We have the same trannies.. I am trying to talk my buddy into getting gears.. I personally think he would ride the "F" out with gears.. How much are they for the 03 Cobra's and what would he need to change the pcm's calibration? On LS1's 4.10's alone will get you mid 12's with drag radials. Thats if he/she is a good driver.. I would think gears would put the 03 Cobra right at 12 flat or high 11's with drag radials and exhaust work.. What do you guys think?
What about 4.10's or 4.30's for the 03's?
- Thread starter DaTruth
- Start date
No.
3.55's are almost too much for a stock '03 Cobra. 4.10's or 4.30's would be wayyyy too much. You wouldn't get any traction at all.
raiders03
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If you could get traction you would get into high 11's. Better get some 11 inch rims with 335's on the rear.
I remember reading one board member swapped his rear gears for some 4:10's. IMO it's not worth the trouble and the halfshafts would most likely be destroyed.
Too much gear unless you're going to go with a tall tire.
Wow!!! I am trying to understand why it is too much.. Do you not have the same tranny as me? Why do other SC'd mustangs run 3.73's to 4.56's? I think with traction 4.10's would be perfect for the 03 Cobra.. My rationale is when I race a 03 Cobra with similar horsepower as me I pull away secondary to gearing I think.. This is just my opinion..
I have a 98 Cobra with 4.30's. It's N/A, and doesn't hookup until halfway thru 2nd gear. With my 03... It would even be worse (think... 275rwtq vs 375rwtq).
Gears work so well on the 98 because it helps the motor pull into the higher revs quicker. Hell... The 98's peak power is almost 6k, and pulls to 7k! The 03 doesn't need to rev nearly as much to make power. The torque pulls it thru.
I am making 390rwtq on my current setup with 4.10's. I know on regular street tires you would not hook, but I would think 275 nitto drag radials would hook up better.. I have buddies with 315 drag radials riding out on much more power and 4.10's. I know SC'd LS1's love gears.. It gets them in the powerband that much quicker.. I still think since we have the same transmissions with the same gear ratio's 4.10's with sticky tires would be nice.. Even the 96-98 cobra's with kenne bells are running 4.10's...and thats with a 5 speed with a 3.37 first gear.
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Different kinda blower. We can have 500 rwtq before the centrfigal blowers start making any real difference- We don't need RPM to make power. With all the bolt-on's we're laying down as much or more power through 9" 275/17's than a new Viper SRT 10 is through a solid axel and 13" 345/30-19's. And 96-98 Cobra's have solid axle.
I'm glad someone else brought this up; I have been contemplating gears for some time. The SN95 Vobras are running gears ranging from 4:10 to 4:56 and recommend them wholeheartedly. The T45 has a 3.36 first gear; the T56 has a 2.66. If anyone is going to have traction problems, one would think the former would. In addition, the SN95s are lighter than our '03s. I can't help but think that we could benefit greatly with gears.
For those with gears, please chime in and give us some first hand input.
For those with gears, please chime in and give us some first hand input.
Looks like someone else beat to it regarding this point.:-D
I had been asking myself this same question, because I thought it would be nice to have a bit more grunt without having to get into the boost. I don't think I've seen any more than perhaps two 03's on this site with the gears changed, and I'm guessing there's a reason why. I get my 03 in 7 days
so I'll wait untill I have a bit more seat time to make up my mind.
so I'll wait untill I have a bit more seat time to make up my mind.I have a different car with 650 rwtq, and I have 3.55's, and if I were to make a change, it would probably be a ratio closer to ~3.
Theres so much torque, firs tis useless, and the time it takes me to melt the tires in first and then shift, I could start in second and done better, i.e., it is to much gear. Now if I had slicks on, that would be different, so you have to look at what you will run.
Theres so much torque, firs tis useless, and the time it takes me to melt the tires in first and then shift, I could start in second and done better, i.e., it is to much gear. Now if I had slicks on, that would be different, so you have to look at what you will run.
4.10's are too tall, 3.90's would be a better choice. If you did a search, god forbid:rollseyes , you would see that this has been discussed before. So, if no one seems eager to engage the wanna-be token chebby guy in discussion about gears for the 2003 Cobra, don't take it personal.
Oh, BTW, a stock 2003 Cobra can do very low 12's, on F1's, with a good driver. Just making sure your revisionist history is correct.;-)
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Turbo cars seem to like a bit less gear than supercharged cars. Think it has to do with the turbos being loaded by the smaller gear and building more boost because of it. I still think a 03 Cobra with an auto and solid axle would be a mid 10 second car easy. Has anyone ever swapped the blower for a turbo? The stock short block is plenty strong and would take plenty of turbo boost. :beer:
Bruce
It's only a matter of time.:beer:
Silver 03 Cobra
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I've had 3 different ratios in my rear and I choose to take the 5th. I have the best gear there is for the rwhp I'm running.
I was thinking about gears to, but then I heard that I would be fighting for traction until 2nd or 3rd gear and it's be even harder on street tires, my advice put the money elsewhere
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