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COBRA TO RECEIVE MORE POWER INCREASES?

A few weeks back we reported that Ford and Roush were testing engines for the next generation Cobra Mustang; however, our source at Roush has informed us that these engines will most likely appear in the Cobra Mustang as early as 2001.

The apparent decision to speed up the development of the engine and possibly introduce it earlier than planned might stem from repeated reports that the upcoming next generation Camaro and Firebird will get a boost in power.

That alone doesn't have Ford worried. What does is that it's also speculated that the next generation Camaro/Firebird and Mustang could ALL be introduced at the same time (2002-2003 depending on the month of production).

If both cars are in fact introduced at or near the same time, the last thing Ford wants is to be underpowered. The last time the Mustang and Camaro both appeared together as new models was in 1967. The Camaro sported the SS-396 while the Mustang used the 390 GT. It wasn't until lost sales and a year later that Ford introduced the 428 CJ, which more than made up the difference.

To avoid the possible GM mousetrap, Ford feels it might be more prudent to jump the gun on GM - setting up a trap of their own.

While we believe that the Camaro/Firebird will switch to a 350 OHC engine (more), our Roush source said the current Cobra engines being tested for 2001 through 2003 are all 4.6 Modular V-8's.

Roush and Ford have been reportedly testing some Cobra 5.4's, but since the final decision on the next generation Mustang's chassis has NOT BEEN decided upon, the 5.4 Mustang program has not received much of a budget.

What we we're told is that Ford will bump the horsepower of the 4.6 Cobra twice - once in 2001 and then again in 2003.

Testing is still very much in the early stages so it's not unusual that a reported 5 of 5 engines bought the farm in the first month of testing. Note that these are EXPERIMENTAL engines and their quality have no relation to that of a production engine. We're also told that the engines were pumping out much more horsepower than the actual production engines would.

Here's the plan as reported to BlueOvalNews:

2000: You can expect that the 2000 Cobra's engine will be basically unchanged, except for some minor emissions upgrades.

2001: The 2001 Cobra will get a slight power increase. . .enough to make one smile though! The 2002 will continue with the 2001 Cobra's engine.

2003: The '03 Cobra might be labeled as the "Mac Daddy Super Fly" of production Cobra Mustangs. This second boost in horsepower will appear in anticipation of the next generation Camaro/Firebird's reported increase in power. The 03's might get a funky new set of cylinder heads as well.

It's said that Ford and Roush engineers are working hard on the project to solve some minor problems so that long term testing can begin by the 3rd quarter of this year.

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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Ford 4.6 engine

1999 SVT Cobra Mustang prototype.

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