I have been racing this past year in the SCCA Touring 1 class (mainly Z06's, 03/04 M3's, 911 GT3's and Subaru WRX STi) and during the year I have been working with Steeda to develop a trunk kit for the 03/04 Cobra. This is what we have submitted to the SCCA Comp Board. We have also asked for 17x11 rear wheels with 315x35x17 tires as the alternate wheel/tire. Also for the 2000 "R" splitter and wing. I have also asked for a weight reduction from 3780lbs with driver to 3680lbs after I had trouble making weight at the SCCA Runoffs over the weekend and I weight 260lbs.
Also I know of at least two people working on trunk kits for the Mach 1 in the Touring 2 class.
If you are interested in running a Cobra in the SCCA email me at [email protected]
Cheyne Dagget
Daggett Racing
Sports Car Club of America
Competition Board
Re: Suggested Changes to Class Rules to Allow Use of the Steeda T1 Kit
T1 2003/2004 Ford Cobra Mustang
Distinguished Competition Board Members:
For nearly two decades we have been working with racing teams and customers to develop components to improve the safety and reliability of Ford Mustangs and the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra Mustangs. The ever increasing popularity of open track events and the certification of the 2003/2004 Cobra for S.C.C.A.’s T1 class has demanded our attention. Presently we provide parts and technical support to several teams racing in the S.C.C.A professional and amateur classes running various types of Ford Mustangs. Our previous experience working with the S.C.C.A. on the 1999 T1 Ford Cobra was positive and provided race fans with some much needed competition in this class.
Recently, we were approached by an S.C.C.A. competitor, Cheyne Daggett, about improving the safety, reliability and competitiveness of the T1 Ford Cobra Mustang. Mr. Daggett has suffered the many difficulties we have seen with this particular car under competition conditions. Although the car is an excellent production street vehicle, there are badly needed modifications that would allow, at best, the vehicle to be consistently running at the end of a race as well as to correct some safety issues. Making the car competitive will require additional changes.
Clearly, the much lighter and aerodynamic Chevrolet Corvette with its very mature and sophisticated suspension is a formidable foe for the antiquated suspension and heft of the Ford Cobra Mustang. However, much as we did for the 1999 T1 Cobra, we have developed a kit that will provide some needed changes to allow this car to be something other than a back marker. Clearly without these changes, T1 will become a Corvette only class.
The Steeda T1 kit (555-2340-T1) has been assembled from existing parts based on comparative track and dyno testing of both the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra Mustang and the Chevrolet Z06 Corvette. The included components have been chosen, to improve safety, both for the driver and the other competitors, the reliability of the car and finally some modicum of performance improvement. The parts in this kit are readily available and can be installed by an individual with average mechanical skills. The following is a description of the components of this kit and the problem each one addresses.
Safety and Reliability Directed Kit Components:
1. 2000 Cobra R Fuel Cell – This O.E. fuel cell, manufactured by Fuel Safe, is badly needed to improve driver safety. The existing fuel tank can suffer a catastrophic failure insuring a fire and possible explosion in the event of a rear impact. This item is purely a safety modification that is a direct replacement for the existing fuel tank. Although the fuel capacity is slightly greater than the O.E. fuel tank, no competitor runs a full tank in this class, therefore no competitive advantage is associated with its use. Due to the design of the O.E. exhaust system on the Cobra, side exit exhaust must be used with this fuel cell (see item 2).
2. Steeda Side Exit Exhaust (040-13912) – This is the exhaust that is necessary when using a fuel cell with the Cobra. Side exit exhaust that require the exhaust gases to reverse direction typically hurt performance. Testing has shown that our kit, when installed on a stock 2003/2004 Cobra, is essentially performance neutral.
3. Steeda Ultra-Cool Radiator (051-1097) – The two single largest deficiencies of the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra are with the two major heat exchangers. Although the O.E. radiator is adequate for single and short burst on the street or drag strip, it is wholly inadequate for road racing use. The overheating issues Mr. Daggett has suffered only reflect what our own testing has demonstrated. Clearly a vehicle that is overheating and spilling fluid on the race track is a danger to all the competitors. This does not even consider the considerable cost to the driver in potential repairs for an overheated engine in an already expensive class to compete nor the frustration of being unable to contest an entire race.
4. Steeda Inner Cooler Heat Exchanger (417-80274N) – The 2003/2004 Ford Cobra uses a water-to-air heat exchanger to cool the inlet air temperature as it exits the supercharger. As with the O.E. radiator, this unit was designed to meet the demands of single and short bursts at full power. The very small size of the O.E. unit, and the very small fluid reservoir are easily heat-sinked under road racing use. Typically a competitor on an 80o F day will have exceeded the heat dissipation capacity of the O.E. system before they can compete a full lap. At this point the computer system is taking so much timing out of the engine that most of the horsepower generated by the supercharger is lost. Within a few laps, the inner cooler fluid has exceeded the boiling point and is spewed onto the racing surface with all the inherit dangers to competitors, engine damage and inability to compete previously noted in item 3.
5. Steeda 2000 Cobra R Brembo Brake Kit (344-185-6001A) – Despite the fact that the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra comes equipped with 13” rotors, the considerable heft of the car easily exceeds the capacity of the O.E. brakes making the Cobra uncompetitive and often a danger to other competitors. We have included this brake kit in an effort to help mitigate this problem. However, although this kit will provide a small improvement in reliability, any competitor racing this car at the class specified weight that approaches 3900 lbs with fuel will find little performance advantage. The Brembo kit that uses the 14” diameter rotors would be far more realistic for a car of this mass.
6. Steeda Independent Rear Suspension Bushing Kits (555-4015, 555-4016) – One of the major deficiencies of the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra Mustang is the mounting system utilized on the independent rear suspension (IRS). The extremely soft O.E. bushing associated with Ford’s efforts to reduce NVH, allows the IRS assembly to move violently under even modest throttle application and is often seen as wheel-hop. The resulting oscillations cause extremely powerful harmonics to be transferred to the half-shafts, driveshaft and differential. These harmonics can and will damage the differential and gearbox as well as break or fatigue the engine’s crankshaft. At a minimum, the residual strain in the crankshaft, gearbox, differential and half-shafts resulting from these oscillations will insure a short and expensive racing season. The Steeda bushing kits help to reduce the violent wheel-hop that is common with these cars and provides some improvement in reliability with no increase in performance.
7. Steeda Cobra IRS Subframe Bracket Kit (555-5405) – In addition to the violent harmonics and wheel-hop associated with the soft IRS mounting bushings, testing has demonstrated that the weak cantilever brackets that the rear IRS subframe is mounted to flexes so badly under acceleration that violent wheel-hop results. This Steeda kit provides a simple weld on bracket that bolts through the wheel well and is virtually invisible yet dramatically reduces wheel-hop. Like the Steeda bushing kits, increased reliability and reduced repair costs are the benefits with no improvement in performance.
8. Steeda Differential Cover Brace (555-7716) – The weak aluminum differential assembly commonly suffers structural failure from residual strain associated with flexing of the cast aluminum housing as a result of wheel-hop and torque variation from left to right. This kit component provides a steel brace that is bolted to the rear cover of the differential to reduce the inherit flexing. This is a reliability component and as such provides no improvement in performance.
9. Steeda Tri-Ax Shifter (555-7473-TI) – This shifter kit provides improved reliability and driver comfort. The Tri-Ax shifter is equipped with shifter stop adjustments that allow the driver to limit the shifter motion. Our testing has demonstrated that the single largest contributor to the Cobra’s gearbox failure is associated with bent and broken shift forks. The Cobra’s O.E. shifter provides no mechanism to limit the shifter travel despite the gear travel limits built into the gearbox. Without a motion stopping device, the very weak shift forks typically bend under racing conditions leading to gearbox failure. The main characteristic of this component is improved gearbox reliability. However, the additional comfort associated with the precision of this shifter may reduce driver fatigue and therefore could be construed to generate an improvement in performance.
Performance Improvement Kit Components:
10. Steeda Performance Springs (555-8205) – The heavy 2003/2004 Ford Cobra has an O.E. wheel rate that is inadequate for racing using. This component of the Steeda T1 kit provides springs that increase the wheel rate to a level that will allow the car to remain within the very limited roll angle afforded by the MacPherson strut front suspension.
11. Steeda Bump Steer Kit (555-8104, 122-10020-G) – The stock 2003/2004 Ford Cobra suffers from very significant bump steer. This is further exacerbated when the competitor tries to achieve the caster and camber settings allowed under existing T1 rules. This component of the T1 kit provides a mechanism to adjust the relationship of the steering rack to the spindle reducing bump steer. Although this component will improve the handling performance of the car in race condition, it also provides some improvement in stability under braking reducing the probably of lost of control and impact with another car.
12. Steeda 4-Bolt Caster/Camber Plates w/ Spindle Adjusting Bolts (555-8095, 271-81280) – This component of the Steeda T1 kit provides much needed adjustability of caster and camber. Current T1 rules allow for 2 degrees of negative camber, however design limitations permit only 1 degree of negative camber in the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra. Additionally, the included spindle adjusting bolts allow the competitor to make small adjusts to camber at the spindle to reduce the increased migration of the roll center associated with the addition of negative camber to a MacPherson strut suspension. One of the major benefits to this component of the kit is the reduction in the extreme tire wear on the outside edges associated with racing a MacPherson strut suspension with inadequate negative camber. It should help to reduce the cost of racing for the Cobra competitor.
13. Steeda X2 Ball Joint Kit (555-8101) – The Steeda X2 ball joint allows the competitor to provide a small amount of correction to the poor suspension geometry of the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra. As manufactured, the relationship of the pip of the ball joint to the front control arm pickups is poor at best. The O.E. design provides for an unstable front roll center and all the inherit poor handling associated with it.
14. Steeda Battery Relocation Kit (555-3800) – This component of the T1 kit moves the battery to the trunk from the very vulnerable location in the left front engine compartment. In addition to providing an improvement in reliability, this modification will move some mass from the front of the car providing a very small improvement in weight distribution and little or no change to polar moment.
15. Steeda Cold Air Package (555-3115) – The Steeda cold air kit provides some improvement over the restrictive O.E. air filter system with modest gains in horsepower and torque.
16. Steeda Supercharger Pulley and Idler Pulley System (555-3331, 555-3340) – This final component of the Steeda T1 kit provides the competitor with a slightly smaller diameter supercharger pulley and a much needed idler to prevent belt slippage and improve reliability. The smaller diameter pulley will provide approximately a 20 horsepower increase when used in conjunction with the Steeda Inner Cooler Heat Exchanger (item 4).
In addition to the Steeda T1 Kit, we also recommend that the 2003/2004 Cobra be allowed to use a 17 x 11 wheel in the rear. There are companies currently producing replicas of the Cobra wheels in these widths that should provide a stock appearance. We have recommended the increase in wheel width to allow Cobra competitors to use a larger tire and move them toward equality with the Corvettes and Porsches.
All the components in the Steeda T1 kit provide subtle modifications to the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra. Most are directed at improving reliability and safety. Some are clearly directed at improving the deficiencies of basically a 30 year old Ford Fairmont chassis. Although this kit will improve the competitiveness of the Cobra in the T1 class it is unlikely that a championship will be immediately forthcoming.
"Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" is a phrase that folks at Steeda and at the SCCA have surely heard before. We've achieved our success by keeping a sharp focus on supplying the highest quality, high-performance parts to factory-based Ford racing efforts. You need look no further than the American Sedan series and the past T1 series to see this in action. And while we can verify that this has brought new customers to Steeda, we humbly submit that by making Ford products more competitive, we bring more new, loyal Ford racers to the sanctioning bodies we work closely with as well. The enthusiastic support of Steeda for the S.C.C.A. racing should not be limited to American Sedan alone; by approving the T1 package we have proposed herein, we hope to duplicate our success and double the benefits of a close association with Steeda to the SCCA.
We look forward to your prompt response - because at Steeda Autosports "Speed Matters".
Respectfully submitted,
William R. Mathis
V.P. Manufacturing and Engineering
Steeda Autosports, Inc.
954-718-6500
Also I know of at least two people working on trunk kits for the Mach 1 in the Touring 2 class.
If you are interested in running a Cobra in the SCCA email me at [email protected]
Cheyne Dagget
Daggett Racing
Sports Car Club of America
Competition Board
Re: Suggested Changes to Class Rules to Allow Use of the Steeda T1 Kit
T1 2003/2004 Ford Cobra Mustang
Distinguished Competition Board Members:
For nearly two decades we have been working with racing teams and customers to develop components to improve the safety and reliability of Ford Mustangs and the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra Mustangs. The ever increasing popularity of open track events and the certification of the 2003/2004 Cobra for S.C.C.A.’s T1 class has demanded our attention. Presently we provide parts and technical support to several teams racing in the S.C.C.A professional and amateur classes running various types of Ford Mustangs. Our previous experience working with the S.C.C.A. on the 1999 T1 Ford Cobra was positive and provided race fans with some much needed competition in this class.
Recently, we were approached by an S.C.C.A. competitor, Cheyne Daggett, about improving the safety, reliability and competitiveness of the T1 Ford Cobra Mustang. Mr. Daggett has suffered the many difficulties we have seen with this particular car under competition conditions. Although the car is an excellent production street vehicle, there are badly needed modifications that would allow, at best, the vehicle to be consistently running at the end of a race as well as to correct some safety issues. Making the car competitive will require additional changes.
Clearly, the much lighter and aerodynamic Chevrolet Corvette with its very mature and sophisticated suspension is a formidable foe for the antiquated suspension and heft of the Ford Cobra Mustang. However, much as we did for the 1999 T1 Cobra, we have developed a kit that will provide some needed changes to allow this car to be something other than a back marker. Clearly without these changes, T1 will become a Corvette only class.
The Steeda T1 kit (555-2340-T1) has been assembled from existing parts based on comparative track and dyno testing of both the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra Mustang and the Chevrolet Z06 Corvette. The included components have been chosen, to improve safety, both for the driver and the other competitors, the reliability of the car and finally some modicum of performance improvement. The parts in this kit are readily available and can be installed by an individual with average mechanical skills. The following is a description of the components of this kit and the problem each one addresses.
Safety and Reliability Directed Kit Components:
1. 2000 Cobra R Fuel Cell – This O.E. fuel cell, manufactured by Fuel Safe, is badly needed to improve driver safety. The existing fuel tank can suffer a catastrophic failure insuring a fire and possible explosion in the event of a rear impact. This item is purely a safety modification that is a direct replacement for the existing fuel tank. Although the fuel capacity is slightly greater than the O.E. fuel tank, no competitor runs a full tank in this class, therefore no competitive advantage is associated with its use. Due to the design of the O.E. exhaust system on the Cobra, side exit exhaust must be used with this fuel cell (see item 2).
2. Steeda Side Exit Exhaust (040-13912) – This is the exhaust that is necessary when using a fuel cell with the Cobra. Side exit exhaust that require the exhaust gases to reverse direction typically hurt performance. Testing has shown that our kit, when installed on a stock 2003/2004 Cobra, is essentially performance neutral.
3. Steeda Ultra-Cool Radiator (051-1097) – The two single largest deficiencies of the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra are with the two major heat exchangers. Although the O.E. radiator is adequate for single and short burst on the street or drag strip, it is wholly inadequate for road racing use. The overheating issues Mr. Daggett has suffered only reflect what our own testing has demonstrated. Clearly a vehicle that is overheating and spilling fluid on the race track is a danger to all the competitors. This does not even consider the considerable cost to the driver in potential repairs for an overheated engine in an already expensive class to compete nor the frustration of being unable to contest an entire race.
4. Steeda Inner Cooler Heat Exchanger (417-80274N) – The 2003/2004 Ford Cobra uses a water-to-air heat exchanger to cool the inlet air temperature as it exits the supercharger. As with the O.E. radiator, this unit was designed to meet the demands of single and short bursts at full power. The very small size of the O.E. unit, and the very small fluid reservoir are easily heat-sinked under road racing use. Typically a competitor on an 80o F day will have exceeded the heat dissipation capacity of the O.E. system before they can compete a full lap. At this point the computer system is taking so much timing out of the engine that most of the horsepower generated by the supercharger is lost. Within a few laps, the inner cooler fluid has exceeded the boiling point and is spewed onto the racing surface with all the inherit dangers to competitors, engine damage and inability to compete previously noted in item 3.
5. Steeda 2000 Cobra R Brembo Brake Kit (344-185-6001A) – Despite the fact that the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra comes equipped with 13” rotors, the considerable heft of the car easily exceeds the capacity of the O.E. brakes making the Cobra uncompetitive and often a danger to other competitors. We have included this brake kit in an effort to help mitigate this problem. However, although this kit will provide a small improvement in reliability, any competitor racing this car at the class specified weight that approaches 3900 lbs with fuel will find little performance advantage. The Brembo kit that uses the 14” diameter rotors would be far more realistic for a car of this mass.
6. Steeda Independent Rear Suspension Bushing Kits (555-4015, 555-4016) – One of the major deficiencies of the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra Mustang is the mounting system utilized on the independent rear suspension (IRS). The extremely soft O.E. bushing associated with Ford’s efforts to reduce NVH, allows the IRS assembly to move violently under even modest throttle application and is often seen as wheel-hop. The resulting oscillations cause extremely powerful harmonics to be transferred to the half-shafts, driveshaft and differential. These harmonics can and will damage the differential and gearbox as well as break or fatigue the engine’s crankshaft. At a minimum, the residual strain in the crankshaft, gearbox, differential and half-shafts resulting from these oscillations will insure a short and expensive racing season. The Steeda bushing kits help to reduce the violent wheel-hop that is common with these cars and provides some improvement in reliability with no increase in performance.
7. Steeda Cobra IRS Subframe Bracket Kit (555-5405) – In addition to the violent harmonics and wheel-hop associated with the soft IRS mounting bushings, testing has demonstrated that the weak cantilever brackets that the rear IRS subframe is mounted to flexes so badly under acceleration that violent wheel-hop results. This Steeda kit provides a simple weld on bracket that bolts through the wheel well and is virtually invisible yet dramatically reduces wheel-hop. Like the Steeda bushing kits, increased reliability and reduced repair costs are the benefits with no improvement in performance.
8. Steeda Differential Cover Brace (555-7716) – The weak aluminum differential assembly commonly suffers structural failure from residual strain associated with flexing of the cast aluminum housing as a result of wheel-hop and torque variation from left to right. This kit component provides a steel brace that is bolted to the rear cover of the differential to reduce the inherit flexing. This is a reliability component and as such provides no improvement in performance.
9. Steeda Tri-Ax Shifter (555-7473-TI) – This shifter kit provides improved reliability and driver comfort. The Tri-Ax shifter is equipped with shifter stop adjustments that allow the driver to limit the shifter motion. Our testing has demonstrated that the single largest contributor to the Cobra’s gearbox failure is associated with bent and broken shift forks. The Cobra’s O.E. shifter provides no mechanism to limit the shifter travel despite the gear travel limits built into the gearbox. Without a motion stopping device, the very weak shift forks typically bend under racing conditions leading to gearbox failure. The main characteristic of this component is improved gearbox reliability. However, the additional comfort associated with the precision of this shifter may reduce driver fatigue and therefore could be construed to generate an improvement in performance.
Performance Improvement Kit Components:
10. Steeda Performance Springs (555-8205) – The heavy 2003/2004 Ford Cobra has an O.E. wheel rate that is inadequate for racing using. This component of the Steeda T1 kit provides springs that increase the wheel rate to a level that will allow the car to remain within the very limited roll angle afforded by the MacPherson strut front suspension.
11. Steeda Bump Steer Kit (555-8104, 122-10020-G) – The stock 2003/2004 Ford Cobra suffers from very significant bump steer. This is further exacerbated when the competitor tries to achieve the caster and camber settings allowed under existing T1 rules. This component of the T1 kit provides a mechanism to adjust the relationship of the steering rack to the spindle reducing bump steer. Although this component will improve the handling performance of the car in race condition, it also provides some improvement in stability under braking reducing the probably of lost of control and impact with another car.
12. Steeda 4-Bolt Caster/Camber Plates w/ Spindle Adjusting Bolts (555-8095, 271-81280) – This component of the Steeda T1 kit provides much needed adjustability of caster and camber. Current T1 rules allow for 2 degrees of negative camber, however design limitations permit only 1 degree of negative camber in the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra. Additionally, the included spindle adjusting bolts allow the competitor to make small adjusts to camber at the spindle to reduce the increased migration of the roll center associated with the addition of negative camber to a MacPherson strut suspension. One of the major benefits to this component of the kit is the reduction in the extreme tire wear on the outside edges associated with racing a MacPherson strut suspension with inadequate negative camber. It should help to reduce the cost of racing for the Cobra competitor.
13. Steeda X2 Ball Joint Kit (555-8101) – The Steeda X2 ball joint allows the competitor to provide a small amount of correction to the poor suspension geometry of the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra. As manufactured, the relationship of the pip of the ball joint to the front control arm pickups is poor at best. The O.E. design provides for an unstable front roll center and all the inherit poor handling associated with it.
14. Steeda Battery Relocation Kit (555-3800) – This component of the T1 kit moves the battery to the trunk from the very vulnerable location in the left front engine compartment. In addition to providing an improvement in reliability, this modification will move some mass from the front of the car providing a very small improvement in weight distribution and little or no change to polar moment.
15. Steeda Cold Air Package (555-3115) – The Steeda cold air kit provides some improvement over the restrictive O.E. air filter system with modest gains in horsepower and torque.
16. Steeda Supercharger Pulley and Idler Pulley System (555-3331, 555-3340) – This final component of the Steeda T1 kit provides the competitor with a slightly smaller diameter supercharger pulley and a much needed idler to prevent belt slippage and improve reliability. The smaller diameter pulley will provide approximately a 20 horsepower increase when used in conjunction with the Steeda Inner Cooler Heat Exchanger (item 4).
In addition to the Steeda T1 Kit, we also recommend that the 2003/2004 Cobra be allowed to use a 17 x 11 wheel in the rear. There are companies currently producing replicas of the Cobra wheels in these widths that should provide a stock appearance. We have recommended the increase in wheel width to allow Cobra competitors to use a larger tire and move them toward equality with the Corvettes and Porsches.
All the components in the Steeda T1 kit provide subtle modifications to the 2003/2004 Ford Cobra. Most are directed at improving reliability and safety. Some are clearly directed at improving the deficiencies of basically a 30 year old Ford Fairmont chassis. Although this kit will improve the competitiveness of the Cobra in the T1 class it is unlikely that a championship will be immediately forthcoming.
"Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" is a phrase that folks at Steeda and at the SCCA have surely heard before. We've achieved our success by keeping a sharp focus on supplying the highest quality, high-performance parts to factory-based Ford racing efforts. You need look no further than the American Sedan series and the past T1 series to see this in action. And while we can verify that this has brought new customers to Steeda, we humbly submit that by making Ford products more competitive, we bring more new, loyal Ford racers to the sanctioning bodies we work closely with as well. The enthusiastic support of Steeda for the S.C.C.A. racing should not be limited to American Sedan alone; by approving the T1 package we have proposed herein, we hope to duplicate our success and double the benefits of a close association with Steeda to the SCCA.
We look forward to your prompt response - because at Steeda Autosports "Speed Matters".
Respectfully submitted,
William R. Mathis
V.P. Manufacturing and Engineering
Steeda Autosports, Inc.
954-718-6500
