Horse Sense: With the pulley changes Tommy has made, the stock Eaton M112 supercharger under the hood of his Cobra is capable of making 22 pounds of boost. At just 15 pounds of boost, it ran 11.50.
This is becoming ridiculous. Everyone's getting '03 Cobras (except for the 5.0&SF staff, that is-Doc Meyer doesn't count). And now Tommy Godfrey has stepped up with this 10-second example that still wears a stock Eaton M112 supercharger. Take a look at the tech specs. It's safe to say we've never done a feature on a car that was so stock. But this thing runs 10s. For those of us who don't own an '03 Cobra, it's enough to make us sick. Sure, there are plenty of 10-second Fox cars out there, but those didn't come as easy as Tommy's '03 Cobra.
Tommy works as a salesman at Speed Unlimited, so he knows his way around wicked street cars. He traded his '01 Lightning-which ran a best of 12.18 with stock Goodyear F1 treads, a stock exhaust, and without the aid of nitrous-for the Cobra. "The Cobra was just too hard to pass up," Tommy says. "Finally, a stock blower car with a six-speed."
Of course, with his Lightning, Tommy gained plenty of Eaton-enhanced experience, so stepping up to the Cobra was a natural progression. He knew exactly what to do to make it go even faster. But before going mod-crazy, and with just 140 miles on it, Tommy took the Cobra to the Maryland International Raceway (so much for the break-in period). He made only one pass, but it was a good one with a 12.80 at 111 mph.
With a baseline under his treads, Tommy then added an Accufab throttle body and inlet, a Reichard Racing 2.80 upper pulley, BBK long-tube headers and X-pipe, Flow-master mufflers with an Insane Exhaust Fabrication-built after-cat, and a Johnny Lightning-tuned DiabloSport chip. A return trip to MIR resulted in a best of 11.40 at 122 mph. A Meziere electric water pump resulted in an 11.30 at 123 mph. Next up was a Metco 6-pound lower pulley and idler, which dropped times to the 10.90s at 126 mph. By the way, there are no suspension modifications on Tommy's Cobra. It's a full-weight, full-interior, 3,800-pound car. It still has stock gears, the stock shifter, and it runs 10s. Can your Mustang do that?
To further prove the capabilities of his Cobra, Tommy drove it from his Sunderland, Maryland, home to the first Fun Ford Weekend Cobra Confrontation at Richmond, Virginia. "I left at 5 a.m. and drove 85-100 mph to get to the race on time," Tommy says. "I tech'd in, won the race, and drove the car home that night with the A/C on."
By the time you read this, Tommy will likely have added nitrous in order to reach his goal of nines on drag radials with the stock blower, stock gears, and the stock shifter. "I've had a ton of fun with this car," he says. "It's just plain worth every penny."
Since Tommy has yet to add a rollcage, he's run only a few 10-second passes as most tech officials take notice when a car runs in the 10s. When they don't see a cage, it's buh-bye for Tommy, who plans to add one so he can really go deep into the 10s. Until then, the interior will remain the way it left Dearborn. | 
Tommy's Cobra remains dead stock on the outside save for a track-only Johnny Lightning Performance magnetic sticker on the door. The sticker can be easily removed for stealth-mode cruising. The stock wheels are in place, albeit with 315/35 BFGoodrich Drag Radials out back, but everyone has drag radials on their Mustangs nowadays. Nothing on Tommy's Cobra tells the story of a 10-second street car-except for that fistful of timeslips in the glovebox. | 
"I would like to thank Johnny Lightning, Jeff Reinoehl from Insane Exhaust Fabrications, Ed Nace, Bud Williams, Dale Wood, and, of course, my wife, Crissy, for putting up with me," Tommy says. |