Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General 94/95 Cobra vs. CSVT

I don't really know if it would be worth it to trade my CSVT for a 94/95 Cobra since it is *only* 45 more horses. Any reliability issues i have to worry about or anything bad to say about them??? Thanks in advance.
><>David<><

Tough call, so tough in fact, I got both.

I personally would keep the tour. Have to love having 4 doors.

The reason I'm lookin at the 94/95's is that that is all I can talk my dad into lettin me trade the tour for. He says the 96-98's are too much power and I can't afford the 99's or 01's. I plan on trading up once i'm about a sophmore in college to somethin more powerful...a Ford of course. Do you think the 99 GT's will depreciate enough to get around to 13k in the next 6 months? If so I might wanna wait and see if i can find a stripped GT. Who knows. And Rara...I hate you :p
><>David<><

94-95's are slightly underrated, usually make around 250-260 at the flywheel from the factory. 96-98 Cobras are nice, but personally I prefer not having to keep $5k sitting around if I even blow the motor in one of those things. A couple things to note:

Mods are hella cheap on 5.0s
They handle like a boat from the factory
My Contour still "felt" faster, even though I know it wasen't
The two cars are totally different driving experiences. Find a Mustang in the year you are looking at and drive it back to back with your Contour. Ask yourself if you can live with it or not.

Steve, even with more torque in the Cobra the tour felt faster? Hmmm...What kind of stock 1/4 mile times should I look at for the Cobra? Right now its about 60/40 for the tour but I still haven't been out to drive a Cobra yet so that is yet to be determined. Thanks again for all the help.
><>David<><

geez, I would hate to see what you would do to me if I told you what I do for a living . . . :p

Steve is right, they are completely different in feel, and the Cobra (stock for stock) really does feel slower, even though it isn't (IIRC a stock 94-95 Cobra is mid 14 second car)
He is also right in the over abundance of extremely cheap mod parts for the Mustangs (i recently bought a full (new) spring/shock kit for the Cobra for $330 from a ford dealer.)

It all comes down to what you like better. Go drive a Cobra, then think about it some more.

Well personally I would keep the Tour. I think they made those Cobras fugly. The 99 model was a definite improvment. But it depends what you want styling or power. If it is power you want there is a lot of parts for the stang and you know the saying there is no replacement for displacement.

Contour still looks better.

I've had both, at the same time so let me chime in

I purchased the Contour in June '98 after getting rid of my 12 second '84 Capri. Contour was all that I wanted in a car at the time. A friend of mine purchased a '99 Cobra in April '99 and sold me his '95 Cobra for $10K with 42K mile on it. Car was pretty sweet, in good condition and was probably a 14.0 second car at the time.

Now, I was paying rent ($600/mo) and 2 car loans at the time so one of the SVTs had to go. I tried in vain to sell the SVT Contour but I could not get near my asking price. I went to the dealer Ford dealer one day for some parts and he noticed the 4-sale sign in the Cobra (which I had to sell at this point). He offered to buy the car and I sold it for $11.5K.

All in all the SVT Contour was a better total package than the Cobra was. The Cobra was down on power (No breathing above 5000RPM) and the suspension was floaty at best. It would have needed a nice investment to handle and breathe as well as the SVT Contour. (** I am not saying the Contour was faster, just that the 302 was very bottled up at the factory. Exhaust/Throttle Body/K&N would have done A LOT for that car!)

If I could have kept both I would have, but I felt I made the correct choice by keeping the Contour.

Later,

This is a simple solution, you need more power, ok sure this might do it. 240 COBRA +65 extra free =305hp