Surprised how much the weather (temperature) affects my terminator.

TP03

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So I'm new to the 03 cobra world. I just finally got mine in August, (always had mustang GT's). I thought I knew quite a bit from hours of research and youtube videos but was a little disappointed in the power on my first test drive to be honest. I had a five hour ride to see and purchase my dream car, (black 10th anniversary) and after all the saving, searching and dreaming. Was I really going to back out of the deal? Luckily the car was clean, low miles and all the right (mild) mods I wanted. So I took the leap of faith, bought it and figured maybe the tune wasn't the greatest. I was even getting some funky smells when I did 2nd to 4th gear WOT pulls (timing compensating for heat???). All this was with 85 to 90 degree days with high humidity. Fast Fwd to some cool weather and WOW what a difference, pulls hard with no smell. The first time I drove to work with a cool 50 degree morning, getting on the interstate took me by complete surprise. Got squirrelly with drag radials then hooked and pulled hard. I'm loving these fall like temps in WI.
 
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Bdubbs

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Heat kills these cars performance wise. That's why I rarely drive it if it's in the 80's. A little loss of boost is normal in hotter weather to. I generally hit 21 psi, but warmer temps I'm sometimes at 20 psi. Enjoy the car!
 

R.D.P.

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Yeah it definitely makes a difference, these cars love that cool air. Problem is the cold pavement. In the fall I spin almost all of third gear unfortunately.
 

TP03

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Heat kills these cars performance wise. That's why I rarely drive it if it's in the 80's. A little loss of boost is normal in hotter weather to. I generally hit 21 psi, but warmer temps I'm sometimes at 20 psi. Enjoy the car!

Thanks! I've been really enjoying this car so far. Helps get me out of bed each morning.
 

TP03

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Anyone else notice a smell when your car starts to pull timing in hot humid weather? Not really strong but definitely noticeable.
 

c6zhombre

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Anyone else notice a smell when your car starts to pull timing in hot humid weather? Not really strong but definitely noticeable.

"Smell"? What kind of smell? Gas? Coolant? Clutch?

More info needed

These cars on a pump gasoline tune start pulling timing VERY early in iat2 temps.....on E85 much higher. E85 tunes will not lose performance near as fast and recover quicker....unless you're stuck in stop n go traffic or just grape raping it repeatedly. Get some cruising airflow going over the nose of the car and you're back in business
 

TP03

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"Smell"? What kind of smell? Gas? Coolant? Clutch?

More info needed

These cars on a pump gasoline tune start pulling timing VERY early in iat2 temps.....on E85 much higher. E85 tunes will not lose performance near as fast and recover quicker....unless you're stuck in stop n go traffic or just grape raping it repeatedly. Get some cruising airflow going over the nose of the car and you're back in business

Kinda strange, almost an electrical / burning smell. I can tell you what it's not. I don't smell burning coolant or clutch. Side note: previous owner didn't know current octane tune loaded into car and never worried about it with having 93 readily available. Up here in WI, all that is available is 91. So i've been running 91 and planning on dyno tuning it in the spring. Not sure if this has anything to do with the smell, but is goes away with cooler ambient temps??? I was planning on swapping out the plugs first, maybe this fall yet. Wanted to look at them anyways.
 

MG0h3

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Never noticed a smell, even when I had to drive when it was 100 out. I can definitely feel the difference but I wasnt surprised or freaked out in the performance change.
 

3xBlackCobra

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Congrats on the purchase!

The temps definitely have a HUGE impact on the performance of this car. Some people call the Eaton SC the "Heaton" because of the amount of heat produced, which can be really detrimental if you have your intake right next to it (stock or RAI, as opposed to a CAI). I have an RAI, and i'm honestly not sure if it's beneficial or actually hurting my performance when i'm sucking in all that hot air next to the SC.

I too live in a hot/humid climate, which is why I rarely drive my car in the summer. The difference in power is almost surprisingly noticeable when the temps go below 70°, and gets better the lower they go. I'm sure people with CAI's have a less noticeable power gap.
 

jrichber

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After I wrinkle painted my Intercooler tank and overflow tank I could smell them when it was good and hot. Been a few months now and I can still smell them. Do you have any parts on the car like that? Other than that not knowing what your car is tuned for and running 91 isnt the safest thing to do. Mine was tuned for 93 when I got it and I was scared to even have the boost gauge slightly move until I got it retuned for 91. I would look into getting on the dyno sooner than later...
 

TP03

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After I wrinkle painted my Intercooler tank and overflow tank I could smell them when it was good and hot. Been a few months now and I can still smell them. Do you have any parts on the car like that? Other than that not knowing what your car is tuned for and running 91 isnt the safest thing to do. Mine was tuned for 93 when I got it and I was scared to even have the boost gauge slightly move until I got it retuned for 91. I would look into getting on the dyno sooner than later...

No new painted parts here. I'm not a big fan of octane booster but maybe I'll try some to get me thru this year as piece of mind.
 

ITSTOCK

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Not only is there an actual difference, but with surface/tire temps and traction comes a massive perceived difference in power.

No new painted parts here. I'm not a big fan of octane booster but maybe I'll try some to get me thru this year as piece of mind.

I use Boostane in my daily driver CTS-V and it flat out works. There is no reason to not be a fan of it.
 

TP03

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Not only is there an actual difference, but with surface/tire temps and traction comes a massive perceived difference in power.



I use Boostane in my daily driver CTS-V and it flat out works. There is no reason to not be a fan of it.
I guess I've always been a little leary of "repair in a can" type of stuff. Thanks, I'll look into that brand.
 
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ITSTOCK

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I guess I've always been a little leary of "repair in a can" type of stuff. Thanks, I'll look into that brand.

It's not a repair in a can at all. I used the old formula of torco leaded in my old 03 cobra on nitrous and it worked well also. It's the same idea of mixing 93 with 101 to get 95 (or whatever octane it comes out to when mixed at whatever ratio).

1 can per tank of 93 in my cts-v, comes out to about $4/gallon ($1/gallon for the boostane and $3/gallon for 93). It's an excellent alternative that allows me to run 25* timing with 0 knock over 21* timing on straight 93.

Since we are talking about you using 91, there is zero downside to using boostane. You are more than likely going to do some damage by running straight 91.
 
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TP03

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It's not a repair in a can at all. I used the old formula of torco leaded in my old 03 cobra on nitrous and it worked well also. It's the same idea of mixing 93 with 101 to get 95 (or whatever octane it comes out to when mixed at whatever ratio).

1 can per tank of 93 in my cts-v, comes out to about $4/gallon ($1/gallon for the boostane and $3/gallon for 93). It's an excellent alternative that allows me to run 25* timing with 0 knock over 21* timing on straight 93.

Since we are talking about you using 91, there is zero downside to using boostane. You are more thank likely going to do some damage by running straight 91.

Well thanks for the info, I'm going to try this. At least until I get a tune next spring. If it's good enough for a Caddie it's gotta be good enough me.
 

stangfreak

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The roots, twinscrew, type blowers are just horrible on the street especially when its hot out. My tuner always said there good for one hit at the track. I am still not sure what I want to do next.
 

CobraBob

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Yeah it definitely makes a difference, these cars love that cool air. Problem is the cold pavement. In the fall I spin almost all of third gear unfortunately.

I was just going to say the same thing about cold pavement. I used to love the cooler temps in late September, October and November, but as the temps drop so does the surface temperature. So I'd have to struggle with traction at the same time I was loving the additional power. :burnout:
 

Buckwheat 1

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Kinda strange, almost an electrical / burning smell. I can tell you what it's not. I don't smell burning coolant or clutch. Side note: previous owner didn't know current octane tune loaded into car and never worried about it with having 93 readily available. Up here in WI, all that is available is 91. So i've been running 91 and planning on dyno tuning it in the spring. Not sure if this has anything to do with the smell, but is goes away with cooler ambient temps??? I was planning on swapping out the plugs first, maybe this fall yet. Wanted to look at them anyways.

My first trip the Dyno and my car was short 200 hp because the plugs were out of gap.I thought the car was fast when it had bad plugs.The SCT tune also was missing 6 updates to the software.I never drove the car hard until I had a pro check the tune.
 

c6zhombre

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After I wrinkle painted my Intercooler tank and overflow tank I could smell them when it was good and hot. Been a few months now and I can still smell them. Do you have any parts on the car like that? Other than that not knowing what your car is tuned for and running 91 isnt the safest thing to do. Mine was tuned for 93 when I got it and I was scared to even have the boost gauge slightly move until I got it retuned for 91. I would look into getting on the dyno sooner than later...

I agree 100%....get it checked over mechanically, and thru the software side by a professional. You need a solid wideband and the ability to datalog.

I'd even take it a step further...but op you obviously already own the car...but part of the prebuying checklist on these cars should include a compression test. These cars cannot talk, so you need verifiable data. You don't truly know the story...it could be written like driving miss daisy or Debbie does Dallas, it's a crapshoot. Pretty body panels, clean carfax, nice engine bay is not always accurate. Even a bonestock looking terminator might have a horrible abuse history...they are so easily returned to stock you don't realize possible internal scars and you end up with the popped motor.
 

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