GTO Beats out Cobra - or so sez R&T

[03CobraBro]

Originally posted by Euphoric One

NEWS FLASH!! NEWS FLASH!! Some people judge automobiles based on more than how fast they go in a straight line!!!! :idea:

Seriously, I don't like the GTO one bit and would rather have a Cobra any day of the week over a GTO, but some of you guys are pathetic how defensive you get when someone says you penis ext...err, Cobra's aren't the greatest car in the world.

I will repeat to avoid accidental flaming from all the folks with triple digit IQ's...I like the Cobra much, much, much better than the GTO, so who cares what one mag said. In their opinion, they liked the GTO better and I sure there are others out there who would agree, although they would be in the minority. So who gives a crap? :shrug:

It doesnt mean a whole lot to me, but its just kind of frustrating to here about how every other car that any magazine has ever drove and tested since the 03 Cobra, is far superior to the Cobra, in all aspects.

One of the mags awhile back tested that Infiniti G35 and the RX-8. Well, not only did the Cobra obviously outpower the other 2, but it also posted a lap time a full second quicker on a very short road course. All of that, and the fact all of the cars in that comparison were priced within 3000 dollars of both sides of the 30 grand mark, and the mags still put the Cobra dead last when it came to what they would prefer to own.

Like I said I dont care whats printed in those mags myself, I dont take it personally, but sometimes it does leave you wondering whether or not these mags actually like or hate these certain cars as much as they claim, and how much they're being paid off by manufacturer's to put in a good line about the car regaurdless of its inferiority.

I will say this, as I said earlier, if magazines truely felt that the 03/04 Cobra was this inferior shit box in comparison to some of these seemingly more luke warm, lack luster, boring cars, like they make it out to be, then why does the 03/04 Cobra seem to be there benchmark everytime something new comes out? (not singling you out with this question eurphoric, its more of a general question.)

 

[Silver 03 Cobra]

Originally posted by ModsAway
These magazines simply market what is "new". When the cobras came out they were the baddest thing ever even in the magazines (and we all know they are still among the best).

Ever since the cobras release everything has been compared to it and "allegedly" beating the cobras in some cases even though the numbers don't add up for those of us truly interested in cars.

This is pure and simple a poor attempt at marketing by buying the magazines and paying them to print what you want them to print.

The GTO is a big dissapointment, I was very excited when I heard that Pontiac was releasing a new "muscle car". But all this GTO is is a Pontiac Grand Prix on Steroids.

That's true when a "new" car comes out. The 03 was pretty much the same Cobra as the 99 with the exception of a blower and a T56. I have every single magazine that has anything/subject/article on an 03 from the very first revealing of the 03 in MT back in Feb of 02. In that article they had no solid specifics including price because they didn't have a car to test and Ford was still working on the fianl price. When they did another article when they actually had an 03 to test, in the editors notes section, 2 out of three beat it up pretty good. The same with R&T and C&D. One actually complained about the blower whine and compared it to a food blender. To me it's music and the kiss of death for an LS1.

But, it was 5.0 Mustang and MM&FF magazines that revealed the 03 to the public not so much for what it was stock but what a few dollars transformed it to. I remember the rumor back in March of 02 that said an 03 made 360 rwhp on a Dynojet at Pauls' Hi Po shop. There was a guy on a lot of car boards that said he actually saw it. LS1.com members really flamed the guy. Turned out the test did take place and 5.0 Mustang had a small article about the test but it didn't come out until the 03 was already on the street. By that time we knew what it would do. The other big rumor was that SVT engineers took two 03's to Paul's with "open headers" that made over 410 rwhp and that turned out to be true.

As far as the article, who cares. All it has going for it is a good engine and an excellent interior. The rear looks like crap. Maybe the aftermarket can help it out.

 

[bunk22]

I don't get worked up over these articles. Most of the mags have a serious bias and not much good will ever come out of their mouths about the up to date fairmont chasis Cobra. Although, sometimes there is more to a car than just straight line speed or even overall performance numbers. Probably why the dudes at C&D chose the G35 and RX8 over the 03 Cobra (on top of their bias of course). The Cobra isn't exactly the easiest car to drive, the shifter sits too far foward, the seats are too big and high (in my case), same interior since 94, etc. The GTO interior seems to be top quality for a GM car (saw one the other day). It might also be a very comfortable fit and easy to drive, usually pluses to the magazine guys. So the Cobra may not be what these R&T guys are looking for in a modern day performance car (on top of their bias). My 2004 Nissan Maxima is so easy to drive, the quality is top notch and dare I say, better than the Cobra, and is a pleasure to drive. However, they are two different cars with two different purposes. The GTO is more in line with the Cobra's purpose but performance wise, still falls short. It doesn't matter to me anyway, I'm a Cobra guy and probably always will be. I'm willing to accept its short comings for what I believe to be a true modern day muscle car.

 

[03CobraBro]

Originally posted by bunk22
The Cobra isn't exactly the easiest car to drive

But see thats what makes the car IMO... Were sports cars from the 50's/60's easy to drive? Were muscle cars from the late 60's and early 70's easy to drive? Thats what does it for me... The fact the typical bastard cant just hop into the driver seat and take off in it like he's been driving the thing his whole life.

That reason is exactly why I'v always prefered and respected a car like the Ferrari F40 more so than the Enzo. The F40 would be one of those bare bones, learn to drive me if you want results type cars, while the Enzo, with its paddle shifters and all of this seems to me like it would be that type of car that any typical bastard who had any experience behind the wheel of any car could get in and run a record lap time with. Thats great too, the Enzo is most certainly one of the best performance cars ever built (and much much more) no doubt about it, but IMO part of the fun of driving a car is being one of those very few who can handle it to put down those impressive times.

Anyway, bunk, that statement wasnt directed strictly at you.

 

[03 Red Cobra]

Referring back to muscle cars of the 60's/70's, even though my 70 Camaro SS396/375 and the 70 Chevelle SS454/450 were fast cars, the main thing I remember about those cars was that air conditioning wasn't available on the high performance engines and neither had power steering. I just didn't order them with power steering but boy were those cars hot (sweating bullets inside) even on a mild day, and with that cast iron big block in the front end, they were a bear to turn at any speed below 15 mph. But those 4 speed Muncie M-22's and 12 bolt chevy straight axles with posi sure did take a beating, even with M&H drag slicks at the track. Then in late 70, I bought a new 70 Buick Gran Sport GSX in Saturn Yellow with the Stage 1 engine, Turbo 400 auto and A/C. Now this car was faster than the other 2, had PS, PDB, PW's and PDL's and it was comfortable and a pleasure to drive. Got it for a good deal because nobody knew what the thing was as the word hadn't gotten around what a sleeper the Buick GS 455 cars were back then. Gee, I kind of wish I still had those cars today. Could have made some money with them, but then again, they would have been total rust buckets by now.

 

[gmynko]

What would happen if you slapped a blower on the GTO?

 

[AtomHeart]

Originally posted by gmynko
What would happen if you slapped a blower on the GTO?

The effective compression ratio of 45:1 would blow the engine to smithereens. (exaggeration, but you get the idea)

Better get the engine completely rebuilt with forged internals if you're gonna be "slapping" ANY power adders on it. Precious few people are willing to buy a brand spanking new car and tear the engine out and ship it to a performance shop for a month...but there are those out there doing exactly that, I'm sure. Those precious few will have VERY mean machines.

 

[PowerWheels]

Originally posted by gmynko
What would happen if you slapped a blower on the GTO?

BOOM!!!!!!!! I love that!

 

[AtomHeart]

Unless you wanted to run the blower at 3psi. Hahahaha.

 

[gmynko]

Originally posted by johnsonl
BOOM!!!!!!!! I love that!

That's pretty much what I figured - and I'm sure there will be guys that slap a Vortech on it and learn the hard way - just like the LT-1 guys did in the 90s.

 

[AtomHeart]

I am reminded of a quote from one of the engineers at SVO in regards to the Terminator project, in an article in MM&FF. He said, "you know going into this that people are going to be modifying these cars, so if you build them right at their capacity, you're inviting disaster." Or words to that effect. Glad that Ford had someone like that on the Terminator team.

 

[gmynko]

Originally posted by AtomHeart
I am reminded of a quote from one of the engineers at SVO in regards to the Terminator project, in an article in MM&FF. He said, "you know going into this that people are going to be modifying these cars, so if you build them right at their capacity, you're inviting disaster." Or words to that effect. Glad that Ford had someone like that on the Terminator team.

So true - that's why I feel very comfortable about our cars easily handling 12-14# of boost on a long term basis.

 

[cobrapete03']

%uck Road & Track...All you get from these magazines is a bunch of biased crap...Remember the Hot Rod issue when a WRXsti was compared to the cobra in the 1/4 mile...They stated both cars are 13 second cars...Yeah BS, if you look at the 1.9 60-ft of the WRX and the 2.4 60-ft for the Cobra then they had similar ETs...So with a 1/2 second advantage to the WRX on the 60-ft the Cobra still beat it at the end both in ET and mph...But they dont talk about that....

-pete:coolman:

 

[03CobraBro]

Originally posted by gmynko
What would happen if you slapped a blower on the GTO?

Providing you switched to a lower compression head and reinforced the engine for boost, the FI system on a GTO should add power much like any other engine you would ever put a turbo or a blower on... What kind of answer were you expecting? :shrug:

BTW if your wondering why you have to switch to a lower comp. head, refer to atomhearts post.