Well it is pretty much final: My Maxima is going to my sister. After all my hard work...but it will not be in vain; all my mods including the 5spd swap have added to it's value significantly so I will get reimburst for my work put into it. Plus I get to drive it/see it every now and then since it's in the family.

So anyways, onward: For the last couple months I have been studying and looking at Cobra's and z28's. For Cobra's my selection is the 94-95 w/the underrated 240HP OHV 5.0L V8 5spd, the 96-98 4.6L DOHC 305HP Cobra V8, and the 94-96 z28 OHV LT1 5.7L 287HP V8 6spd. I have already addressed issues such as safety, reliability, handling, power, ect. I just want each of your personal opinions and why. The z28 is a better value, I guess becuase they don't hold value like the rustangs do. For example, I found a '96 z28 6spd T-top Black/Black leather, loaded, pwr. everything, 70k miles for $9300. A '96 Cobra 5spd Mystic w/87k miles, power everything, would cost me $11000. I believe you are also paying for the "Cobra" name. Cobra's also sound better, mainly becuase their firing order and that they come factory with true duals vs. the z28's single exhaust. While the Z can be fixed to sound amazingly throaty, I think it would always sound deeper and more brash then the Cobra's. (If that's even a bad thing is simply opinion I guess)

So, what's your opinions guys? The majority of people say z28. In almost every aspect it is a better buy, but you don't buy a Cobra for the "best value". In the end I will make the choice but I'd really love to hear what you guys have to think.

-Craig

EDIT: Thank you Jeffrey for adding that last poll option.

 

anything that makes you leave..

 

I've heard that with Z28s, it's always a love/hate relationship. Luv 'em when their working, that corvette V8 with gargantuan torque is supreme. But you hate 'em b/c something keeps breaking. I can't stand un-reliable cars. Like old school Porsches, Ferraris etc. They were great cars, but always in "the garage." What's the point?? Unless you're keeping them as a musem piece. The Mustang is probably the better, more fun filled bet. Since you will be coming from a very reliable car, the Z28s downs may be quite the bummer.


P.S. You convert to a 5 speed and then give it up? What the hell!

DW

 

Actually, I've heard just the opposite. I've heard that the pushrod 5.7L's can be very reliable. I'm sure Dave B. Will come to reiderate on this.

As far as the Mustang, the 5.0 can be very reliable as well. But the 4.6L DOHC Modular is less reliable and more expensive to fix. I don't think i'd be able to afford one without high milage either.

As far as why i'm getting rid of my car after i've swapped it, i'll tell you what I tell all the others who ask me this with a dumbfounded face: It was all just quenching my thurst, or tiding me over. And in my case, will remain in the family.

 

I think this is the third time I agree with Sprinty... just go buy one and when you get fed of it breaking (like you got fed of your Max being called a granny car) you will switch again.
Once again you've made my day Craig Mack!

-Cyrus

 

F-Bodies - Yes, the engine is reliable. It's everything attached to it, holding it, or otherwise in the general area that's not.

 

Hey, if the motor still works, it's all good

DW

 

1)Not once has someone called my car a granny car. Not even a G-getter. They have called it a weedwacker though They also think it's tight as hell.

2)For the very reason above, I am selling or not selling what I own becuase I want to or don't want to. At the end of the day, it's just their opinion and your the one who owns the car. I've always loved V8 mustangs and camaro's (well not everything about them), and I have an open window to get a nice one, so why not?

Finally, I leave you with a quote from a past org member. He was addressing another org member who he thought wouldn't stop sucking up to sprint:


Weasel, I would agree with you somewhat. I personally think the Camaro's interiors are very cheap compared to the Maxima's. But then again, most american cars are, and that's not why I would get one.

 

1. Sure... everybody likes your car... That's how Crap Mack came around right?
2. You should get one, but I'm putting money on the fact that you'll want a change after that. Sell it, be my guest!! Honestly I couldn't care less. MY opinion is that the Camaro, Mustang, and Maxima all suck. Were I my choice I would get an Eclipse GS-T or 6spd Legend. And yes I'm entitled to voice my opinion in this post. BTW I would take the Mustang even though it has an nasty interior, since you're used to the reliablity of the Maxima.

And why dont you actually read what I said in the last post.. this is the third time I've ever agreed with Doug. With disagree about just everthing else, especially white cars/wheels. Just like you and I are disagreeing in this post. And here's some more suckin' for that flava in ya ear:
-Cyrus

 

IBTL

I'd avoid the Chevy 5.0 engine...heard lots of bad stuff about it. From domestic guys.

 

I was serious about this post, and will from now on stay on subject. There's always people who come in and talk smack and get everyone OT. I hope the Mods will clean it up and let it run.

Chevy 5.0? Do you mean Ford 5.0? All them say the Ford 5.0 is very reliable, just ask the Fox body guys with 250k+ miles.

 

Eh... nevermind it's your business. I'll let you be...


You are planning to modify this car correct? In that case why wouldn't you buy the 5.0L Stang? It's cheaper and has more power-potential right?
-Cyrus

 

Z

 

The 5.0 Cobra would actually probubly be only as fast as my Maxima to start out with, maybe a tick slower. I test drove a '95 Cobra 5spd and while I didn't really get to open it up alot, it didn't feel all that fast. 240HP/289lb-ft Torque. If I get the 5.0, it's definatally getting modded. The fun part is that it won't take much to wake this car up. 5.0's can be modded for real cheap, that's definatally a bonus.

If I got the 4.6L Modular Cobra, I would do very little modding. It already comes with 305HP stock, with a 5.4 0-60 and 13.8 quarter mile time. A nice exhaust and intake would be my only performance mods. 4.6's are more technical then the 5.0's and everything is more expensive.

Z28 - It's already got the major ***** from the factory and plenty fast for me. It's #'s are similer to the 4.6L Cobra's, probubly a tick or 2 slower. I would concentrate on looks and sound.

 

Yeah the 5.0L Stang would probably be close to your Maxima in terms of performance. The 4.6L would no doubt be faster, but if that's all you plan to add I would go with the 5.0L. Just think of the possibilities. People take them to 500hp+ soooo easily. And I'm pretty sure the Z28 is faster than the Cobra from an old mag I have. I think the end was that the Mustang was a better handler and the Z28 a faster car, but I'm not sure. On one hand you can say "since they're really drag cars anyways, might as well get the faster one," but on the other "since they'e both plenty fast you should probably get the better handler." It depends on what kind of person you are. And I'm pretty sure only you know that.
-Cyrus

 

Well, I am not that kinda gearhead. I couldn't handle all that power. I just want a fast ride that sounds and looks nice to me.


As far as the handling, I've heard the opposite. Dave told me stangs handle like a wet pork chop, others say Cobra's handle decent...but the bottom line is neither will compare to my Maxima. But I don't plan on auto crossing anyways. I'll probubly throw some strut bars on and maybe sub frame connectors for the rear for traction and call it a day.

 

Get a Trans-am, they are sooo much better looking then a Camaro or Mustang. Besides Kitt was trans am, and bandit drove a t/a, not a rustang or a camaro. Plus the WS/6 looks hot on the cars:-)

 

If you buy an LT1 you'll get more power and handling for the money. The 4.6L Cobras don't handle as well, don't accelerate as hard, have worse interiors (the seats are like torture devices IMO), don't look nearly as good as a black Trans Am (purely subjective), but damn do those 4.6L Cobra engines sound sweet through the right exhaust.

 

I think we all knew deep down that Craig Mack will go with a domestic V8, it was just a matter of when. Should have put some money down on that.


Craig, I would get the Cobra. Have you seen the inside of the Z28? Yuck! Very cheap looking. Even the SS model looks cheap inside.


Btw, I just saw a '03 Cobra today at the track. He ran 12.4-12.5 stock!

 

I think everyone should own a musclecar just once in their life. It truely is a experience (good and bad).

If you're only going to spend 9K-12K then I'd definately get the F-Body. No doubt. Like I've told you before, I would NEVER buy a high mileage DOHC Cobra simply because the DOHC is not a terribly reliable motor. I don't think I would get a 94-95 Cobra because it would take a couple grand to get it to perform like a stock 93+ F-Body. I'd also stay away from the Mystic Cobras. You'll never be able to match the paint after a wreck. Try your best to get a 97 Z28 because they come with the newer interior which is put together far better. With an intake, y-pipe, and catback on the LT1, you'll be looking at mid 13s easy. My auto did 13.4s with those mods.

Things I didn't like about having a musclecar:

1) Every sucker wants to race you
2) You become very aware that there are much faster cars out there than you ever thought. I got beat more than I won and I was driving a 13.4 Z28.
3) You ALWAYS feel like you need to keep modding to stay halfway competitive
4) Quality control problem, both the F-Body and Stang suffer from this

Repairs made to my Z28 in 3 years of ownership:
Entire A/C system
Faulty turn signal stalk
main seal, tranny, rear seal, and intake manifold all leaked
plastic body panel actually came unglued from the body
windows came off their tracks
rattles galore


Dave

 

Other:

What about a WS6 Trans Am?

 

yeah right. i know SEVERAL peeps with 5.0 stangs. a lot of the are very fast. my manager at work has about 30k in his. from what i can remember hes on his 4th tranny and 3rd radiator. he said at least 10k was in repairs over the last 1 1/2 years alone.
as for mustangs handling well.......i personally have driven several muscle cars. GTs, Cobras, SS, Z-28, even my friend's dad's C5. the vette handled the best but the SS/Z-28 handled A LOT better than either of the stangs. the stangs just felt so.... "sloppy" is the best way to put it. i say go for it but if it were my choice i'd save up some more pennies and get an LS1.


Trevor

 

Ahh yeah, join the dark side. The frustrations of import modification. Nothing like being able to hit the gas and break the rear end loose. Try that with FWD!

 

what about looking into an impala SS. tight cars. if not, then id go with the stang, their just cooler and they look and sound better. eventhought the z's are faster.

 

what about a trans am? probably the most reliable of the cars u named (other than keeping the max) and is the fastest. if you are now considering a T/A, go with that for sure. I have driven an older cobra 5.0, camaro SS 2k1, mustang GT 2k1 (5speed), and a trans am ws6. from just observation the trans is the most reliable, and the fastest. both mustangs were the funnest of the bunch and for handling was a toss up between the ws6 and SS. i would say get the 4.6 cobra, if not that then the 5.0 cobra. even tho the 5.0 requires work to be z-28 fast, z-28's are so d*mn common its horrible, theres nothing special, well atleast if you have a mustang it will be a cobra, witch is not all to common.

 

Try to get an SS, just for reference I have the Car&Driver issue of the 97 SS, Cobra, and WS-6. The SS came out on top because it was faster, had more 'fast' appeal, and was just a blast to drive. Real world testing confirmed this To me the stangs feel like your trying to turn a small boat

The WS-6's have always been GM's softest F-body, and the slowest of them (compared to the SS). If you want the softest ride, get one.

Its quite possible if I hadn't rushed into buying another car I would've picked up a 97 SS. All of those poor Cobras...

 

uhhhh mustangs are more common than civics.....and just FYI there were 6 cobras in my graduating class...

 

I've always been partial to the style of the fbod's, and I recently got to take a ride in a 6 speed LT1 firebird and I fell in love with the torque then. But, then again the old 5.0 Ford engine can be fun to mod, and produce huge amounts of power. At this point in my life I would probably lean towards a muscular v8 over reliability

You've got the 5 speed in, how about a turbo project next? Nothing like a 4 door family sedan that would produce the same numbers as those v8's

My vote goes with a 96 Firebird Trans Am

 

Put slicks on it and that car would see 11's

 

It is the chevy curse. All GM cars have prety ugly interior. Even the Vette, and I LOVE the vette but they always have the interior of a much more inferior vehicle.

SuDZ

 

Yeah, you can tell that the Citation and the Vette were related. Poor Vette.

DW

 

I think there were somewhere around 2000 96 mystic cobras sold. It would naturally be more expensive. You have a real hard choice in front of you. A friend of mine has a blown 96 mystic cobra sitting on chrome cobra R's and borla exhaust. It gets looked at just like any exotic car would, this is about the only reason I would get this car.
The z28 is an awesome machine that handles very well. But as others said you will have problems, three of my friends own these. The 97 SS, or LS1 would be very nice.

For cobras I actually like the 93's.

Tuff choice good luck.

 

 

I'm a Chevy guy, so I'd have to say the Camaro.

My older brother's friend owns a '97 Camaro Z28 5-spd. It sounds freaking bad *** with the Borla exhaust he has. He's got tons of mods, I do believe he's running high 12s through the 1/4 mile, all motor. While the car has had a few problems, he still loves it. And I believe he is still modding it.

It depends on what you want. Do you want Ford's power? Or Chevy's power?

IMO Chevy's all the way!!

 

Thanks for the feedback so far guys. For the past 2 months or so I have been hitting up auto trader and sites like that looking for Cobra's. Getting one with relitively low miles under 11 grand is amazingly hard. On the other hand, I found a nice z28 with everything I want 8 miles away. Go figure..

Both the z28 and the Cobra can look bad@ss. The Cobra can sound alot better alot easier.

Personally, i'd be happy with either, but am leaning towards the z28 at this point for the financial reasons that Dave B. pointed out.

Take a look at THIS Cobra. The turqoise paint and huge wing totally ruin it, but what if I were to get rid of that wing and paint the car? About how much would it cost me to paint the car black? (wet sanding, painting over the turqoise, and clear coating) My dad told me around $1000. If so, then I could get that Cobra, freshly painted black, with only about $800 out of pocket. Is that price accurate?

The hardest part of this whole ordeal is being patient! Patience is definatally a virtue though.

 

i like that cobra but it needs more agressive rims. the wing isnt that bad if they took the top part off.

 

It will cost $1000 just to repaint over the exterior. That will not include the trunk, door jambs, under the seals, engine bay, under the carpet or anything like that. If you want everything painted you are looking at $3.5k+. And you're right, the paint is almost as nasty as that wing.
-Cyrus

 

I say LS1 F body, so thats 1998 and up.

 

LS1's sound like poop and are out of my price range.

Cyrus, thanks for that info. That Cobra is 104 miles away though, and I have two very nice F-bodies under 8 miles away.

I am going to look at some LT1 F-bodies today. Hopefully i'll find something nice.

 

Craig, how many times have you had this same discussion w/ us? 2-3? Make up your mind and pull the trigger!