New Kid on the Block, Few simple Questions

[nicolae88]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forums here and got a few questions about my future car. I'm 17 now and saving up to buy myself a 1996-1998 Cobra. Working two jobs this summer to get myself one of these so i wanna make sure im gonna be doing things right haha. I know I dont have the car yet, but hey, a little research never hurts. And I can see how much i gotta limit my spending to get everything I need.

I guess I should explain that im going for some performance here. I want to hopefully drag here at Edgewater in Cincy, but also have it as one bad*** street car. Right now Im driving a stock 2002 Cavalier that is my parents car. I'm a relatively safe driver and plan to keep it that way so Im not destroyed **too bad** on insurance when I get my cobra.

So question 1: Tires! I'm kinda stuck here. I would like to have drag radials, but what would be the tread wear on these? OR would I be better off going with low profile tires or something different? The other question with tires is, do i keep the stock 245s or upgrade to a bigger size in back. Ive seen cobras with 315s in the back, do those fit or what kinda other little things am i gonna have to do to get, not just 315s but any bigger tire, to fit on?

Question 2: Exhaust system. I will hopefully purchase a full exhaust system from headers on back. Im not quite sure which headers to go with. Does it matter really, or am I gonna get just the same performance from most. Also what are the advantages/disadvantages or short or long tube headers? Moving farther down, I figure on getting an O/R H-pipe, and then some catback system. Im still waiting to hear Flowmaster catback on my buddy's 97 GT, but ive heard a MAC on a 97 Mystic Cobra and its sounds amazing.

Thats all for now, Ill give it a rest and see what kinda answers I can get, anything is appreciated so shoot away.

[351wStang]

im no tire expert and i really dont know much about the latest mustangs. so im affraid i cant help too much there. but as for exhaust, i may be able to throw a few ideas your way. you will probably be best going with shorty headers, unless you feel like customizing so full length headers, i dont think they will fit. but for the rest of your exhaust, im assuming you want a good tunned sound. so my question is, how loud do you want it to be? if you want to be defening, go with 1 chamber flowmasters, they get to ya on long trips though. if you want to sound like every other mustang with flowmasters go with double chamber 40's. if you want to be a lil more quiet but still be heard you may wanna look at some delta flows or some kinda 3 chamber mufflers. i havent done much with mac or bbk or any of your other mufflers, just flowmasters for the most part. well thers some ideas for you anyway, hope i helped.

[HiFlow5 0]

Drag radials, you have two good choices. BFG's or Nitto's. BFG's will hook better, but have a very short tread life. The Nitto's really need to be heated up to work their best, but have a much better tread life, that's what I have. As far as sizes, I would go with 275's on the rear for street driving.


For exhaust. If it were my car, here's what I would do. Full length ceramic coated headers, off-road X-pipe, and a Dynomax Ultraflow cat-back system.

Actually, the first thing on your list should be new rear gears. 3.73's for an all around good performing gear. 4.10's for max hook with meaty tires.

[SkylineUSA]

Flowmasters SUCK, infact I would stay away from any chambered muffler.

They drone like a bitch a 2krpms, all chambered mufflers will do this.

I run Borla. DynoMAx, or Magnflow will do fine.

[nicolae88]

OK I think want the exhaust sound to be deafening haha, i dont know of any real long trips ill be taking but Im not sure, well have to wait and see i guess. I need to find a website somewhere that can give me some ideas of the sounds of each of the mufflers too, if anyone knows of any please let me know.

And as for the tires, I forgot about getting gears, that was on my list, but maybe a bit farther down.

Alright thanks for the help guys if i can think of any more ?s ill post em up.

[97dropcobra]

I'm about to turn 17 and have a 97 Cobra. As far asa modding the car goes, those two jobs better pay pretty good because I'm paying about $280 a month for car payments and $1600 for insurance every six months. For Christmas and birthday (in February) I'll probably get a bassani X pipe with cats and cat back system.

[GTStang]

Thanks to HiFlow I'm back and ready to fill your lil heads with knowledge.

So here I go. Tires suck ass cause the more you spend and the better your grip the shorter they will last. Just another one of those unfair facts of life so the decision is simple what do you care more about getting all your power down or saving money? Also you are not going to put 315's back there w/o aftermarket rims.


Exhuast is an easy answer. Take a good look at any mod motor mustang and look at how close the wide engine is to the frame rail. This should tell you how bad the 4.6 stock headers are and why no1 makes equidistant-shorty headers for them. Your options are aftermarket shorty headers or long tubes. Shorty's can't be improved much of the stock because of the room so the only real option for Mod motor stangs that make sense is Full Length especially for the high reving Cobra motor. Wether it's MAC, BBK, Bassani they are all going to preform about the same so get whatever you want and can afford.


Next as far as gears putting 4.10's in a 4V Cobra is like putting 3.73's in a 5.0. It's the best combination of performance and street manners. The higher revving motor allows you to get away with 4.10's comfortably.

[HiFlow5 0]

Originally Posted by nicolae88

OK I think want the exhaust sound to be deafening haha, i dont know of any real long trips ill be taking but Im not sure, well have to wait and see i guess. I need to find a website somewhere that can give me some ideas of the sounds of each of the mufflers too, if anyone knows of any please let me know.

And as for the tires, I forgot about getting gears, that was on my list, but maybe a bit farther down.

Alright thanks for the help guys if i can think of any more ?s ill post em up.

Check out mustangexhaust.com theres a few different exhaust combo's there. Also, that combo I mention before should be pretty loud.

[nicolae88]

Ok I figured I would need aftermarket rims for 315s, but would that be it to get them on? Or would other mods be needed to fit them?

Another curiosity question, going with the exhaust, would it be better to stick with the same manufacturer all the way back or does that even matter either?

Thanks for the help.

[Los]

X pipe, bullitt mufflers, the only kid on the block with em.

Tires, I go with stock Eagle "Gatorbacks", which are factory from Ford for the 2001 and up Mustangs (probably for 99+). Just stick with something cheap. In my Bullitt, I used to roast tires frequently.

[boosted331]

Originally Posted by nicolae88

Ok I figured I would need aftermarket rims for 315s, but would that be it to get them on? Or would other mods be needed to fit them?

Another curiosity question, going with the exhaust, would it be better to stick with the same manufacturer all the way back or does that even matter either?

Thanks for the help.

You will need aftermarket wheels to run 315's, or you can get your stock wheels widened. I wouldn't run a 315 on anything smaller than a 10.5" wheel. Only other mod required is you'll probably need to roll the fender lips.

[litlmustangmoody]

315 Are too wide for me unless you go all out and actually need a 315 the lip rolling and stuff is to much work I run a 275 BFG and it does a FINE Job! the 1 chamber flows are just enough to say you have mufflers on the car and I don't know how it is in your state but in tennessee 1 chamber mufflers are ILLEGAL and I have 2 chambers on mine but they are 3" with no tail pipes and I have gotten a ticket for them by a state trooper. I had to go to court and tell them that a 2 chamber flow is street legal and show them in the flow magazine so to keep it legal but still estremely loud I would go with a 40 series 2 chamber flow and the 3" or 2 1/2" both sound amazing and verry loud with no tail pipe! the best thing I can tell you is go to a car show and ask someone who has a set of wheels and tires on their car that you like and ask them their back spacing to be sure. going that wide has it has to be perfect!!!