I picked up my 03 coupe yesterday. For starters, mine had the “Not For Sale” sticker in the driver’s side window and no price next to MSRP on the window sticker. I was real disappointed when I saw the sticker. One salesman told me I wouldn’t be driving that car off the lot today. I went to the sales manager because my salesman was tied up and he said Ford was waiting on federal approval on something. They called Ford and SVT and they gave them approval to sell. I drove it off the lot about 3 hours later. Ford is Fed Ex’ing all the paperwork including the window sticker. My front valence was damaged while unloading. I saw one report of this on another board. The lower part of the front bumper is rubber and it was slightly marred. My dealer ordered me another one. It was no big deal. I’ve read this may be a problem and you should check the corners on each side for damage when you pick up the car.
I owned a ’99 Cobra and juts sold my 01 vert to get this 03. Here are a few things I noticed in comparison. The new hood and front bumper cover are A1 in my opinion. They are super sharp. I also like the rear spoiler. It gives the car a sleeper look. The blacked out lower portion doesn’t look that good. I like the 01 rear bumper cover better.
There are baffles in the tailpipes. They neck the rear exhaust down to about 1.75 inches in diameter and are surrounded by fiber. The car is very quiet. It’s way more so than the 01. There were also a lot of necked down areas on the tail pipes and very rough bends. I guess this is how Ford held the power back as rumored. I ordered a catted Bassani x/p five weeks ago and also ordered the o/r tubes. I put it on last night and it really freed up the motor. It is fast as hell. It is also loud as hell. I put my catted segments on this morning and it sounds ten times better than stock.
The shifter is almost as good as a Steeda shifter. Please no flames. I had a Pro 5.0 and Steeda on each of my other Cobra and the new ‘03 shifter is very good. It’s not worth the money to buy a Steeda T-56 shifter. The stock shifter is very notchy and precise. It’s way better than any previous Ford shifter.
The seats are about the same as the 01 except the driver’s side will firm up a lot around the waist and ribs with the power bolsters. It gives you a better feel that you are planted in the seat instead of the sliding around feeling. There is a map pouch above the rear view mirror that is pretty nice.
I pulled off the blower pulley cover for looks. There is a separate belt for the pulley. There is a bracket mounted in front of the crank pulley that houses the blower pulley and it is connected to the crank by a rotary coupling. The blower belt also drives the power steering pump. I guess someone may make a set of U/D’s for the 03 since they won’t affect the blower. The car has plenty of power. I haven’t really nailed it yet but it feels very strong especially with the o/r pipe. I ran it last night and it was a little cool outside and that thing is one fast sum beach. I put the cats back on this morning and they knocked it down a little this morning but it was a lot hotter outside. The car will peg 10 psi pretty easily.
The car does not handle as well as the mags reviews stated. I pushes pretty bad. My 01 with KB springs handled better than this car. The car is not as low as the pic’s. looked. The front valence is lower than the 01 and it makes the 03 look lower than it actually is. I think the new rocker panels also contribute to this. It could use a set of lowering springs. The ride is very smooth.
I think it could also use a set of 4.10’s and not because a lack of power. First gear is geared way to high. I pulled over 35 mph without really getting on it. I really haven’t looked at the tach versus shift points yet. When you are doing 60 mph it tachs about 1800 rpm.
My salesman let me drive the car before any paperwork was drawn. I was a little surprised. The car had 38 miles on it when I cranked it up. That mad me a little mad. When I changed out the exhaust last night there were a lot of rubber pellets stuck to the bottom of the rear end from someone burning my tires. I’m sure this wasn’t picked up off the road. I didn’t tell them I was mad about it. There is nothing I could do about it but walk away. They know they can sell the car to anyone. I had a yellow vert with a lot of mods. It got too much attention. I didn’t get near the looks in the 03 when I was driving it around that I got in my vert. My salesman said that most people don’t know what an ‘03 Cobra is. As far as looks, the vert was a lot better looking car. As far as power, there is no comparison. My friend drove my car today so I could listen to the exhaust and the 03 coupe is a sharp looking ride. The wheels look real good going down the road and the catted Bassani sounds really good. At least it’s not loud enough to attract cops from a block away. I think the car is worth the money if nothing but the power alone. I probably could have been just as happy with my 01 vert. It put 305 at the wheels and it would probably hang with the 03 thorough first gear. After that it would be adios. You will not be disappointed in any way shape or form.
:beer:
I owned a ’99 Cobra and juts sold my 01 vert to get this 03. Here are a few things I noticed in comparison. The new hood and front bumper cover are A1 in my opinion. They are super sharp. I also like the rear spoiler. It gives the car a sleeper look. The blacked out lower portion doesn’t look that good. I like the 01 rear bumper cover better.
There are baffles in the tailpipes. They neck the rear exhaust down to about 1.75 inches in diameter and are surrounded by fiber. The car is very quiet. It’s way more so than the 01. There were also a lot of necked down areas on the tail pipes and very rough bends. I guess this is how Ford held the power back as rumored. I ordered a catted Bassani x/p five weeks ago and also ordered the o/r tubes. I put it on last night and it really freed up the motor. It is fast as hell. It is also loud as hell. I put my catted segments on this morning and it sounds ten times better than stock.
The shifter is almost as good as a Steeda shifter. Please no flames. I had a Pro 5.0 and Steeda on each of my other Cobra and the new ‘03 shifter is very good. It’s not worth the money to buy a Steeda T-56 shifter. The stock shifter is very notchy and precise. It’s way better than any previous Ford shifter.
The seats are about the same as the 01 except the driver’s side will firm up a lot around the waist and ribs with the power bolsters. It gives you a better feel that you are planted in the seat instead of the sliding around feeling. There is a map pouch above the rear view mirror that is pretty nice.
I pulled off the blower pulley cover for looks. There is a separate belt for the pulley. There is a bracket mounted in front of the crank pulley that houses the blower pulley and it is connected to the crank by a rotary coupling. The blower belt also drives the power steering pump. I guess someone may make a set of U/D’s for the 03 since they won’t affect the blower. The car has plenty of power. I haven’t really nailed it yet but it feels very strong especially with the o/r pipe. I ran it last night and it was a little cool outside and that thing is one fast sum beach. I put the cats back on this morning and they knocked it down a little this morning but it was a lot hotter outside. The car will peg 10 psi pretty easily.
The car does not handle as well as the mags reviews stated. I pushes pretty bad. My 01 with KB springs handled better than this car. The car is not as low as the pic’s. looked. The front valence is lower than the 01 and it makes the 03 look lower than it actually is. I think the new rocker panels also contribute to this. It could use a set of lowering springs. The ride is very smooth.
I think it could also use a set of 4.10’s and not because a lack of power. First gear is geared way to high. I pulled over 35 mph without really getting on it. I really haven’t looked at the tach versus shift points yet. When you are doing 60 mph it tachs about 1800 rpm.
My salesman let me drive the car before any paperwork was drawn. I was a little surprised. The car had 38 miles on it when I cranked it up. That mad me a little mad. When I changed out the exhaust last night there were a lot of rubber pellets stuck to the bottom of the rear end from someone burning my tires. I’m sure this wasn’t picked up off the road. I didn’t tell them I was mad about it. There is nothing I could do about it but walk away. They know they can sell the car to anyone. I had a yellow vert with a lot of mods. It got too much attention. I didn’t get near the looks in the 03 when I was driving it around that I got in my vert. My salesman said that most people don’t know what an ‘03 Cobra is. As far as looks, the vert was a lot better looking car. As far as power, there is no comparison. My friend drove my car today so I could listen to the exhaust and the 03 coupe is a sharp looking ride. The wheels look real good going down the road and the catted Bassani sounds really good. At least it’s not loud enough to attract cops from a block away. I think the car is worth the money if nothing but the power alone. I probably could have been just as happy with my 01 vert. It put 305 at the wheels and it would probably hang with the 03 thorough first gear. After that it would be adios. You will not be disappointed in any way shape or form.
:beer:
