2001 Cobra vs 1999 Cobra

1999 brought an exciting buzz to the Mustang community with a new body design (New-Edge) inspired from the original Sn95 "Rambo" concept, still riding on the original FOX-4 chassis... though the bigger buzz came from the significant new found power of an advertised 260 horsepower in the base V8 GT model, from new intake, cams and performance improvement heads (P.I heads) with larger valves. The New-Edge Mustangs were putting down similar rear wheel dyno figures as GM's older 5.7-liter LT1 powered Camaro/Firebird F-body twins, which had been beating up on Mustangs for the last six years. Finally, Ford was back in the V8 Ponycar game. Unfortunately a day late and dollar short with GM releasing the Corvette's LS1 into the Camaro/Firebird F-body models and serious work was cut out for the big brother SVT Cobra, which featured a new Independent Rear Suspension (IRS) system and a revised 4-valve version 4.6L with advertised 320hp. But something wasn't quite right....

...as base V8 non-SS model LS1 powered Camaro/Firebird cars were absolutely destroying these new 1999 SVT Cobra Mustangs on the streets and on tracks all across the country.... as well as GM's earlier 1993-97 LT1 powered 6-speed F-bodies also having their way with the new 1999 SVT Cobra. Strapped to dynos told the story, it revealed an over-rated and under-powered Cobra badged Mustang that actually produced closer to the neighborhood of 240hp at the rear wheels. Cobra owners could not understand why the 260hp Mustang GT models were running similar 1/4 mile times as the more expensive 320hp SVT Cobra. Ford quickly stepped up to correct the problem Cobras with a performance recall and managed to produce some additional horsepower... bumping rear-wheel power output to around 265hp to the wheels and known as the "fixed" Cobra, they received intake, exhaust and computer revisions. 

 2000 Ford took a year off from regular SVT Cobra production in the U.S and focused on the production and release of Ford's third and best yet R-model, limited to 300 race-ready and street legal Cobra R models that were released with an under-rated 385hp 5.4-Liter DOHC 4-valve engine and T56 Tremec 6-speed transmission... the absolute greatest Mustang to date, fastest, best handling/braking and with an impressive list of goodies including Recaro seats, Eibach springs, Bilstein shocks & struts, Bassani exhaust, as well as independent rear suspension, fully functional front fascia, splitter and specially designed rear wing for high speed down-force.

2001 sees new found power on dynos after the disappointing 1999 SVT Cobra fiasco, Mustang guys could now walk into Ford dealerships and buy a legitimate factory SVT Cobra capable of running easy mid-13 second 1/4 mile times right off the showroom floor. The new 2001 SVT Cobra produces 40 more horsepower over "pre-fixed" 1999 Cobras and around 15hp over the "fixed" 1999 Cobras. For the 2001 models the dynos revealed 280hp at the rear wheels. Speculations of revised intake, computer and exhaust. Compared to the 1999 Cobra models the 2001 Cobra even sounds much more aggressive. The new 2001 models finally bring the Mustang Cobra in contention with the LS1 powered Camaro/Firebird models.