/i car pulls on them fairly hard even on the i-state, it doesn't take much They trap 102-104mph.

I like the ls1's 3.620" stroke, and it's potential is opened up with a cam and longtube swap, nearing a broad powerband peaking near 400rwhp. Decent stock heads from the factory. Nice options as far as stroking it. Larger cam cores than a 5.0L, better valvetrain (lighter/and better valve angles), large valves. A good engine to try to 'perfect'...

If you go with an ls1, I'd would get the ws6 package. They look mean and sophisticated at the same time, while being different than 'just another stang'...

The factory bottomend rotating assembly can take more power, and the blocks go pretty far as well.

I think the interiors are fine, if you find a nice car

Bone stock, a few have gotten up and near 30mpg under ideal conditions. Something to shoot for anyways...

www.ls1howto.com has some of the best write-ups I have seen, for heads and cam swaps if you ever have the dough to do it, later

Now, the 99 (intake recall fixed) or 01 DOHC are nice as well, they just have a peaky power, but are good with boost if you build the bottomend, or just keep it at reasonable boost levels.

Yes, I like ls1's...lol.

In the end, it is your money and get the car that draws you to it, whether it is a ls1 or cobra. Just picture long-term, since you will be making payments...

Danman765432 · Sep 10, 2007

my brother owns a 99 Z28 and the car is fast as anything. He did a h/c/i to the car and made 430 rwhp. He did all the work in my driveway and he had the car apart for about a week because his camshaft got held up during shipping. He probably really worked on it 3 1/2 days. The car also rides very smooth. He wound up putting some Koni DAs on it and new springs that lowered it about an inch and the car handles great. The only thing that he needs to do to the car is put a bigger rear on the car since the 10 bolt is not going to hold too much more power. He is going to upgrade it to a ford 9 inch rear and then he will be putting his nitrous back on.

At the same time of him doing all this he is thinking about selling the car...so i might actually try and pick it up.

here is his car:

blksn955.o · Sep 10, 2007

Buddy of mine has a 98 forumula and it is a damn good runner. I have heard of oil issues, known 2-3 personaly that had motors go out do to oil control issues...one guy actually had his starter pull the threads out of the block and ruin that area of the block needing a new block (aka whole new motor under warranty). I almost bought an F-body but in the end I like the mustang inside ALOT more. The LS1 is a great engine though. I would look at a used GTO to if possible I have like them for awhile.

Another buddy has a fairly stock 96 cobra and a set of 4.30 gears really WOKE it up. With a K&N, gears, shifter and some cobbled together (I mean welded peices of exh at the time) exh., and DR it ran like a 13.1 or 13.2. He has since added a magnaflow cat back, BBK x pipe, and a T56 and it pulls the buddies 98 formula that ran 13.2 with just gears and had longtubes and catless mid pipe at the time of the race.

I would love to have a 4v toy...too bad my buddy is wanting like 15k for his cobra.

5.0_GT_kid · Sep 10, 2007

Nate, what happened to your car? Are you going to buy it back from the insurance company?

5spd GT · Sep 10, 2007

Stock 96-98 Cobra traps 101-102 mph with a good driver. An ls1 can trap 108-110mph with a good driver.

nmcgrawj · Sep 10, 2007

5.0_GT_kid said:
Nate, what happened to your car? Are you going to buy it back from the insurance company?

Yea i bought it back from them. Its sitting on jack stands in the driveway.

And i have never had a F-body on a regular basis, but i doubt its THAT much better over mustangs. I can see a chance for more squeeks cause if u have T-tops the body is more prone to twist.

Oh, and i think i'd have to get a vert cobra if i did make that move.

GTO's are incredibly sexy inside and have a good amount of room under the hood, but i have YET to see a GTO that i'd like in my driveway. You all have seen pictures of my car, i just dont like PLAIN looking cars...which is exactly what the GTO is. And thats why i love the look of the WS6's so much.

I guess on the outside i'd vote for the TA, more power, great power gained/bolt ons ratio, and the looks. But i didnt think about T-tops leaking and working on it doesnt seem fun lol.

the one thing though is that yea, throw 4.30's in the rear of a cobra and it'll actually move, but what does that do to your cruising RPM and MPG? I wont be building a drag strip car, the car will be a daily driver. So in that comparison the TA seems to blow the cobra out of the water for the performance/MPG ratio.

Decisions decisions decisions....

nmcgrawj · Sep 10, 2007

I have actually read on the LS1 fbody sites about guys altering the floorpan to put duals on, say 2 40 series flows, which would sound damn mean. But i have no idea on how much work or the damage u actually have to do. And while u're at that, it wont have cats on it, so couldnt u flatten the bump in the floor if it bothered u THAT much.

blksn955.o · Sep 10, 2007

nmcgrawj said:
the one thing though is that yea, throw 4.30's in the rear of a cobra and it'll actually move, but what does that do to your cruising RPM and MPG? I wont be building a drag strip car, the car will be a daily driver. So in that comparison the TA seems to blow the cobra out of the water for the performance/MPG ratio.

Decisions decisions decisions....

My buds cobra got ok mileage with the t45 and with the t56 its really not bad. He had a bad o2 so his mpg was off when he got it and he changed it over when he did the t56/xpipe so its prob. squed. His other cars are a built 80T/A with a 400 (nothing stock) and a 2000 F150 so mpg is a kinda moot point...but the cobra is prob. the best over all.

droptopford 5 0 · Sep 10, 2007

I havnt had a chance to read the previous posts so some of this might be redundant, but ehre are my .02. i have had the experience of driving in a new edge mach 1 ( i can only assume it has similar power characteristics to a 99 cobra, as well as an 02 ws6 bird. i personally love the power of the ws6 and you really cant beat them out of the box in that aspect. however i like the mach 1 much better as far as the total package goes. i drove in both cars when they were about year after they were built (03 and 05 respectively) and the T-A with t tops had leakage and rattle problems whereas teh ford just seemed much more solid. if you keep both cars n/a you can obv. get more power from teh GM package because of the bigger cubes, awesome stock heads etc... but my vote would still have to go for the dohc ford. you can make the ford comparable in 1/4 times if you are willing to invest in the right areas, but stock for stock, the t/a WILL be faster and i still would love to own both cars. good luck man, and i dont think you can really go wrong with either decision, they both have their advantages and draw backs...

rj95svt · Sep 10, 2007

I have a friend that has a 2001 SS and it's a very fast car but it has it's drawbacks. The car's platforms are not very good and the steering wheel and controls are akward feeling. He has had a 94 Z and this SS and both cars had power window problems although both had t tops he never had a problem with either leaking. The Z had more miles on it and had a number of squeaks and rattles. His current SS doesn't squeak and rattle but it has a lot less miles on it (under 50,000) at 85,000 the Z sounded awful when you hit a bump.

I have driven a couple 03-04 mach 1's and I would buy a mach if I could afford one. They are pretty strong from the factory and feel much better built than a F body to me. I have heard a guy with a ls1 car say that the only mustangs that he has problems outrunning besides terminators for obvious reasons are mach 1's. They run very low 13's from the factory high 12's with DR's and a good driver and the shaker hoodscoop is just plain sexy!! THe downside is that the rods and pistons are known for being weak in forced induction applications and they don't respond as well as a LS1 to modifications N/A.

I am slightly biased towards a mach because I own a 70 mustang fastback that has a lot of factory mach 1 parts on it including a shaker hood scoop and have been a mustang fan since I was about 13. I would buy the mach but as I said I am biased. It's just my .02 cents.

nmcgrawj · Sep 11, 2007

Well i figured rattles and leaks are a mute point due to the fact that i'd be looking at a droptop stang.....which would flex/rattle/and have much more wind noise than a T-top fbody....

And it continues

EPIK · Sep 11, 2007

rj95svt said:
I have a friend that has a 2001 SS and it's a very fast car but it has it's drawbacks. The car's platforms are not very good and the steering wheel and controls are akward feeling. He has had a 94 Z and this SS and both cars had power window problems although both had t tops he never had a problem with either leaking. The Z had more miles on it and had a number of squeaks and rattles. His current SS doesn't squeak and rattle but it has a lot less miles on it (under 50,000) at 85,000 the Z sounded awful when you hit a bump.

I have driven a couple 03-04 mach 1's and I would buy a mach if I could afford one. They are pretty strong from the factory and feel much better built than a F body to me. I have heard a guy with a ls1 car say that the only mustangs that he has problems outrunning besides terminators for obvious reasons are mach 1's. They run very low 13's from the factory high 12's with DR's and a good driver and the shaker hoodscoop is just plain sexy!! THe downside is that the rods and pistons are known for being weak in forced induction applications and they don't respond as well as a LS1 to modifications N/A.

I am slightly biased towards a mach because I own a 70 mustang fastback that has a lot of factory mach 1 parts on it including a shaker hood scoop and have been a mustang fan since I was about 13. I would buy the mach but as I said I am biased. It's just my .02 cents.

Well said my freind...that being said, let me use a pic of my 03 Mach to coax u in the right direction...

Im biased because I own a Mach, but i would recomend 1 over the other cars you mentioned...

I have driven several cars including a 2000 SS 6 spd, & an 01 Cobra convertible, & both felt decently fast, but not that impessive to me. On the other hand, the Mach feels like it has the broadest powerband out of all the N/A cars I have driven, & it pulls like mad up top...

Trans Am vs. 99+ cobra

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