What to do with 04 f1a cobra?

[BIGBRAND0105]

Hello All this is my first post on SVT been lurking for a while!! I am at a cross roads with my 04 Cobra not sure what step to take next in order to get the power and or feel that i am lookin for. I bought the car with a F1A on it that was mistuned at best. After getting the car tuned and sorting out all the bugs that came along with it the car is currently making 617/490 ish on a fairly conseritive tune on 93 octane making right about 20 lbs of boost. Although the car moves pretty good I am deseperatly missing the down low rush made with a roots type of blower. The car has longtubes / 60 lb injectors / BAP so I am on the edge of the fuel system. After talking to Kurgan and a local guy it seems like the next logical move would be to go to a return system w/ 80lb injectors and switch to E85. Kurgan is confident that I will net another 100 RWHP and guessing another 70 ft lbs of torque. I am hoping in doing this the car will have some low end grunt that it is currently missing? Any experiences with a simular set up would be awesome!!

 

[ViciousJay]

Why not just ditch the F1A and go back to a roots?

 

[SlowSVT]

:nono:

"low end grunt" and "F1A" should never be used in the same paragraph.

that kinda sums it up. Bigger injectors and E85 will just buy you more top end. Save the money for a TS instead :rockon:

 

[TRBO VNM]

You won't get what you are looking for. The money spent on the fuel system and injectors isn't wasted because you will need it for the roots, but you won't get the roots feel with the centri.

So, if you have the money for the fuel upgrades, do that and enjoy the power until you have the money for the roots and then swap it all.

 

[BIGBRAND0105]

You guys are pretty much confirming my thoughts.

 

[01yellercobra]

What gears do you have? I had an F1A on a big bore stroker with 3.90's. That thing hit hard in any gear. Passing in 6th wasn't an issue.

 

[modular89]

I ditched my F1A setup for the same reason and I am currently installing a 3.4 crusher.

 

[gabe1530]

What gears do you have? I had an F1A on a big bore stroker with 3.90's. That thing hit hard in any gear. Passing in 6th wasn't an issue.

Bingo. Gears will make a big difference.

OP, what gears are in your cobra currently?
Also, what are your goals with the car and how do you drive it?

 

[BIGBRAND0105]

Not quite sure on the gears, assuming stock 3.55. Car is just a sunday driver steet car that will most likley never see the track, some street racing at best. I think my best bet will be to try 3.90's and convert to E85. I really do not want the expense of going to a TVS especially since i did not own the car when the conversion was done and do not have any of the stock parts to convert back. Anybody have any suggestions of somebody to do the work in Michigan? I have used Alternative in the past with good success but he is backed way up, although I know Kurgan has worked with the F1A combo's and he quoted me a fair price getting the car 700 miles away will be tough to fit into my schedule. Thanks guys!!

 

[01yellercobra]

You can always post an ad for a trade. Someone might be looking to go with a big centri.

 

[Juiced46]

I am guessing you are using the stock Cobra lower intake with the Procharger "wedge" upper intake. That is one of the big problems with running that blower on these cars. Trust me I know. I was one of the first to have the F1A back in the day. I tested it for Procharger. Because of that short runner intake you are killing all low end. We have overlayed My F1A @ roughly 20psi vs a 2.2 KB @ similar boost and the KBs HP and TQ curve destroyed the F1As all the way across the board until around 6000rpms then finally the F1A would outpower it. Ported eaton cars were hanging with my car. It was sad.

Upping the boost, going to E85 and a better fuel system will pick up power for sure. However you are still going to have that very linear TQ curve. You will need to change the intake setup to fix this. Swapping to a 99/01 intake or 03/04 Mach intake will help this problem. Doing this you will also need to change to an air to air setup. Its not a ton of work but still alot. In the end, is it worth it to you? You will pick up more down low for sure. But it still will never be comparable to a twin screw car any day thats for sure. Proper gearing is a must also. On a stock CR motor with a Procharger its just not optimal.

If I were you and you want that low end back. Remove the Procharger. There really is not much to it. Then put a TVS or similar blower on it. When the procharger went on not much had to be modified/removed so it will be very easy for you to go back to a Roots/Twin screw.


Here is the KB vs Procharger HP dyno comparision/ Blue is KB. Red is the F1A

Here is the TQ curve. Blue is KB Red is the F1A.

 

[BIGBRAND0105]

That is great information!! Thanks for taking the time to post it. Now decisions decisions.........

 

[Blackedout]

You're going to need bigger than 80's and spin the blower 25+ psi .... I run an auto so not sure how it will be with the 6 speed... It takes some fine tuning to get it to work... I'm very happy with the way mine runs...

 

[SlowSVT]

This says it all :rockon:




Dave, did you sell your car again?

 

[Juiced46]

Dave, did you sell your car again?

Yes. I sold back in early 2014.

 

[blckRadda]

A simple approach that has work for years if you wanted to go back to a PD blower, would be buying a Mach 1 or Marauder timing cover and the brackets that that they use to do an Eaton swap all you would need is the intercooler and coolant manifolds and a cot if you don't have one. And one benefit is you would go from 1 belt system to a two belt system one for accessories and the other for the blower which should help with belt slip. Food for thought.

 

[UncleSAm]

get a 99-01 cobra intake or a mach 1 and youll get some tq with the intake runners

 

[Juiced46]

A simple approach that has work for years if you wanted to go back to a PD blower, would be buying a Mach 1 or Marauder timing cover and the brackets that that they use to do an Eaton swap all you would need is the intercooler and coolant manifolds and a cot if you don't have one. And one benefit is you would go from 1 belt system to a two belt system one for accessories and the other for the blower which should help with belt slip. Food for thought.

Whatttttt??

For him to go back to the PD setup all he needs to do is remove the upper intake and drop the blower on. Remove the Procharger and piping and reinstall all the cobra accessories and move the few things that were relocated. The front cover does not need to be changed....

 

[blckRadda]

Whatttttt??

For him to go back to the PD setup all he needs to do is remove the upper intake and drop the blower on. Remove the Procharger and piping and reinstall all the cobra accessories and move the few things that were relocated. The front cover does not need to be changed....

Oh thought a lot more was removed to put that blower on,

 

[Shadow Grey 03]

E85 and a 4.10 gear would help A TON!