Supercharger vs Heads/Cam/Intake for track work.

I need more power in the cobra. Running about 245hp at the crank right now. Would like to be ~350-360 at the crank when done. Car weighs dry 1957lbs, it is on slicks, accu slumped.

It's a 89 5.0 Mustang motor stock bottom end. T5 Transmission. 3.73 rear

Can pickup a used Paxton kit which will blow ~8-10lb's for 1800$ looking at 500$ extra for tuning and gauges that sort of thing. Would add about 70lb's I think to the car. In the front where I don't want it. With boost I can do heads and cam later for tons more power once the bottom end lets go.

Or I can call trick flow up and buy the 360 hot kit, heads cams, roller conversion, intake, manifold, all gaskets and new studs. 2800$ shipped. Add in another 300 for incidentals and ~200 for the headers which are special to the car. This will also increase the DB though and I am pushing almost 123db at full throttle and I will be kicked for this at some point. This would take about 70lbs out of the car.

Which would be more reliable, which would be more track-able.

NA ALL THE WAY

I would go the N/A route rather than the blower. Heat generation by the blower on track just seems to be a pain to deal with. The blower will probably also raise the DB.

If you are already pushing that much noise on exhaust, you may want to change your pipes to some other setup. I know they can't all be that loud.

I'd go with a shorter gear set and N/A.

I'd stick with n/a. Both will make the car louder, though. That's not just an n/a thing.

Unless you're planning to track the car at fairly high elevation, I'd stick with N/A. At high elevations you end up seeing bigger benefits from forced induction, but you're at sea level, so it won't make that much of a difference.

N/A at this point is less complex, plus you can still add a blower later. I'd however look into doing something about the noise levels, that sort of dBs will get you black flagged at Laguna Seca (if you're planning on running there) pretty quickly.

Na, there are ways to make it cheaper too. Like the fact id run used reworked heads over a used paxton that needs a rebuild. Side idea, idk but would gt40p heads and everything else get you to 350? Cheap ass way but with some work im sure they flow some but I dont know if its enough for your goals

I'll assume road course is the track you're referring too?

With more power you'll probably need a radiator upgrade. How much will the trans take before it needs upgrading? Now you're going faster, brake upgrade? Suspension work?

never ends, does it?

Pull the anemic 302 and go stroker. http://www.fordstrokers.com/stroker-kits-/

NA. Its the way a cobra should be.

Its kinda funny, I've always wanted to build a Cobra with a Shelby-Dodge turbocharged 4-cylinder and oddly enough they can make similar power fairly reliably and with less weight. Put a Shelby valve cover on there and you could really throw people for a loop :)

I'd vote for NA though and you'll need to replace the side pipes with a proper exhaust, just the way life goes.

I have way way more cooling then I will ever need at this point.

N/A seems to be the consensus the blower was cheap and I know it can make good power and if the bottom end goes its 650$ and a few hours for me to swap for a used one on Craigslist. That was my biggest thinking. But if the pistons go and they will and it eats 2-3K in heads and cam I am going to be pissed.

It's one of those things where while your in there you might as well do the pistons and bearings and pump and when you are done you have a 6-7K$ 5.0 motor which feels stupid.

Going to call trick flow and see if the kit works with the stock bottom end or if I need to do pistons at the same time. Also if it comes with tuning.

As for the exhaust I have no room for anything but the side-pipes. I might have to split them open and add a spiral and packing to get them under 98db.

Sife says turbo as it will quiet the car down at the same time but I would have to make my own headers for that to happen.

This was the trick flow kit I was going to use.

http://treperformance.com/i-90334-trick-flow-360-hp-twisted-wedge-top-end-engine-kits-for-ford-5-0l.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwu72pBRC9hsn2-e34vRUSJACnSYsTSZcR778woGwvvirX4UamIdNNynzKzXDDSXRQVZScvBoCZ4jw_wcB

Maybe it's the dragracer in me but I'd rather be blown.

wearymicrobe wrote: It's one of those things where while your in there you might as well do the pistons and bearings and pump and when you are done you have a 6-7K$ 5.0 motor which feels stupid.

Aww how quaint, I have at least half that much in my 4AGE with almost stock internals!

Go NA and use a different muffler setup.

I cannot comment to their product, but might be worth looking at. http://www.breezeautomotive.com/home.php?cat_id=26

(kinda pricy though)

Appleseed wrote: Maybe it's the dragracer in me but I'd rather be blown.

Forced induction on a car like that isn't a good idea.

For a track car I'd take NA any day. And gearing is the poor man's supercharger.

But, you just got the car. I wouldn't change anything until you are turning laps consistent with the PO's qualifying laps. Get used to it. Live with it a bit... then add more snort.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: For a track car I'd take NA any day. And gearing is the poor man's supercharger. But, you just got the car. I wouldn't change anything until you are turning laps consistent with the PO's qualifying laps. Get used to it. Live with it a bit... then add more snort.

I was consistent on the track with my last cobra which had almost 800hp and twice the tire and no where near the stiffness in the chassis. The car is the limiting factor right now. 100+ more HP will make it 200% more fun and not kill me in consumables.

I was under the impression that the usual cam/heads/intake and tune will get a 89 5.0 to 350hp no problem.

El es Juan?

Surprised it got this far into the thread before someone brought it up.....

airwerks wrote: El es Juan? Surprised it got this far into the thread before someone brought it up.....

Not doing that, I have been down that path. If I were to go nuts and stick something crazy in the cobra is would be a F20C package with ITB. It would be a serious momentum car then.

Twin turbos. Quiets the exhaust, adds power. Then invest in a stronger transmission.

One3 Performance offers a cheap turbo kit

run what you have for now... source a replacement short block, build it from the crank up. Performance parts bolted to a tired older engine tends to expedite the older bits demise.

Get a spare and build it, that way its one and done. Btw... $5-7k seems like a lot... but in the Toyota 4AG world... a $5000 build only nets you an extra 40-50hp