I have a 96 GT convertible and recentley raced a 99 SVT Cobra. my cars engine is bone stock except for an off road H-pipe, and no cats. I kept up with him through first gear and then he barely started to pull away all the way through second gear and then we both let off. I thought he would have killed me and since he didnt that makes me believe that their is something done to my car that i dont know about. i have only had the car about a month. My question is how much horsepower does a 96 GT have compared to a 99 SVT? i often thought that my car had gears in it but i read that if your car runs at 1600-1700 RPM at 60MPH in fifth gear it means that u have 3:08', is this true? Did 96 GT's come with 3:08; if not what did they come with stock? any help would be much appreciated. thanx
Sean
Your 96 was only rated 215 hp from the factory which is about 180-190 @ the wheels,(even less if its an auto).The Cobra is probably 250-260 horse @ the wheels in "unmoded" form.Thats if he had the factory fix performed! Im afraid he can't drive or was just playing with you! A 99 Cobra will "RAPE" a 96GT, short of running a power adder of some sort(i.e Nitrous or Supercharger).If your turning only 1600-1700 rpm @ 60 you probably have 3.08's. you should be able to check the Build tag on your door.........Sorry
Well i stopped and talked to the guy after we raced and he said he was on it; and we went from a 5mph rolling start so getting off the line didnt realy matter. im glad we went from a rolling start; if we wouldnt have, he would have totally destroyed me, i cant pull out fast yet.
thanx for your input.
Sean
Please dont take any offense by what I'm about to say. But at least around where I live, the whole "car badge craze" is in full effect. (Especially in the rice community)
In other words, did this guy add another exhaust outlet, throw a couple of "cobras" on the front quarters, slap an "SVT" emblem on the back, and call it a cobra? Because it sounds more like you raced a late model V6.
I too believe that Cobras are slow! I have a '97 GT 5 speed and I have raced 3 Cobras 1-1999, 1-2000 and 1 1998. and every we raced i ahve beaten them every time. Believe me they we all trying. One of them is my friend and the other two were strangers. when i raced the 1998 I ahd him by 2 or 3 car lengths. Amd i have a 2.73 gear. And I KNOW how to drive stick i was raised on stick. My dad raced when he was my age and a little bit younger and he showed me all the secerts to speed shifting and eveything that i need to know. ASo can yiou explain that!!?? And all times we raced we were all at DEAD stops.
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Bassani O/R X pipe w/Borla mufflars
5 speed HURST
Ram Air
Street tires (Nitto Performance)
Originally posted by GT50 Can't explain that one. Was this a street race or on the track? Through all 4 gears or just a couple? ( Ya wouldn't race through 5th!)
This was through 4 gears. and he didn't even have a chance at all. I mean I know that he was trying because he said lets do it at the light. In the 1/4 mile I ran 14.013 he ran 14.145. And on that set up I had bald tires and exhaust but it was the wrong set up.
Street racing .... just one of those things. Anything can happen, and did.
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"I've been around long enough to know how ignorant I am. I don't assume the universe obeys my preconceptions. Hah! But I know a frelling fact when it hits me in the face." -Rygel
My ROUSH Rides
98 ROUSH Stage 2 GT
03 ROUSH Cobra
FWIW, i have never lost a race to a gt. not in the cobra. this is with the stock gears, tranny, engine.
white, the 99 cobra you raced may not have had the HP fix. it's also possible that the driver didn't know what he was doing when racing you. your car was rated at 215bhp and the 99 was at 320bhp, but the intake problem had it down around 280-290.
jonastang, cobras aren't slow. i can testify to that personally. my thinking is leaning toward the driver not having the same amount of skill that you say you do. i was planning on taking my car to the track a couple of times during this summer to get a good bearing on the 1/4 mile times advertised for my cobra. when i break into the 13's with a stock car, that will easily be better than your 14.0~ with a modded 96gt, correct? my car ran the dyno at 279.6 corrected hp. that is nothing to sneeze at, even if the gt has mods.
I think that the '99 Cobras had a problrem wity them weather it be the intake or not but i think that hey are slow. I dont' knopw about skill, it just comes naturally. but i know i don't have a lot of horse power. i dont have a regular GT i have a GTS. If thta makes anym difference to you i really don't know. but i ran that slow as time in October with my car all messed up we are going back this October again and well see who runs a better time.
no I have a 97 GTS or if you dont know what that is it is alomost like a GT I woulad have to explain it to you. but i really don't feel like it right now. By the way way i raced another cobra last night he bearly started to pull on me after 3rd gear. And I raced a 96 Gt with a 3.73 and other mods and were almost dead even I might of had him by a nose or just alittle bit more. I then raced a 2001 TA and he got me by a 1/4 car length.
You must got some SPECIAL Mustang...or a Ford mistake...
Cuz the GTS was only made in 94-95' Between 11/28/94-8-11-95... and there was only 6,370made...
GTS is just like a GT cept its a LX base cheapy model with rollup windows and the whole economic package(no fog's too!).... and only 1,522 were manual trannys...
All this info came out of SEPTEMBER 2002 5.0 Mustang magazine Pg181
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***Chrome Yellow 94 TWIN TURBO 5.0***
Twin T3, NON intercooled.
Holley SYSTEMAX 2 kit, with a beefier cam(.544/.544 112speration), 255lph "Holley" fuel pump, FMS 42lb injectors, Pro-M Univer Maf, Flowtech Offroad H, 40series Flowmasters dumped,FMS Subframes, Eibach SPORTLINE springs. Im sure theres plenty more that I cant think of right now.
FOR SALE: $17,000 O/B/O
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PARTS FOR SALE:
19lb,24lb Injectors, PRO-M Chrome Bullet 24lb MAF, E7TE Heads(30K),190lph Fuel Pump, some turbo parts and piping laying around.
1999 Mustang SVT Cobra vs. 1996 Mustang GT 
