230k Mustang Cobra

Stumbled across this on Craigslist and want to know more about them.

How well do these things daily? How well do they autocross?

The seller is asking $2900 for a 230k '99 Cobra. Is this an absurd price?

4.6 is much unloved as a performance platform

In reply to aussiesmg:

The 2v 4.6 sucks.....that engine is at least a decent mill.

Those engines aren't especially torquey, but they do have a 6800 rpm redline. Also, the IRS is worse in a lot of ways than the solid axle. Modding Cobras can get expensive...instead of buying one cam, you have to buy four, and 32 valve springs instead of 16, etc.

But I think the main problem with these cars is that you can find LS1 F-bodies for $5k, and an LS1 Camaro will eat an NA Cobra alive.

In reply to Will:

Why add cams? Add boost.

Oh

So a IRS Cobra won't make me into the coolest kid on the block.

Guess I won't be test driving this car at all then.

I'd take a chance on it at that price for sure. I LOVED our 03 Mach 1 and it was dead reliable. We daily drove and road tripped ours from 46k miles to over 100k miles. I am an f body fan, but for that era I'd pick the stang for some reason....I just really like them and I plan to purchase another one next year.

In reply to MINIzguy:

If you don't plan on doing burnouts/drag launches to prove you have the biggest mullet, the IRS won't even be noticeable. The engine thing, they love to rev.....go drive it, you'll probably like the power. Exhaust sound should be epic as well if it isn't stock.

Around town the IRS is great. It does suck at launching though. but for that money I would grab a cobra in a heartbeat.

Also, the 99-01 cobra has an aluminum block 4.6 so thats a plus.

Having never owned one all I can do is relay what I've gleaned by talking to owners. If it's a car that you really like the way it is, you're golden. They're good cars, there is a lot to like. If you're going to go down the rabbit hole of Mustang modification, start with a different car.

Great risk reward IMO, aluminum block wont hold a ton of boost IIRC but the platform as a whole is decent and parts should be inexpensive at this point. Worse case scenario its a great project car and 320ish HP is nothing to scoff at although not anything amazing in this day and age, but for the price....

I test drove a '99 Cobra before I bought my Fbody back in the day. I drove on mostly smooth roads, so I didn't notice much difference in handling (I was gonna make an ESP car anyway). The difference in torque between the LS1 and the Cobra engine felt huge. Maybe 4.10s would have made a difference? This isn't a ford vs Chevy thread, so if I were you - I'd take a chance on it, budget for a set of gears and have some fun!

Offer $2500, sell a few parts, go to Challenge...

On the plus side, it looks fairly unmolested... just driven... a lot... and not cleaned much.

I'd buy it out from under you if it was closer. That price is LOW!

for that money, you could buy it and use it for what it was meant to be used for: a drivetrain and suspension donor for a 79 Fairmont wagon.

My understanding is the IRS sucks for road course and autox as well due to goofy geometry.

I'd love to put snows on that and try to rallyx it.

You guys can steal it from under me!

I'm a week away from returning to NJ due to school. If it is still there, I'm definitely going to check it out. Now to see if I could swing two project cars as a college student...

I saw k and choked back "230,000 dollars?"

Im not a big mod motor fan but I do like the 4 valves, I would do your research, the mod motors have reliability issues in other platforms, but I have limited experience with the 4 valves and longevity or knowledge of how much of the troublesome parts they share with other platforms.

4.10s are a common mod for the 4V n/a mustangs

Pros: the platform has a huge aftermarket and is plenty capable in factory trim compared to other cars on the road. You could probably part it out for more if it turns out to be a problem child.

Cons: Purely speculation leads me to believe an engine rebuild would be considerably more costly than normal given the reasons stated earlier in the thread (low production DOHC V8). Until the S197 mustangs had cable clutches, If you are used to a hydraulicly assisted clutch this will wear you out. I have a clutch in my car rated for 800 ft lb and daily drive it and a stock clutch in a mustang will make my leg shake in bumper to bumper traffic, but you can get used to it.

About the fbody, owning one, it may be faster but I consider the mustang in general a better car. I love my fbody but it has many an issue, and is a pain in the ass to work on.

Appleseed wrote: I saw k and choked back "230,000 dollars?"

I came in assuming it was miles, prepared to state that if it were indeed dollars.

IIRC, didn't the SN95 Cobra R owners (you know, the ones who actually raced them and didn't put them into dry storage for future collector value) swap out the IRS for the live axle? Wonder how hard it could be?

FWIW I have a cousin who's always been a mustang guy and he DD'd one of these back when they were a couple years old. Newer models have outgunned it easily, but he was always happy with his. Back in the day it was respectable if not king of the hill, and they are plenty fast enough to be entertaining. especially in good shape for that kind of money.

phaze1todd wrote: IIRC, didn't the SN95 Cobra R owners (you know, the ones who actually raced them and didn't put them into dry storage for future collector value) swap out the IRS for the live axle? Wonder how hard it could be?

GRM actually wrote about a guy that road raced one of the IRS Cobra's and he did a solid axle swap and used a lot of Griggs Racing hardware to improve the car. I believe that Maximum Motorsports and Kenny Brown, etc have come out with toe control and bushing kits to take a lot of the problems out of the IRS but that stuff hasn't been around that long.

The 8.8 is really heavy, keeping the IRS and working it over seems like a great idea, although I'm not sure how great it can be. And there's a lot of hardware to make the stick axles work in these cars. So maybe at this point it's a wash?

I collected some tech tips on these cars for the December issue. Page 144. (epub here, or get the iPad/Kindle edition in their respective digital newsstands)

If it's got that many miles, odds are good the IRS hasn't been abused. It's not built for drag racing, so it tends to break under hard launches. There are upgrades available. Kenny Brown has one that he loves.

The '99s and some '00s had that horsepower rating recall, but I imagine that's been taken care of by now. The later, supercharged cars tend to heat soak pretty quick, but the naturally aspirated engines don't have that problem. They're stout up to about 400 horsepower.

For the price, it sounds like an excellent car. I say go for it.