[whiplash306]

C'mon ya'll....the numbers from the Hot Rod magazine have always been against Ford..Hot Rod, Motor Trend, etc...love the Chevy's. They speak highly of the Ford mostly because this time in the comparison there is no Chevy, it's only "American vs. Jap" car. A 13.3 sec/qtr from a stock '03 Cobra is a dismally slow time. In many reviews, the Cobra is actually underrated in hp figures (Ford is still scared after the '99/'00 Cobra overrated hp figures, so underrates the hp fig's of their new cars)....Most dynos have shown the Cobra to actually producing somewhere close to 410 hp, getting almost the full "listed" 390 hp TO THE GROUND!!!! Although the Cobra is a porker in terms of grossly overweight for even a Mustang (at almost showroom, full tank of gas 3,700 lbs), 390 hp on the ground will net significantly better than 13.3. I think the best time noted on a completely stock '04 STi is like 12.8-12.9, which is not unheard of, but certainly not common. That's with very cool outside temps, recently iced intake, non warmed up car. It's not unheard of for a stock Cobra to drive 30+ miles to get to a qtr mile track, pay his entry, drive straight up to the lights, smash the throttle with the traction assist "on" through first and click off a 12.7-12.8 qtr. Just ride in one ya'll. They are an amazing car. Give credit where it is due..the Cobra, in a straight line only and with traction, will destroy an STi..and it sucks to say it because that was the only other car I even considered when purchasing my STi. But, I love my STi...feel it's superior in every other way, especially safety and manueverability, PLUS, I can drag race in the rain..hahaha

[amdmaxx]

The cute blondie?

Originally Posted by ldivinag

STi vs cobra... stock vs stock... on the willows (ca) track...

guess who comes out on top...

[crashsti]

there is something special about having 390 horsepower and 390 lb.ft. of torque under your foot. i love V8 musclecars. i looked at the last year Camaros before i stumbled upon the STi. i always wanted AWD. did anyone notice that HOT ROD gives 91 octane as the choice fuel for the STI? considering all the problems that have been linked to crappy CA 91 octane i find that the only misleading part of the article.

[HarlanPepper]

The other slightly misleading part was that they didn't note the STi's top speed of 145 was electronically limited, as they did on the Cobra's stat page. But maybe that's nit-picking...

[crashsti]

C'mon ya'll....the numbers from the Hot Rod magazine have always been against Ford..Hot Rod, Motor Trend, etc...love the Chevy's. They speak highly of the Ford mostly because this time in the comparison there is no Chevy, it's only "American vs. Jap" car. A 13.3 sec/qtr from a stock '03 Cobra is a dismally slow time. In many reviews, the Cobra is actually underrated in hp figures (Ford is still scared after the '99/'00 Cobra overrated hp figures, so underrates the hp fig's of their new cars)....Most dynos have shown the Cobra to actually producing somewhere close to 410 hp, getting almost the full "listed" 390 hp TO THE GROUND!!!! Although the Cobra is a porker in terms of grossly overweight for even a Mustang (at almost showroom, full tank of gas 3,700 lbs), 390 hp on the ground will net significantly better than 13.3. I think the best time noted on a completely stock '04 STi is like 12.8-12.9, which is not unheard of, but certainly not common. That's with very cool outside temps, recently iced intake, non warmed up car. It's not unheard of for a stock Cobra to drive 30+ miles to get to a qtr mile track, pay his entry, drive straight up to the lights, smash the throttle with the traction assist "on" through first and click off a 12.7-12.8 qtr. Just ride in one ya'll. They are an amazing car. Give credit where it is due..the Cobra, in a straight line only and with traction, will destroy an STi..and it sucks to say it because that was the only other car I even considered when purchasing my STi. But, I love my STi...feel it's superior in every other way, especially safety and manueverability, PLUS, I can drag race in the rain..hahaha

i'm glad you went on to say you love your STI. you had me worried. look closely at the numbers that HOT ROD gives and you'll see why the STi came out on top in the quarter mile. the STi rips off a 1.8 second 60 foot time!!! while the Mustang manages a dismal 2.2 second time. thats almost a half second!!! its also clear that the Mustang pulls really hard after the tires hook. where it goes 110 mph through the traps. the STi only hits 100. if the race was a little longer the Mustang would've one, but a quarter mile is all we have. this race was all about traction. the STi has more because of AWD. they should've run the cars with slicks to see what differance it would've made. then i think the Mustang guys would be happier. look how cranky the STi can get when someone tells them the EVO is the better car. same deal. i think they did thier best to make it stock vs. stock. and in stock form the STi wins. it should be mention that the numbers were corrected for altitude. so neither car actually ran as fast as they printed.

[rsboy]

I guess i'm late on this, but I'm talking to my friend who runs Mustangworks.com and he said the article was pretty dead-on. Can't beat the potential of the V8 engine though, he's got an 800HP Mustang sleeping in the garage, but I'll take the STi considering I can drive it all year round. and also... the insurance is not that crazy compared to the Mustang, and the the gas guzzler tax..forget about it.. But I wouldn't mind having both cars in my garage! 8)

[trail*of*dead]

Originally Posted by HarlanPepper

Still can't understand why they were split 50/50 on the decision, though. The numbers speak for themselves.

the reason why they were split is because if all of them went for the STi like they should have, there would a been a ton of complaint letters, i mean face it, it is a hot rod magazine, hehe. they would lose a bunch of business if they picked a little 4 banger with a big arse wing.

[RadarOnPaws]

Originally Posted by crashsti

they should've run the cars with slicks to see what differance it would've made. then i think the Mustang guys would be happier. look how cranky the STi can get when someone tells them the EVO is the better car.

I don't think it would have proved anything except that Mustangs have to be modified from stock (put on slicks) to beat an STi. The article was about two cars in stock form and which was the better buy (which they never did decide on).

As for cranky sti owners, I'm sure there are some who get pissed when someone says another car is better. Then there are those of us who love our cars but are past the age or fragility of ego where we need to pretend our car is something it is not. Personally, I'm interested in knowing what other cars can do and what they can't and being open-minded about it. My car can't beat a Ferrari Enzo, nor can it pull stumps all day like my friend's F350 Super Duty. It can't haul 4 people nearly as comfortably as my wife's Altima. It won't attract members of the opposite sex like a Carrera GT. And it won't haul two big dogs as well as a Chevy Trailblazer would.

It's not the end-all, be-all of vehicles. It's a fast, fun, well-handling little car that is best suited for two people and some wide open empty road with lots of twists, turns, and straights for opening 'er up (or better yet, a race track). If the EVO does somethings better, great. I went with the Subaru because, IMHO, the interior is vastly superior, the larger engine may have more HP growth potential, it will probably have better reliability and fit and finish, and Mitsubishi dealers seem to have a reputation for being horrible. And now that I've had time to look at both and think about it, I definitely prefer the look of the WRX's.

I think most of the people here realize their car is awesome but don't think it walks on water. Most of us know that we won't be beating the Z06 in the quarter mile given equal drivers and that there are reasons a BMW M3 costs more than an STi. I don't think most of the people that post here are "STi snobs", or at least I don't get that impression.

[whiplash306]

I absolutely LOVE this forum as compared to all the other forums dedicated to certain makes of vehicles....I have been impressed since joinin' on at the overall maturity the large majority of us show in our posts. It's a very difficult thing to say which car is better between the two....personally, I would KILL to have them both in my garage. The new Cobras are very fast cars, but just a little taste of what is possibly coming in 2005/2006. Rumors from SVT (Special Vehicle Team) of Ford is for a 500+ hp Cobra. What we are seeing now is nothing...it's a taste....to see the response...the all new, from the chassis up Mustang is comin' next year. Ford didn't waste a lot of money on developing the '03 Cobra..the real money is in the Cobra a few years in our future. As you all can tell from my signature below, I have always driven Mustangs...love 'em and know 'em thoroughly....so I can't say which one I'd prefer. Personally, in about 2 1/2 years, both will be in my garage....can't wait for the fiance to finish with her degree....But YES CrashSTi, I love my STi...miss the Mustangs...but am totally satisfied with this new car....it amazes me everyday!!!!

[ScoreBo]

I caught this episode of HotRod on SpeedTV few weeks back. Unfortunate for us that I wasn't running my DVR. Ever since then I have recorded every single episode of HotRod and this hasn't been shown. Anyone find this video on the net yet? If I get it, you all will have it.