The 1994 to 2004 Ford Mustang will get overshadowed by the Fox Physique and the 2005 to 2014 automobiles. But it supplied an enormous leap ahead in efficiency over the Fox Physique and offers a way more reasonably priced choice to the newer Mustangs. The perfect automobiles of the bunch are the 2003 to 2004 Cobras geared up with a supercharged 4.6-liter V8 engine.
Just lately, Late Mannequin Restorations featured this Competitors Orange Ford Mustang Cobra on their YouTube channel. It is bone inventory apart from the Nitto NT555 D2 tires and Ford Racing differential cowl. Owned by Tony Messina, it is traveled solely 23K miles because it left the manufacturing facility and nonetheless appears to be like model new.
It additionally runs nearly as good because it appears to be like, with a throaty however refined rumble from the exhaust. Rated at 390 horsepower, the free-revving engine breathes by means of a 32-valve DOHC cylinder head and redlines at 6,100 RPM. There’s torque all over the place, peaking at 390 pound-feet, offering a pleasant, flat powerband.
Nicknamed the “Terminator” by the SVT engineers, the 2003 to 2004 Cobras are rumored to make extra horsepower than marketed. It is doable Ford downplayed the ability numbers after the fiasco with the 1999 Cobra, which made solely 285 horsepower as a substitute of the claimed 320. However in any case, the 2004 Cobra rips off a pair of 394 horsepower dyno runs. Torque is a wholesome 377 pound-feet at 3,100 RPM. Each numbers are spectacular for an virtually 20-year-old automobile and higher than the same 2003 Mustang Cobra with solely 2,500 miles on the odometer.
Equally spectacular is the Mustang Cobra’s {hardware}. Along with the 32-valve DOHC V8, Ford added an Eaton M-112 roots-type supercharger. A Tremec T-56 6-speed handbook transmission places the ability right down to an unbiased rear suspension and differential with a 3.55:1 final-drive ratio.
The 2004 Mustang Cobra is arguably not as refined as a contemporary Ford Mustang, however its efficiency shouldn’t be far off. It could be cool to see a drag race with Mustangs from completely different eras, like a contemporary GT and a 1970 Boss 302, and even up towards a Mustang Mach-E like this race final summer time.
