After 10.5 years and 100k miles, I visited the dyno again

03cobra#116

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My car was completely stock when I took it to the dyno in October 2002 with 4000 miles on the odometer. The highest RWHP reading was 383 and the average of three runs was about 379.

Since then, I have done nothing to the engine except a tune up around 80k miles and couple of coil pack replacements under warranty (I had the 7 year, 100k warranty).

Today I went to a different dyno, with 130 miles shy of 100,000 miles on the odometer. It has been more than 10 years since the last dyno test and lots of miles. Today, the highest RWHP reading was 367 and the average of three runs was 362.

Using a 13% loss assumption, that figures out to flywheel HP rating of about 416 HP, 26 more than the advertised rating when the Cobra was new. In my opinion, that is not bad at all for nearly 11 years and 100,000 miles of use.

These are great cars.
 
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CobraBob

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That is awesome. What REALLY is amazing is that for those 100K miles you've never been bitten by the mods bug. Takes a lot of will power to resist even the most basic of mods (intake, exhaust, smaller pulley and a tune). :)
 

ctgreddy

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That is awesome. What REALLY is amazing is that for those 100K miles you've never been bitten by the mods bug. Takes a lot of will power to resist even the most basic of mods (intake, exhaust, smaller pulley and a tune). :)

This! I dont know how you can resist! That's awesome about the news tho, hard to believe with that much life it only lost a few ponies.
 

05satinGT

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That is awesome. What REALLY is amazing is that for those 100K miles you've never been bitten by the mods bug. Takes a lot of will power to resist even the most basic of mods (intake, exhaust, smaller pulley and a tune). :)

+1,

I would have had a lethal order made before I even left the dealer ;-)

Congrats :beer:
 

Avispa

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That is awesome. What REALLY is amazing is that for those 100K miles you've never been bitten by the mods bug. Takes a lot of will power to resist even the most basic of mods (intake, exhaust, smaller pulley and a tune). :)

Yeah, that IS amazing. When it was time for me to get some new wheels, I was seriously considering an 05-07 GT convertible. Those were some of the prettiest cars out of Detroit in 35 years. Not that 03/04 Cobras aren't good looking cars...... What sold me on getting my 03 Cobra was a test run by Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords magazine of the Helion turbo system. The test car made 847 RWHP with a stock long block. My mind was made up right then and there. With reasonable care these things are damn near indestructible. Not too many other vehicles can give you a dead reliable, smooth idling, quiet running, air conditioned 600+ RWHP daily driver for not a lot of money. Mine's got 84,000 on it and it still does not use ANY oil between changes - level on the dipstick doesn't move as much as 1/16 of an inch in too many miles between oil changes.

Keep taking good care of yours and I'm sure you'll get another trouble free hundred k out of it. :beer:
 

unit213

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You can't compare dyno pulls from 10.5 years apart. You might not be down any power.
 

03cobra#116

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You can't compare dyno pulls from 10.5 years apart. You might not be down any power.
That is what I figured, for two reasons:

1) That little bit of variation is within the variation of different dynos
and
2) My first run in 2002, at 383 RWHP for the best of 3 runs, was higher than most of the dyno results I remember from postings on this forum 10 years ago, while today's run of 362 RWHP (average of three) is in line with the bone stock runs I recall from 10 years ago.

So maybe my first run was a little high due to the dyno calibration and this one is more accurate.

Mine doesn't burn any oil that I can tell either.

What great cars. I think mine has a lot of years left.
 

b_dike

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Very cool... with virtually no loss of power... and its bone stock... damn...

Think I'll be nominating your cobra for the svt hall of fame if there was such a thing. Or maybe a ford museum someday. Lol
 

Bdubbs

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This! I dont know how you can resist! That's awesome about the news tho, hard to believe with that much life it only lost a few ponies.

Heck it might not have even lost any hp since we all know every dyno is different.
 

90goldtsiawd

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Why didn't you ever mod it????


Sent from my iPhone5 using Tapatalk 2
 

musclefan21

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Was that the same dyno? Some read lower than the others. You may still be right around where you were if it wasn't the same dyno :banana:
 

03cobra#116

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Why didn't you ever mod it????


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The first 7 years it was under an extended warranty. I ordered it in March 2002 before the pricing was even set, and I knew the engine would be something new and untested. Who knew it would be so good?

And it seems plenty fast for me as it is.
 

03cobra#116

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Was that the same dyno? Some read lower than the others. You may still be right around where you were if it wasn't the same dyno :banana:
No, different dynos.

The one today was a special deal for a local Corvette club (3 pulls for $50) and they invited others. I was the only non-Corvette in the convoy of 20 cars. The vette guys were quite nice.

In the tour of the shop they had a couple of twin turbo Corvettes in the 1600 to 2200 HP range. It was a "bring in a new Corvette and $90000 and we will soup it up."

No back seat though. And they set too low to the ground.
 
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VictorySong

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Really wild to hear, MG is my favorite 03 color and being a spoiler delete convertible makes it even better!:bowdown:
 

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