Are we all lemmings?

[03blackCOBRA]

It's really funny to watch people post on upgrades you "really really need" and everyone seems to jump on the wagon and follow the crowd off the cliff and waste $$ on things they really don't need.

Just a few examples for the average BPU street driven crowd:
1) 26 spline input shaft
2) Level 5 half shafts
3) bigger HE (Forbidden Snake has a good thread on this)
4) Zaino (can u say over rated)
5) TB (no real gains for the basic BPU guy)
6) KB, whipple, or ProCharger (total cost w/ melted pistions )
7) solid rear axle
8) anything other than the stock rear gears
9) swapping in an auto tranny

There is ALWAYS an exception to the rule, so don't flame about your personal experience, but rather think of the 03-04 cobra street driven BPU group as a whole. In fact you can read several post from people here that have modded to the max and have tens of thousands invested in thier cobra and have stated "how the hell did I get to this point?". Taken another step forward a few now have a car that isn't streetable for every day stop and go, but rather a track or drag car only. When compared to other track or drag only cars, sadly they have a slow ride.

Some of the quickest cars I've seen at the track have the least mods, but have the smartest tuner/builder/driver to match componets based on what they need. For example you could put a top fuel motor in an 03 cobra, but it will be a total failure.

I got my flame suit on, so lets see what the lemmings have to say......remember I'm talking about the average street driven BPU crowd :burn:

 

[Juiced-03]

Originally posted by 03blackCOBRA

4) Zaino (can u say over rated)

hehe I agree with you on this one lol

But I am not sure what you are getting at regarding the rest of the list? When you bump up the HP and drive it hard at the track you really need those mods in your list unless you want to be carried home in a tow truck. For example, the input shaft, halfshafts, and solid rear allow the driver to launch quicker off the line (without broken parts) which will be rewarded with a lower ET. The heat exchanger will allow the car to be more consistent, and prevent heat soak on these skillet blowers.

It really all depends on what you want to do with your Cobra. I agree that the people who try to make this car a track car have the wrong idea. A 10 or 11 second drag car is slow. A daily driven 10 second car is wicked fast though! My car will never see a day at the track so many of the items in your list won't apply to me. I dont have any plans to swap to a solid rear or auto tranny. I do plan on a KB swap someday though (with a nice polished throttle body ). If people got the money to blow, more power to them!

 

[Tranzlucent]

I can agree with you to an extent. For your everyday driver that does not attend the track or anything like that:
Pulley
Chip
CAI
Catback
HE (for extremely hot or high traffic areas)

 

[Juiced-03]

Wow Tranzlucent,,,your car is looking great!! Just need some 18's and you'll be set!

 

[jeffsvt]

My take on it everyone has an opinion and everyones is more than welcome . I do to my car what seems to work for others , why expirement ?

Zaino I use it and love it again personal opinion , it lasts long and does what it's suppose to do . Yes there are many other waxes that will do the same thing . I like it so why fix it if isn't broke ?

I bought the heat exchanger for piece of mind it gets very hot and very humid in my area 100 + heat index and usually 100% humidity all summer . So any little thing that helps keep the car cool is a good mod in my opinion .

 

[racerat]

I don't consider myself a lemming, but I did jump off that cliff you mentioned.

Broke a stock halfshaft due to wheel hop, so upgraded half shafts make sense.

A KB running stock boost levels is more efficient and will produce more power than the Eaton with less wear and tear on the motor...but some of us get greedy.

TB...aftermarket ones are prettier.

I like Meguiars products...always have.

Ordered a HE because of crazy South Texas temps.

Keeping stock gears, solid axle and tranny.

Edit...keeping IRS...not solid axle

 

[03blackCOBRA]

What started my thread was seeing some honda civic kids at the drag strip. These three kids spent a shit load on race seats, roll bars, 5 point belts, ET street tires, plus the very simple BPU mods. They gathered a decent crowd of other young kids that really didn't know anything other than "The Fast & The Furious" movies! They never had been to the track and were here to get some 10 second time slips...:loser:

The best was one of their first runs vs a beat to hell pinto with a built 460. The pinto looked like shit, but the car was built for drag strip duty only. The kids were talking "oh the civil will smoke that old piece of crap, no prob...". The pinto ran low 10's and the civil ran 15.xx

It was funny to see them all run 15's all day long:lol: :lol:

Juiced - I totally agree with you on a car that will run slicks at the drags or see serious road track time.

My point is to the 03-04 cobra BPU street driven crowd: we sometimes look like these honda kids adding/changing things we really don't need, won't help performace, or might actually hurt the performace of our cars. Again, I'm talking about the street driven BPU crowd.

 

[bassin247]

Originally posted by 03blackCOBRA

Just a few examples for the average BPU street driven crowd:
1) 26 spline input shaft

If you are making big power and you are going to replace your clutch you are a fool not to do this mod. There are numerous pics of broken input shafts on this forum and many others.

2) Level 5 half shafts

If you are a part time drag racer like many are on this forum upgraded halfhafts are a must. Sure you can break the stock ones at 200 something at a pop, but why?

3) bigger HE (Forbidden Snake has a good thread on this)

This mod isn't a big help in my opinion UNLESS you drag race, auto cross, OR live in a really hot area. It's pretty so :shrug:

4) Zaino (can u say over rated)

I bought this product after everyone raved over it. When it showed up I looked at the directions and it's been in the box ever since (except the carwash and detailing spray). Who can remember Z this before you Z than and you need to use this Z 30 minutes before you use that Z. I got a headache.

5) TB (no real gains for the basic BPU guy)

Not true. I did a dyno pull (with no chip or pulley), installed my TB and did a follow up. I gained 15rwhp. Whenever someone says X mod makes X amount more/less power on different days/dynos whatever, I take it with a grain if salt. There are too many different variables.

The TB offers excellent throttle responce. That can not be measured on a dyno. They also look great.

6) KB, whipple, or ProCharger (total cost w/ melted pistions )

You can melt a piston with without a supercharger nevermind an eaton/kb/whipple/procharger. These engines are fragile. Sometimes a 40 dollar piece of crap fuel pressure sensor failure OR 1 bad injector out of 8 is enough to case a major failure. It's not the blowers fault. You are pushing the envelope. If you can't take the heat you better get your ass out of the kitchen.

7) solid rear axle

I am perfectly happy with my solid axle. It cost me roughly 1200 bucks for a built solid axle. Now I don't have wheel hop and I can drop the clutch at 5000 rpm on slicks and not worry about a damn thing. My axle upgrade was LESS than 2 of the level 5 half shafts.

8) anything other than the stock rear gears

Not true. If you have sticky tires gears make you faster. I run 3.73s because it keeps me in the power band longer, offers more torque multiplication (helps with taller/stickier tires) and I can still trap 130mph.

9) swapping in an auto tranny

There are 2 reasons for swapping in an auto tranny.

1) you can't or don't want to shift.
2) you want an all out race car.

I don't think the "basic BPU" guys are going with auto trannys. I hate the term BPU. I feel like a damn ricer using it.

 

[03blackCOBRA]

Bassin i agree with what your saying, but you are missing my point. The majority of the 03-04 cobra owners see maybe 5-40 drag strip runs in the life of the car (on stock rubber) and many never see any strip or road race action. Some people are changing out parts that haven't broke (like half shafts) on street driven only, mild mod to stock cars! Just because someone makes a part and others on the forum are installing it doesn't equal you need it also. Just look what Broke7 has done with minimal mods (including stock half shafts) at the drag strip.

You are an exception, not the rule and have many good reasons for your mods. I'm just stiring the pot so other think about their mods, what it really does for their combo, cost benifit of the mod, and what they really want to do with the car (street only vs track time, etc). It's always fun to play devils advocate every once and a while :-D

I agree on the term BPU also, so I'm going to say mild mods in the future:beer:

 

[orange2004cobra]

Generally an all out KB upgrade pulls only about a second off of your 1/4 mile time.
Cost is about 4 to 5 g's with tune and accessories...
On a street Cobra 5'gs for 1 sec?
Not worthit..
I see your point and agree...
L.

 

[Sonic 03 Cobra]

Hey 03blackCOBRA

I think that a high proportion of people on this site are people that bought their Cobra for strip/track duty and not just as a purely fun car. For me, my Cobra is my daily driver. Period. My only mods are CAI and Exhaust. I plan to throw on a HE, new rotors and brake pads, and full suspension when warrantee is up because I intend to purchase a new daily driver and bring this one to the road track.

It all depends on what you want. I cannot afford to throw tons of money down the drain on gas because I bought a new supercharger that makes gobs of power but is completely inefficient when you are out of boost (KB/Whipple). Right now, I want a car that's sporty, fast, fun to drive, handles well and has potential in the future should I decide to take advantage of it. I don't want a car that grumbles, requires 100 octane, goes through a tank a day on my 30 mile round trip commute, or is frequently breaking parts. To me, a solid axle is a waste because this is my third SN95 mustang and after having solid axles even with aftermarket suspension packages (I had a Roush), the IRS is so much nicer for the daily grind. Throw on some PITA bushings and you're good to go. If I wanted a live axle I would have bought a Mach 1, had the motor rebuilt and thrown on a procharger and had some money to spare (but that's my opinon and take it for a grain of salt).

 

[grnenvy]

LOL

Well your definitely half right about half the parts. Zaino your definitely wrong about I have a black cobra and it does a great job and it worked great on my 95 cobra also which was blk also. I also picked up 13 rwhp and some torque at JD's Dyno with the Billet Flow TB. Also for some of the other parts they may be preventive mantience like the axle's. I run low 11s with stock clutch and axles but that doesn't mean having better stuff wouldn't stop me from worrying about getting towed home from the track.

 

[Wilson & Co]

Lets see...my mods list

wheels- bling factor, but also a def upgade in handling
CAI/CB - common sense that even you seem to understand
SCT- best tuner company today
whipple- Because sometimes 500HP isn't enough
rails/pumps/injectors- yeah your right they're useless
shifter- self explanatory

Maybe you're just not into performance as much as so many on here?

 

[ChicagoMike]

Modifiying my car is purely an addictive hobby. More power, safety, cooling, improvements. I love making a vehicle my own. We are enthusiasts. We will simply never live with a stock car. Hell, my girlfriend bought a Toyota Corolla and I put a K&N air filter in it for her. I want to do more with it ... ! So whether I bought the fastest car in the world or a regular sport compact coupe - you can bet on it that it will not stay stock for long.

Mike

 

[AtomHeart]

Or maybe he just drives his car a lot easier on the "street" than some of us. LOL. My car sees more severe duty on the street every day than most see at the drag strip or autocross.

 

[Wiked03]

Originally posted by 03blackCOBRA
I agree on the term BPU also, so I'm going to say mild mods in the future:beer:

Forgive my ignorance, but what the hell does BPU stand for anyway?

 

[AtomHeart]

BASIC PERFORMANCE UPGRADES

 

[Wiked03]

Originally posted by AtomHeart
BASIC PERFORMANCE UPGRADES

Thanks!

 

[SVT4J]

Originally posted by racerat
Keeping stock gears, solid axle and tranny.

solid axle eh? You thinking about the other sonic blue thing in your driveway

I agree with Bassin on almost everything.

The only reason my car will ever get a solid rear is if I grenade the IRS with hardened half shafts.

I will never have an auto unless it's purely a track car.

HE in South Texas? - yep.

 

[ShelbyGuy]

not everyone wants to go through the break-and-replace version of car fun.

some would rather watch others break parts and find solutions, then use those solutions themselves. it hurts to pioneer.

and, as always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

nothing sucks more than being stuck in the paddock area with a mechanical ailment you cant fix at the track. build for durability BEFORE you get to the track.