2003 Steeda Ford Mustang SVT Cobra - The Cold Steel

The car was now a snake-charmer in its looks, but Bob wanted those who tangled with the Steel Cobra to feel the venom of its bite. With horsepower on his mind, he dialed up Johnny Lightning Performance to handle the chore of boosting the output at the rear tires. The crew at JLP bolted on a set of Stiegemeier Stage III ported heads after punching the 4.6-liter motor out another 0.020 inch. Atmosphere is sucked in by a Steeda cold-air intake, and before the air charge reaches the combustion chamber via the Accufab throttle body, it gets chilled by a Gordsford heat exchanger. Once in the intake manifold, the air is mixed with fuel and a 100hp shot of Cold Fusion giggle juice before being compressed by a polished Eaton blower. The huffer runs a 2.93-inch upper pulley and a 4-pound lower pulley to produce 19 pounds of boost. Once the Denso IT-22 plugs and stock ignition with JLP tune light the fire in the cylinders, it is up to a Stainless Works 3-inch exhaust system with off-road pipe to get the spent gasses out pronto. When all was said and done, the Cobra hissed on the dyno to the tune of 577 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque nominally, with figures of 616 and 520 coming in when the powerplant was run on the sauce.

Dill also made sure the engine looked as good as the rest of the car. Both M&P Refinishing and Paul's Chrome Plating supplied the bright stuff, while the custom valve covers were created by Billet Badges.

Making the snake slither down the road is a tuned suspension system. The stock front springs were tossed in favor of Amazon sport springs, while a pair of Laurel Mountain Mustang subframe connectors tighten up the SN-95's chassis. A Metco driveshaft loop was bolted on in the interest of safety, while an MJ rear differential brace keeps the 8.8-inch housing in its proper position. Controlling forward movement in the burnout box at the track while heating up the Hoosier ET Streets is a Hurst Roll Control line-lock.

Transferring the power from crankshaft to driveshaft was a job handed to Centerforce, Fidenza, and UPR. A Fidanza aluminum flywheel was linked to the 4.6's crankshaft, and a Centerforce DFX 26-spline clutch and pressure plate found itself attached to the flywheel. A UPR clutch quadrant was then bolted in, and an MGW shifter with a Cobra shift knob row the gears.

"I can race the car and show it at many events," Bob says. "I do pretty well most of the time."

The only ones not doing well are those who get bitten by this Steel Cobra.