Whippled 600rwhp Terminator hung with me...

[5.0 guy]

I loved lots of things about my old 03 Cobra, but there was one similar characteristic between the 03 and the 13 that made me finally update the old girl last year. In 2003 you got 425hp (it was not the underrated claim of 390hp) and with the most minor of boltons (pulley, CAI, exhaust, and tune) you got anywhere from 440-460hp at the wheels. That's it. You could do more if you wanted to, but at that level I found myself having a ball and the car had barely been changed from it's stock form. The closer you keep a car to stock, the longer it will live without frustrating headaches in my opinion. I don't want to rip the guts out of my cars and dump a ton of money into it. I like to enhance what we're given from the factory, and the 03 Cobra was amazing in that department.

Fastforward to now and I feel like the '13 gives me the exact same scenario. Now we get 662hp and with the same sort of simple boltons (pulley, CAI, TB, and a Tune) you get 700+ at the wheels. You still keep the car mostly stock, yet you have a ton of power that should be more than enough to enjoy yourself with. In my mind, it's the exact same setup as the 03 was, just updated. The 03 was a giant leap over the competition and the previous Cobra, just as the '13 is. To me, the two cars are of the same DNA. I don't see the 03 doing anything better than the '13, but that doesn't make me love my old 03 any less. It was raw, which made me love it that much more! I suppose I'll trade in my '13 in 2023 for whatever Ford comes up with next, since that seems to be my pattern, but it's going to have to have that same DNA if they want to grab my attention. Just like the two most enjoyable cars I've ever owned did.:beer:

Hell yeah, good read!:rockon:

 

[04MystiCobra]

Lol.

 

[SlowSVT]

For a fellow opinionated engineer, Full subframe connectors help, I know as it was one of my first mods. I understand the S197 has a double floor reinforcements in certain areas and does not need Subframe connectors. The Camaro, being derived from the Holden Chassis are tanks. (Yeech)

Paint body panel fit, some interior pieces, electrical switches, & switch gear sending units, things like the power window design, etc. reflect the common pony car which the Mustang Cobra is derived. Not horrible, and the current GT 500 is better still but not mid 1990's Honda quality IMHO.

I like the 13 interior, just not crazy about the retro steering wheel. (Or the so 1990's 03 Cobra wheel)

The words "opinionated" and "engineer" go together like oil and water. Where I come from my opinion is the last thing they are interested in and already have a few of their own by the time we get to that subject oke:

Engineer, what "branch" are you in?

I almost missed your response buried in the quote. Your use of the term "heat rejection" is what thru me off. Aluminum has no issue with that. The problem you are describing is the lack of a coolant outlet on the back of the LH head and the exposed exhaust valve guides that gets fried from extended WOT runs. The coolant flow issues can be addressed, the valve guides can't :nonono:

Still not sure what the basis is regarding quality :shrug: Most of your issues cited are electrical and after 10 years no one is groaning about reliability (one guy just posted he past 350K on the clock). The problem with the Terminator is that it needs mod to be reliable after you pass the 500-600 hp mark but then again what would be the fun of it if it didn't? :coolman:

Lots of rendering being posted of the 2015 model with one based on spy photos shown below. It looks smaller, a little more aerodynamic and will have an IRS again :thumbsup:

If it comes out like this I will be jumping and hollering :banana: though I don't think those rear flairs would go over real big for some (how do you put a 4 cylinder engine in that? :shrug This is just plain badass!!!!!!!!!!!! :mj:

If it comes out like this I want someone's head on a stick, they need to slope the hood more and lose the "Large Mouth Bass grill"! but something tells me this is close :cuss: (spy photo based rendering)

The new rollout should be exciting I hope they don't put off the GT500 model (which will be called something else, perhaps just "Cobra" or T2) like they did in 05.

 

[5.0 guy]

It's the rear end that bothers me, it just doesn't look like a Mustang. I said a while back in a thread about the 15 that I would watch for a test model to roll through here since they always do, the new Vipers did and stopped at the light right in front of me. I went to Ford to talk with a friend here that is up in our local Ford dealer and got a call a few weeks ago that a test Mistang was parked at a restaraunt in town with a bunch of Ford guys eating lunch. He said they drive down an looked at it and it looked to them like an early SVT test car with all of the odds and end SVT parts bolted on from past models. He did say that it looked like a twin turbo for sure. Wish he had called me since I would have been smart to take some Picts. Just thought I would pass that on for anyone interested.

 

[stangfreak]

I'm not sure why you think your car has a piece of crap 4.6, I think it's been great and have owned mine since 03 brand new. If you're making 700+HP then I'm sure your car has walked many in the past and will continue too for time to come. I have my 03 Cobra, 08 GT 500 and my 13 GT 500 parked together in one of my garages and I love them all for different reasons and don't view one as better then the other. The 13 is definitely an incredible car from factory and even better in modded form, I feel proud sitting at the light in anyone of them! It is interesting to hear that you have the tick and still running strong since evryone made such a big deal back then about it, here's to many more miles to you sir!:beer:

Now that is a nice collection!!!! I am jealous lol. The 2013 is just beast. I wish I was able to park one next to my cobra.

The tick never really effected the performance the cars. Heck I remember JT, I think that was his name, was one of the original guys that started going 11's with bolt ons. Well deep in the 11's. His car had the tick. But people did make a big deal back then.

I love my cobra. It's violent. Just stabbing the throttle a tad the car just jolts foward like its pissed off. It's tuned to be always on kill. Yet the motor still is in place. Thanks for the kind words my friend. Again I envy your collection :rockon:

 

[stangfreak]

I loved lots of things about my old 03 Cobra, but there was one similar characteristic between the 03 and the 13 that made me finally update the old girl last year. In 2003 you got 425hp (it was not the underrated claim of 390hp) and with the most minor of boltons (pulley, CAI, exhaust, and tune) you got anywhere from 440-460hp at the wheels. That's it. You could do more if you wanted to, but at that level I found myself having a ball and the car had barely been changed from it's stock form. The closer you keep a car to stock, the longer it will live without frustrating headaches in my opinion. I don't want to rip the guts out of my cars and dump a ton of money into it. I like to enhance what we're given from the factory, and the 03 Cobra was amazing in that department.

Fastforward to now and I feel like the '13 gives me the exact same scenario. Now we get 662hp and with the same sort of simple boltons (pulley, CAI, TB, and a Tune) you get 700+ at the wheels. You still keep the car mostly stock, yet you have a ton of power that should be more than enough to enjoy yourself with. In my mind, it's the exact same setup as the 03 was, just updated. The 03 was a giant leap over the competition and the previous Cobra, just as the '13 is. To me, the two cars are of the same DNA. I don't see the 03 doing anything better than the '13, but that doesn't make me love my old 03 any less. It was raw, which made me love it that much more! I suppose I'll trade in my '13 in 2023 for whatever Ford comes up with next, since that seems to be my pattern, but it's going to have to have that same DNA if they want to grab my attention. Just like the two most enjoyable cars I've ever owned did.:beer:

:rockon: well said.

 

[93 347 Cobra]

Don't get butthurt, I owned my '03 from new for 10 years until I sold it for my '13. I loved the car but if you think (which IS what you claimed) that car is more slippery than a vehicle that Ford did everything they could to make hit 200mph, then you're just being blindly biased.

The part about "all mustangs being bricks" isn't even a topic being argued, btw.

Lethalchem,

You're wrong on this. The '03s have a smaller frontal area with a similar drag coefficient which makes them more aerodynamic. The difference with the GT500s is that they're designed to produce downforce at speed to keep them from starting to float.

 

[Lethalchem]

Lethalchem,

You're wrong on this. The '03s have a smaller frontal area with a similar drag coefficient which makes them more aerodynamic. The difference with the GT500s is that they're designed to produce downforce at speed to keep them from starting to float.

Ford documentation said not only did it produce more downforce but also had a 14% improvement in it's COD. :shrug:

 

[5.0 guy]

Now that is a nice collection!!!! I am jealous lol. The 2013 is just beast. I wish I was able to park one next to my cobra.

The tick never really effected the performance the cars. Heck I remember JT, I think that was his name, was one of the original guys that started going 11's with bolt ons. Well deep in the 11's. His car had the tick. But people did make a big deal back then.

I love my cobra. It's violent. Just stabbing the throttle a tad the car just jolts foward like its pissed off. It's tuned to be always on kill. Yet the motor still is in place. Thanks for the kind words my friend. Again I envy your collection :rockon:

Thanks, my wife laughs at me since I treat my 03 like a child, 18,000 miles and its still never seen a rain storm. It will always be a special car in the performance community IMO.

 

[mike69440]

What will the 15 look like?

Engineer, what "branch" are you in?

I almost missed your response buried in the quote. Your use of the term "heat rejection" is what thru me off. Aluminum has no issue with that. The problem you are describing is the lack of a coolant outlet on the back of the LH head and the exposed exhaust valve guides that gets fried from extended WOT runs. The coolant flow issues can be addressed, the valve guides can't :nonono:

Still not sure what the basis is regarding quality :shrug: Most of your issues cited are electrical and after 10 years no one is groaning about reliability (one guy just posted he past 350K on the clock). The problem with the Terminator is that it needs mod to be reliable after you pass the 500-600 hp mark but then again what would be the fun of it if it didn't? :coolman:

Lots of rendering being posted of the 2015 model with one based on spy photos shown below. It looks smaller, a little more aerodynamic and will have an IRS again :thumbsup:

The new rollout should be exciting I hope they don't put off the GT500 model (which will be called something else, perhaps just "Cobra" or T2) like they did in 05.

+30 years old fart Mechanical, focus on rotating equipment, pumps, machinery.
Working in machine tool fixture design now.

As I have not done much else than change oil and tires on my 03 in the last 40K miles, I guess I have to admit it has been reliable once properly modded & issues were straightened out. I hope the 13-14 GT500's prove reliable.

It will be real interesting to get the low down on the next gen Mustang.
I hope I am as impressed with Fords effort as I am at the C&, even though I have not seen/rode/drove a new Vette.

I can't see the 5.8 power level being eclipsed by the next geeration by much if at all. But, I don't think the next SVT Mustang will be much less powerful, and should be able to put what it has to the ground better.

 

[13RaceRedShelby]

as i skim through the responses to my original post, I might have missed this but the point at which you have to go to race fuel is also a consideration. I've heard (I know, bad way to learn things lol) that the terminators are about maxed out on pump gas around the 600-630 RWHP mark. The block can hold up to 1000hp but race fuel is needed. Some of the Term owners will have to chime in on this one.

 

[13RaceRedShelby]

At the time of the race, it was a RevanRacing 13-5 kit and 3.73 gears.

It's on youtube.

At first he inched, but as soon as I hit third I walked away. also, when I was in third, he was in 4th according to him, our Gears are TALL, and don't have to shift as much.

Anyway, we started at 30mph and second gear, that's probably why he got some of the hit, My RPM's were still low, at that speed. If He beat me, I was going to drop it to first and run again, but didn't end up needing to.

He had just got his car dyno'd a few days before and hit 595-600 can't remember exactly, but he was sure he was going to leave my car in the dust...

I think he has done more to his car since that race, He didn't like losing.

Man, i just looked at the comments on your video and noticed the Term had a 235 pound passenger. Come on man! That plus your cars gears and throttle body make quite a difference from my scenerio. oke:

;-)

 

[SlowSVT]

as i skim through the responses to my original post, I might have missed this but the point at which you have to go to race fuel is also a consideration. I've heard (I know, bad way to learn things lol) that the terminators are about maxed out on pump gas around the 600-630 RWHP mark. The block can hold up to 1000hp but race fuel is needed. Some of the Term owners will have to chime in on this one.

That's about right. 630 is about the most you will see on 93 pump gas in the 4.6

 

[rwboring]

Engineer, what "branch" are you in?

I almost missed your response buried in the quote. Your use of the term "heat rejection" is what thru me off. Aluminum has no issue with that. The problem you are describing is the lack of a coolant outlet on the back of the LH head and the exposed exhaust valve guides that gets fried from extended WOT runs. The coolant flow issues can be addressed, the valve guides can't

Still not sure what the basis is regarding quality

Most of your issues cited are electrical and after 10 years no one is groaning about reliability (one guy just posted he past 350K on the clock). The problem with the Terminator is that it needs mod to be reliable after you pass the 500-600 hp mark but then again what would be the fun of it if it didn't?

Lots of rendering being posted of the 2015 model with one based on spy photos shown below. It looks smaller, a little more aerodynamic and will have an IRS again

The new rollout should be exciting I hope they don't put off the GT500 model (which will be called something else, perhaps just "Cobra" or T2) like they did in 05.

+30 years old fart Mechanical, focus on rotating equipment, pumps, machinery.
Working in machine tool fixture design now.

As I have not done much else than change oil and tires on my 03 in the last 40K miles, I guess I have to admit it has been reliable once properly modded & issues were straightened out. I hope the 13-14 GT500's prove reliable.

It will be real interesting to get the low down on the next gen Mustang.
I hope I am as impressed with Fords effort as I am at the C&, even though I have not seen/rode/drove a new Vette.

I can't see the 5.8 power level being eclipsed by the next geeration by much if at all. But, I don't think the next SVT Mustang will be much less powerful, and should be able to put what it has to the ground better.

off topic but do you happen to be a mechanical pe?

Posted via Topify using Android

 

[SlowSVT]

off topic but do you happen to be a mechanical pe?

Posted via Topify using Android

No

Like you 30 years in the profession. I package electronics for the telco, military and data communications industry as well as the design microwave antenna system. Lots of EMC and environmental testing experience.

One of the best professions to be in and it translates directly to our hobby :banana:

 

[Competition]

My buddy just bought a 2.9 whipple cobra that put down 640rwhp. We did a 30 roll Sunday night and I put like 5 cars on it. Granted he is still learning the car, but he wasn't really making up any ground.

 

[SlowSVT]

My buddy just bought a 2.9 whipple cobra that put down 640rwhp. We did a 30 roll Sunday night and I put like 5 cars on it. Granted he is still learning the car, but he wasn't really making up any ground.

5 car lengths is HUGE

With a heavier car and only 20 hp difference between you I would say he is either lying about making that much power or he can't drive to save his life. This outcome should have been much closer.

 

[Lethalchem]

5 car lengths is HUGE

With a heavier car and only 20 hp difference between you I would say he is either lying about making that much power or he can't drive to save his life. This outcome should have been much closer.

If he's stock then it's more likely 40rwhp less on the Shelby, which would make this result even more surprising. Lots of variables but I'm guessing the '03 isn't making 640 at the wheels unless the driver admits he was having troubles piloting it.