Tag: Cobra

King Cobra: Anthony Veneziano’s Terminator-Swapped 1999 SVT Cobra
Certain icons stand out in history as pillars of automotive history. For Ford and Shelby, the Cobra is one of those very icons. From the original Shelby to the current GT500s, that snake has always represented one thing, unrelenting performance.

The key to unrelenting performance is, of course, making that performance reliable and steadfast. When building beyond the capabilities from the factory, this key becomes all the more important.

Anthony brought in his new-to-him supercharged 1999 SVT Cobra looking for a built bottom end to keep his Cobra’s performance unrelenting. On such a special build, featuring a full Terminator swap with rare parts, including some super rare euro tail lights, we knew that we would be able to make this Terminator-swapped Cobra a force to be reckoned with.

With the stock block not able to handle the current power efficiently and reliably, he worked with our performance consultants and build designers to figure out the best way to keep the power pumping and his motor running like a champ.

The solution sounded simple, a new short block built to withstand the new power and more. However, the reality was much more interesting.

Instead of just any new short block, we sourced a MMR Romeo Short Block, cast iron but with forged I-Beam rods and Manley Forged Pistons. This new beefed up short block would be more than capable to handle the extra power and boost the twin screw blower would send through the 4.6L DOHC V8. Andrew got to work resealing the engine with Fel-Pro gaskets and ARP hardware to make sure that it was sealed and torqued properly. Process is a huge part of what makes a difference during a build and we’re always focused on doing things the right way.

Forged internals are a great way to make the most of any standard cast iron block. And by pairing forged internals with a short block designed specifically for forced induction, Anthony’s Cobra was stronger than ever and ready to be back in business!

To give the Cobra some extra grunt, some PaceSetters full length headers, ceramic coated by our friends at Wild Things Powdercoating, and a custom-fabricated X-Pipe were added while the motor was out. With the engine setup ready to go, we got the car buttoned up and ready for the dyno!

After getting strapped in, dialed in, and a custom tune from our calibrator Vlad via SCT X4, Anthony’s Cobra put down an impressive 492whp and 450lbft of torque!

We couldn’t let this one go without a full shoot out back at the shop in Wilmington. For a closer look at this build, take a look at the gallery below.

Reach out to National Speed today to see what we can do for you!

Parts List:

MMR Romeo Short Block

Ford Racing Crankshaft

Forged MMR I-Beam Rods with ARP Hardware

Manley Forged Pistons & chromoly piston pins

PaceSetter Ceramic Coated Full Length Steel Headers

Custom Fabricated X-Pipe

ARP 2000 Hex Head Stud Kit
April 13, 2021
The Art of Sound – Aural Automotive Pleasure

There are some sounds that just hit people the right way. Whether it be the sharp, raucous bark of a Porsche flat 6, the whine of a ported Eaton, or the low thrum of an STi, there’s a sound for everyone. Here’s a list of my favorites, but please note I didn’t do this just for fun. We want to hear back from our readers with their choices as well. Note: yes, I know that some of these cars may or may not be modded.

A personal favorite of mine is the exhaust note of a Terminator Cobra. The 4.6 liter DOHC topped with an Eaton sounds mighty fine in my book. With enough bite to back up the bark, termie Cobras always give me aural pleasure (get your mind out of the gutter, sickos — I said AURAL, not oral).

Next up is one of the only cars that you can throw a cat-back on and actually have it sound good — the Subaru Impreza. The unique exhaust note is considered to be caused by the unequal length header design. Either way, no matter how it’s created, it always sounds damn good to me. You’ve gotta love the way they rumble. Videos never seem to do the sound justice, but give this one a shot.

Coming up next is something off the wall for most people. The Mazda 26B 4-rotor. I’ve always been impressed by the way that the 26B sounds. Think of a cammed, big block loping at idle, and then think of that same big block revving to 10k in a second, sounding like a streetbike or F1 car. Mazda essentially put two 13B’s together and came up with this 700hp monstrosity. The 26B was used in Mazda’s legendary 787B racecar.

Rounding out the list is an Italian V12 that can turn to 8500RPM! Regardless of what you just muttered behind your screen, I say the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 sounds good enough to be on this list. The original Italian bull was quick enough with 571 Horsepower, but Lamborghini decided to step it up a notch and increase displacement from 6.2 to 6.5 liters, raising power to a stout 640. Emitting pure emotion out of the center tailpipes like only an Italian machine can, the LP640 is good enough to be here.

I could probably list 20 more cars that I want to be on this list, but alas, I have no more room. Instead I’d rather hear what makes all of our readers tingle, so be sure to respond with what engine sounds give you aural pleasure (keep it clean folks, my mom reads these blogs).

February 2, 2009
Greg's Dream Garage

You know, I figured it’d be a lot easier to narrow it down to 5 cars I wish I had, but alas it seems almost impossible. I could probably narrow it down to a top 20, but that’d still be tough. Either way, I’ve tried to narrow it down to a top 5. For some reason when formulating this list, I came to the conclusion that perhaps I like European cars a bit too much. These are in no particular order, and all of them will crush Casey’s pansy list.

[Click on all pictures to see extra sexiness.]

First up: The Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Roadster.

[Sure sure, hate if you will, but if you don’t like my first choosing, something makes me think you won’t like the rest of them either.]

Hell, it’s an outrageous exotic supercar. What more can I say? I find the vehicle absolutely stunning in every way. It’s as wide as a hummer, the interior looks like a fighter plane, and it sounds like a hurricane. It’s Aesthetically pleasing, Aurally pleasing, and women find it sexually pleasing as well. Screw your hybrids, they bore me. This thing gets friggen’ 8 miles per gallon. If you can pony up the $336,000 for one, I doubt you really care about gas mileage or stereotypes. It’s powered by a 6.5 liter V12 and it has AWD and 100 miles per hour can be achieved in 2nd gear. Practical? It’s impossible to park, gets horrible gas mileage and weighs too much. I don’t care. I love this car.

Next up is: The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione.

I picked this car for no more reason than appearance. Some find it hideous, I find it beautiful. A combination of Maserati chassis with a Ferrari derived 4.7 liter, the Alfa sounds only like a Ferrari could. Rather than exhaust, pure sex emits from the tailpipes, causing many problems driving around highly populated areas. It’s no limit pusher as far as performance goes, but it was never intended to be. The 4.7 pushes out 450hp and 354lbs/ft torque and it has an LSD and a sequential gearbox, but in all honesty that’s not what’s important. Just look and listen to it. You can see that this Alfa produces pure emotion. That’s worth the price of the $200,000 admission itself. Only 84 of these will be brought stateside.

Next is: The Brabus Rocket.

Everyone needs something a little more practical for daily driving, right? I suppose this car depends on your view of the word “practical”. With 730 horsepower and a ridiculous 970lbs/ft torque, it has more horsepower and torque than anything you’d ever need, but at least it has 4 doors. Based on the Mercedes CLS series, they took the already powerful standard CLS 600 Bi-turbo and stroked it to 6.3 liters, added cams, larger turbos, bigger intercooler, and exhaust. Brabus wanted to maintain stock manners while having a ridiculous amount of power. Walk softly and carry a big stick they say. All of this power is routed through a 5 speed automatic and maintains comfortable air suspension or coilovers, depending on what you want. Oh yeah..perhaps I forgot to mention that this thing broke the 4 door sedan speed record at a ridiculous 227 Miles Per Hour. Price to pay for super baller status for you and the family? $490,000. Ouch.

Next up is: The Ferrari F40.

Not much is needed to be said about this one. It’s a Ferrari F40. Mid-engine, Twin Turbo, Legendary. It’s the last car that Enzo Ferrari ever commissioned himself. With a 2.9L Twin turbo V8 producing 471 horsepower, it was king of it’s time. With a plastic windshield and windows, no carpet, sound system or doorhandles, the Pininfarina designed kevlar, carbon fiber and aluminum chassis was truly a racecar for the street. Many stories have been told about the F40’s almost random turbo lag. 80’s turbo technology was not quite as advanced as it is today and boost was said to hit like a hammer all at once. The F40 was the first road legal production car to break the 200MPH barrier with a speed of 201. This is truly a legendary car and a timeless classic. Current price is to be debated, but the original MSRP when the car debuted was $400,000. The F40 is simply a legend.

Last up is: The ’03-’04 Mustang Cobra.

Do whaaaaaat? Out of all of these other cars, this one is mild. I’ve always loved the Terminators, and it’s the only one of these cars on my list that is attainable in any realistic mindset. With a factory blown forged 4.6L making 390HP (Underrated from the factory!) and routed through a Tremec T56 6 speed, the Cobra was nothing to mess around with. Ditching the archaic live axle, Ford threw in Independent Rear Suspension and Bilstien struts. In stock form with a good driver, they are good for mid 12’s and the Eaton blower sounds nasty. With minor bolt-ons you can easily have a reliable 500 horsepower car that not only looks good, but performs just as well (or you could just whipple it and be done with it). People definitely recognize one when they see it and I think a Cobra would make a really good daily driver (as opposed to everything else on my list.). This is the only car that you can modify on my list without paying out the ass or getting killed by a fanboy. They only made around 19,000 of these between ’03-’04 so good luck finding one. Price for a Termie Cobra? It depends, but expect a little under 30k for a nice example.

January 15, 2009