Cobra Newbie

[Knightrous]

My sons just bought me a stock 2003 Cobra for my birthday. Really nice car only has 8700 miles on it. Ready to start the upgrades, What do you suggest for headers and exhaust? want a good deep rumble but still be able to carry on a conversation inside the car.

 

[ITSTOCK]

Exhausts ruin these car, do the pulley/intake/injectors route and keep the stock exhaust as long as you can. The blower note is way more intoxicating than the exhaust.

 

[mustangvsix]

Look for a catted h-pipe and a chambered muffler to keep noise down but have a classic rumble. For more exotic noise go with a catted x pipe and something more free flowing. I personally run a bassani catted x and their cat back and love it. Not too loud to hold a normal conversation, but gives it a great sound. Exhaust does not ruin these cars and is a great way to free up hp.

 

[Brutal Metal]

Off road H midpipe with a chambered 2.5" catback kit is what I have.

 

[AznPrswayzn]

As long as you keep it catted it won't be too loud. I had a catted x-pipe with magnaflows for a bit. Nice deep sound but not too loud. Ended up getting a catless x-pipe and now it sounds awesome. Very deep aggresive tone

 

[GDDYUP]

I just bought The Magnaflow 15644 SS cat back for my 03. It was a toss up between the MF, the Borla Stinger, and the Bassani. Ended up going with the Magnaflow in the end because I got a good deal on it off Amazon. I wasn't looking for anything obnoxious or too loud. I've had that on my other 2 Fox bodies and this car is a nice change for me. I like the stock sound, but I wanted something with a little more tone and the flow benefit.

My advice? Get on youtube and search "Mustang Cobra Terminator Exhaust". You'll find a TON of videos with almost every setup you can imagine. Listen to a bunch and then go from there. Many have a listing of what the mods are, and most have at least what the exhaust setup is. Just remember with the ones that have no cats, the tone will be slightly different and not as loud if you run cats which I myself recommend.

 

[InvisibleBlade]

As long as you keep it catted it won't be too loud. I had a catted x-pipe with magnaflows for a bit. Nice deep sound but not too loud. Ended up getting a catless x-pipe and now it sounds awesome. Very deep aggresive tone

+1 Keeping a catted midpipe will keep you legal, if it matters, and give you a good sound. I have the same setup as AznPrswayzn and I think it's the perfect street setup. Good sounding, but perfectly tolerable when driving normally and loud when you get on it.

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?316340-Started-On-The-Exhaust-Soundboard

 

[HudsonFalcon]

Have a MRT catted H pipe with a Magnaflow catback on my Cobra and it has a very nice rumble.

 

[P49Y-CY]

Exhaust is probably the single best first mod for these cars. You have so many good choices available. Any catback in conjunction with the stock h-pipe will keep the car civil. When you swap the mid-pipe it can start to get pretty loud.

Borla stingers are an excellent choice.

Congrats and enjoy!

 

[InvisibleBlade]

A Cobra with a catback is how these car should have come from the factory!

 

[stangfreak]

These cars really open up with a simple catback and a simple cold air intake. when I bought my cobra back in 03, I did the borla stinger catback and a steeda cold air intake. The car dynoed at 427 rwhp 396rwtq. Car gained a lot power. They really are choked up from the factory. If I could go back in time I would have kept my car with the simple bolt on's I did.

2.80 upper pulley
steeda tri ax shifter
steeda cold air intake
borla stinger catback
Tune.

Done. car made excellent power and went mid 11's all day. simple setup. stock manifolds, stock midpipe, passed inspection, sounded amazing, nothing loud and reliable.

 

[stangfreak]

As the wise jimmy vaccaro once told me, be careful of the slippery slope.

 

[P49Y-CY]

If I could go back in time I would have kept my car with the simple bolt on's I did.

2.80 upper pulley
steeda tri ax shifter
steeda cold air intake
borla stinger catback
Tune.

Done. car made excellent power and went mid 11's all day. simple setup. stock manifolds, stock midpipe, passed inspection, sounded amazing, nothing loud and reliable.

As the wise jimmy vaccaro once told me, be careful of the slippery slope.

That's good advice that I need to listen to. I don't like the fact that there are factory cars this fast nowadays, but that's just progress I suppose

 

[joker21705]

Slp long tubes, Slp x-pipe w/cats , American thunder cat back with super 40's and it has that rumble not raspy at all , i have debated on swapping the cat back out with a bassani though.

 

[MagnaFlow]

There is some very useful info in this thread!

Our Street catback #15644 seems to be exactly what you are looking for. It brings out the deep, powerful V8 sound, but maintains the perfect volume for daily driving. Under normal cruising the volume is very moderate, but opens up once you start to get on the throttle more!

You can find more info on it at the link below. If you'd like any additional info, give us a shout!

http://www.magnaflow.com/products?partNumber=15644

 

[UnrealSVT]

Congrats on the low mileage terminator! I think the first few things always done would be an intake, exhaust and short shifter. Alot of guys including myself are very happy with the MGW "standard" handled short shifter, Borla Stinger Catback and either the JLT or the K&N FIPK2 intake. Just a few to get you started.

Oh, and subframe connectors! Lol

Enjoy it!

 

[nxhappy]

holy old thread batman ....

 

[UnrealSVT]

holy old thread batman ....

I didn't even see the dates on the thread lol. Sitting here at work bored...