[Creeper4705]

Hello,

This will be alittle long but im in need of some help. My neighbor and I, Always argue when it comes to cars, Hes and Import guy and i am a pure Mustang man. We decided we'd both buy cars for under 8000$ and proceed to beef them up. Basically see who can put togeather the baddest car. I just bought a 1997 Mustang Cobra its Black on Black and has 130,000 miles...BBK X Pipe,Magnaflow Catbak exhaust, a centerforce duel disc clutch, and its been lowerd 2". It was 6000$ so i figured why not?

He bought a 1992 Mitsubishi VR4 twin turbo, no upgrades and 106000 miles. We raced and the Cobra kept up pretty good, it was more or less even. But i wana smoke him and make it no question. He cant stand Mustangs and talks crap about mine all the time. Basically i need advice on where to go with this project so i can teach him some respect. Im by no means an expert.

Overall it runs pretty good, it has alittle less power then ied like, and when im shifting to 2nd it tends to grind every once in awhile. Other then that it seems totally fine.

Alright, now my question. The loss of power i expected because of the miliage. First, what should i check for on the car/replace, since it has quite alot of miliage. Second, what should i replace first as far as the engine goes to regain some power back. Lastly What are good power starters to add and kick to it.


Thanks for all the help in advance. I will post pics ASAP.

[ryanisme23]

you want to beat this rice burner crap right??.....to regain the original power that a bad cobra is supposed to output, you will need to do something...forged internals, and port and polish...it will basically make your engine like new. it is a little costly, but it not only makes the car almost new again, it will get it ready in case you put a supercharger on it so you wont have to turn the boost way down...also, if your going to set it up for quarter mile, check into 411 gears for your rearend. it will take away from the fuel milage, but it will make it more powerful and fast from the get go. hope i have helped man. giff

[FunkyBoss]

I have 160k on my '97 and it's still running strong. The first thing you should do it a compression and leakdown test, those will give you a good indication on the condition of your engine. A tune-up also wouldn't hurt. 2nd, you don't need forged internals or port and polished heads to beat the VR4. Although it's a good idea if your going with forced induction or nitrous, it's still not needed. Gears would be great for your first mod, I suggest 4.30's for the 4V. the gears alone would be enough to edge out your buddy, but if you really want to shut him up, throw a small shot of nitrous on there (if the compression and leakdown tests turn out ok).