The wife certainly picked out a great color, the Mineral gray looks awesome!!
First things first - before we went anywhere we did the vehicle inspection thing. It had 17.1 miles on the odometer and the little nubbs on the back tires were not present like they were on the fronts (but tread depth was almost identical - yes, I measured it - those little 6" metal rulers come in handy ;-) ). We knew that the mileage should have been less, we also knew that someone had done at least 1 burnout on the car, but lacking any rubber on the inner fenderwell or behind the rear wheels and noting the tread wear, the Cobra did not appear to be misused to a degree that would have prevented me from accepting delivery. Honestly, it came very, VERY close though - if I would have found any rubber where it should not have been and/or if the tread wear was measurably different on the fronts/back tires, it was going to be a brief visit at the dealers yesterday. My wife was on board as far as the go - no go requirements... and agreed that it was better to not accept a vehicle that had been beat on. Anyway, I did pass on my observations to the fleet sales dude, the cutomer relations gal at the dealer, and will soon be calling SVT to let them all know someone is doin stuff they shouldn't be.
OK then - after all of this gawking at the new car, the fleet sales dude asked us if we would like to take her for a test drive. Remarkably enough, he didn't even ride along with us... just threw us the keys and said "I'll be here when you get back, have fun." I guess he knew we needed a little pick-me-up from the pre-inspection... and he was right. It didn't take too long to realize that this car was just frickin awesome!!!
Driving impressions... the car handles & rides extremely well (no right pull as some have experienced with the ne 03's), firm but not stiff. The steering is heavy (no doubt due to the 275 sized tires) but is precise & tight. "Spirited acceleration" results in a very noticeable whine from the blower - but it's a VERY COOL sound and about the only thing I can compare it to would be a aircraft turbine spooling up. This is one torquey beast - so it doesn't take too much petal to get the desired result . The clutch was a little heavier then my 01, not bad considering what I've heard by some people here. Didn't take long to get used to that at all. However, this clutch is going to take some getting used to as it REALLY grabs (especially in third) and takes just the right amount of finesse of letting out on the clutch and pressing down on the go-fast petal without a driveline "buck". Another downside... as most have already stated, the thigh bolsters really don't fit the average Joe. Even the little distance I drove last night from the dealer to the house I could tell this was not going to be my favorite part of the car. I did find that if I kept my left foot on the dead petal, it wasn't that bad. The car is also extremely quiet - but a new cat back & some high-flow cats should cure that problem in short order.
All in all, we were in love after the first drive. The car is everything it's hyped up to being and I have to congratulate Ford & SVT for making a really superior ride. Gone is the 4x4 look for the most part (sits a bit high in the back for me, but the wife likes it as is... so no mods will be done there) and it truly is an outstanding vehicle for the price.
We did go with the upgraded maintenance package that basically pays for everything except for gas for the first 7 years. Lojack will be installed next week (gotta have it) an we also opted for a new thing called "Invisigraphic" security labeling system. It's like they put these stickers all over the car, engine, & tranny and the text is imbedded into the metal (after a short time). The stickers fall off in a little while, but the numbering remains and is only visible with the use of special lighting. It certainly won't stop someone from stealing the car, but will make it easier for the cops to identify any parts from the vehicle should it get "parted out".
Besides a side exhaust (Steeda) mod, high-flow cats, K&N, window tint, and postban's hood blanket mod we don't plan to do much other then get the chrome rims option changeover when made available through the dealer, and get some new subframe connectors (the stock ones bolt on - wtf is that ). Out of the box, this car is just about as much as we could have wanted.
BTW: The 01 Cobra has now officially been christened the "mod car"... that stuff is just way too fun to stop. There's deffinatly a blower in her future :-D .
One last thing (and what makes this even better) - while we were driving around last night we spotted a 01 or 02 Silver GT just ahead of us on the road. The wife was driving and I said "pass the guy and show your snake!". So she did, and at the next stoplight we glanced over to see the guy grinning from ear to ear and shot us a big "OK" and then a :thumbsup: . That guy also had a sweet ride so I returned the gesture.
Stangers are the best by far, no haters. As I always say, it's the people that make all of this something special, the cars are only an excuse for us to share a common interest.
First things first - before we went anywhere we did the vehicle inspection thing. It had 17.1 miles on the odometer and the little nubbs on the back tires were not present like they were on the fronts (but tread depth was almost identical - yes, I measured it - those little 6" metal rulers come in handy ;-) ). We knew that the mileage should have been less, we also knew that someone had done at least 1 burnout on the car, but lacking any rubber on the inner fenderwell or behind the rear wheels and noting the tread wear, the Cobra did not appear to be misused to a degree that would have prevented me from accepting delivery. Honestly, it came very, VERY close though - if I would have found any rubber where it should not have been and/or if the tread wear was measurably different on the fronts/back tires, it was going to be a brief visit at the dealers yesterday. My wife was on board as far as the go - no go requirements... and agreed that it was better to not accept a vehicle that had been beat on. Anyway, I did pass on my observations to the fleet sales dude, the cutomer relations gal at the dealer, and will soon be calling SVT to let them all know someone is doin stuff they shouldn't be.
OK then - after all of this gawking at the new car, the fleet sales dude asked us if we would like to take her for a test drive. Remarkably enough, he didn't even ride along with us... just threw us the keys and said "I'll be here when you get back, have fun." I guess he knew we needed a little pick-me-up from the pre-inspection... and he was right. It didn't take too long to realize that this car was just frickin awesome!!!
Driving impressions... the car handles & rides extremely well (no right pull as some have experienced with the ne 03's), firm but not stiff. The steering is heavy (no doubt due to the 275 sized tires) but is precise & tight. "Spirited acceleration" results in a very noticeable whine from the blower - but it's a VERY COOL sound and about the only thing I can compare it to would be a aircraft turbine spooling up. This is one torquey beast - so it doesn't take too much petal to get the desired result . The clutch was a little heavier then my 01, not bad considering what I've heard by some people here. Didn't take long to get used to that at all. However, this clutch is going to take some getting used to as it REALLY grabs (especially in third) and takes just the right amount of finesse of letting out on the clutch and pressing down on the go-fast petal without a driveline "buck". Another downside... as most have already stated, the thigh bolsters really don't fit the average Joe. Even the little distance I drove last night from the dealer to the house I could tell this was not going to be my favorite part of the car. I did find that if I kept my left foot on the dead petal, it wasn't that bad. The car is also extremely quiet - but a new cat back & some high-flow cats should cure that problem in short order.
All in all, we were in love after the first drive. The car is everything it's hyped up to being and I have to congratulate Ford & SVT for making a really superior ride. Gone is the 4x4 look for the most part (sits a bit high in the back for me, but the wife likes it as is... so no mods will be done there) and it truly is an outstanding vehicle for the price.
We did go with the upgraded maintenance package that basically pays for everything except for gas for the first 7 years. Lojack will be installed next week (gotta have it) an we also opted for a new thing called "Invisigraphic" security labeling system. It's like they put these stickers all over the car, engine, & tranny and the text is imbedded into the metal (after a short time). The stickers fall off in a little while, but the numbering remains and is only visible with the use of special lighting. It certainly won't stop someone from stealing the car, but will make it easier for the cops to identify any parts from the vehicle should it get "parted out".
Besides a side exhaust (Steeda) mod, high-flow cats, K&N, window tint, and postban's hood blanket mod we don't plan to do much other then get the chrome rims option changeover when made available through the dealer, and get some new subframe connectors (the stock ones bolt on - wtf is that ). Out of the box, this car is just about as much as we could have wanted.
BTW: The 01 Cobra has now officially been christened the "mod car"... that stuff is just way too fun to stop. There's deffinatly a blower in her future :-D .
One last thing (and what makes this even better) - while we were driving around last night we spotted a 01 or 02 Silver GT just ahead of us on the road. The wife was driving and I said "pass the guy and show your snake!". So she did, and at the next stoplight we glanced over to see the guy grinning from ear to ear and shot us a big "OK" and then a :thumbsup: . That guy also had a sweet ride so I returned the gesture.
Stangers are the best by far, no haters. As I always say, it's the people that make all of this something special, the cars are only an excuse for us to share a common interest.
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