Another View
Although I own the Bullitt that was used for this comparo--and I'm quite partial to its subtle good looks--I was impressed with the other two cars as well. Once the dust had settled, it was clear that all three of these Mustangs excelled in specific areas. It turns out the '03 Mach 1 was the clear victor on the quarter-mile with its newly updated DOHC engine. Our representative '99 Cobra was the champ in the slalom, due in large part to its BFG KDW tires and lower ride height. And the '01 Bullitt seemed to have an interesting overall balance that helped make up for its lack of beans in comparison to the Mach 1. In a surprise, the Bullitt also stopped in the shortest distance, even though all three cars have the exact same brakes.
There are a few things to note about each car. The word is out on the street--the Mach 1 is simply a dragstrip hero with cars generally running in the mid to low 13s. It's truly a naturally aspirated Mustang that can run door-to-door with any stock F-body you might come across on the boulevard. Wait until the superchargers start turning up on these bad boys.
The Motor Trend staff kept saying all day that the Bullitt is the best-balanced car of the three and would clean up shop in the slalom. It turns out this theory is accurate as the Bullitt was right on the heels of the Cobra, which was shod with much grippier tires than the Bullitt. In turn, both the Bullitt and the Cobra blew the doors off the Mach 1 on the slalom course. It's clear Ford has oriented the Mach toward being more of a straight-line car than the others, though it still drives quite nicely on the street. The MT crew says if all three cars were on the exact same tires, the Bullitt would leave the other two in the dust with no problem.
And the Cobra? Well, it's a Cobra. That means--on paper at least--it has the most exotic bones of the three, the most notable being the independent rear suspension. But the particular car we had turned out be a bit of an enigma. While we wanted a totally stock example, this '99 had different tires, a lowered suspension, and a new engine installed under warranty after the original mill gave up the ghost.
Bottom line? Ninety-nine and '01 Cobras will always be excellent beginnings for the buildup of a seriously fun SN-95 street (or open-track) car since they were the only ones built with high-winding, naturally aspirated power and IRS.
As for me, although I'm jealous of the Mach's distinct power advantage (and don't get me started on the '03 Cobra), I'm not going trade my Bullitt for a Mach 1. The subdued looks of the Bullitt win me over, even though the Mach does look cool. Besides, a little boost on the ol' Bullitt will cover those pesky Machs with no trouble, and it would then run with a (stock) '03 Cobra to boot. -- Miles Cook