right now I have the slowest car ever made, a 98 V6 mustang. I want to sell it and either get a 96-98 mustang cobra, a LT1 camaro, or a LS1 camaro. How does the performance of a 96-98 cobra compare to the performance of a LT1 and a LS1 camaro?? what are the stock RWHP ratings of each???? thanks

 

well, with my LT1 i think any mustang GT is cake to beat. 96-98 cobras will give and LT1 a run for his money but its too close to say, but for an LS1..the LS1 will dust the cobra. The LS1 6spd will take every stang, Cobra or GT until 03 when the Cobra got the blower
I am actually gonna race a 99 cobra soon, so i'll see what happens with that, im sure the cobra will pull away with his DOHC motor, but i still have a shot
What car would you rather have?
96-98 Cobra- i think around 270rwhp
93-97 LT1- 275-285rwhp
98-02 LS1-300+ rwhp

 

Elle Ess Juan without a doubt.

Mike

 

alright thanks alot. definately looks like a camaro will be in my future hopefully ill have enough $$$ for a LS1

 

Obviously we are going to be biased.
Try posting this in a Mustang forum, and see what they say.
Atleast this way you'll have both sides of the story.

Its obvious which one I thought was a better choice...

 

I would say 96-98 Cobras are right on par with LT1s performance wise. In most cases they are a good deal more expensive, and doing any internal mod (ie cams) is going to run you an arm and a leg, with minimal gains.

The LS1 is more potent that both.....

I would say stock RWHP is around

96-98 Cobra...250-260 rwhp
93-97 LT1....250-275 rwhp
98+ LS1....285-310rwhp

 

There is NO SUBSTITUTE for cubic inches . . .

 

i think marzen is about right..

seems like the 96-98 cobras were 305hp...where the GTs were 260.

so his Rwhp estimates were about right.

LS1 with minimal bolt ons will put down 330hp to the wheels.

 

Those 305hp rated 4Vs were more "overrated" from the factory then similar GM engines. Granted, the 305 rating is about right, given average 15-20% calculated loss, but figure a base LS1 is rated at 305 as well. On a dyno, it wouldnt be uncommon for the LS1 to dyno a good 20 more RWHP easy over the mod motor Ford. Likewise, even though the LT1s were rated @ 275/285, they should dyno similar HP to a mod motor 4V and in a lot of cases, more.

 

ok now were gettin extremely biased...LT1s dyno around 240ish +/- 10rwhp....96-98 cobras prolly 260 - 270ish cause of the 305 which with most of the fords lately is underrated and the LS1 is anywhere from 270-320rwhp

P.S. Mustang GTs didnt get 260hp til 99 94-98 5.0 and 4.6 were all 215hp/285tq

 

if you got the $$ get the LS1

if not LT1

Bowtie over blue oval any day

 

i would say that again, if you have the money, go for the LS1 without hesitation, but if i could have a choice between the LT1 or 96+ Cobra, well as far as i am concerned, the Cobra would be the better choice. it is a more exclusive car(imo) and with 305hp dohc 4.6L you really cant go wrong. not to mention the fact that it will sound a million times better than prettymuch any LT1 or LS1 you find.

 

There is a huge difference in the SN95 4v (96-98) cobra and the 01-02 Cobra. The heads are actually a different casting and the intake is obviously different. I have a buddy with a 97 and a buddy with an 01 and the 97 does not even hold a candle the the 01. Stock I bet the 01 would put down atleast 50 rwhp over the 97 and the 01 responds better to mods as well!

 

u show me a year 2000 or year 2002 cobra and i will give u my car

 

How about the '00 Cobra R?