writer: Dr. Jamie Meyer
photographer: Dale Amy
As of this writing, this is the baddest '03 SVT Cobra on the planet. It has already run 9.59 seconds in the quarter at more than 144 mph, with what amounts to bolt-on parts. These '03 Cobras are sick!
Horse Sense: Richard Lelsz has been averaging at least two Kenne Bell installations a week at his Strictly Performance shop [(713) 910-0111; www.strictlypro.com] since this car came out. On a "typical" SVT '03 Cobra that retains the stock six-speed and IRS, the KB and custom Strictly Performance chip makes from 580 to 620 rwhp on pump gas, depending on the amount of boost the owner wants to run. Richard has several customers who are running 10.60s at more than 132 mph on BFGoodrich drag radials with this basic combination.
Ken and Jeannie Biscamp love the '03 SVT Cobras. They own two-a street-driven convertible and the yellow hardtop racer seen here. The story of this coupe begins with Ken's first visit to Strictly Performance, where owner Richard Lelsz and his partner Greg Flatt have been kicking out hot Texas street cars since 1997. Strictly Performance got its start shortly after the duo's graduation from Ford's Asset Training school for Certified Technicians, when they decided it might be more fun to work on Mustangs all the time instead of on their off-hours after having worked on minivans and pickups all day.
Ken was impressed with the power of his new car, but he wanted more. The coupe was stock except for the huge ABC Exclusive wing on the back, which Ken swears helps keep the car stable past 150 mph. When he first took the car to Richard, his goal was to beat a local '03 Cobra that seemed to have a leg up on everyone in the Houston area. Richard added the standard list of bolt-ons to the stock Eaton blower, along with some nitrous (100 hp), and suddenly the car was running 10.50s with the six-speed. Just like that, Ken was in need of some new competition since he had worn out everyone in Texas.
Oh, it's a hot rod. Wild yellow paint and Bogart D-10 rims set off America's quickest Cobra. The front suspension has D&D tubular components, while a Ford 8.8-inch rearend houses 3.55 gears and good internals. Metco upper and lower control arms provide the bite for 1.30-second 60-foot dashes. And the car is getting quicker as you read this. Ken (left) and Richard have already dropped weight from the car. They've added a 10-rib Metco pulley system for the KB blower, a fuel cell/intercooler reservoir to the trunk, and they're planning on a bigger shot of juice. The car could go eights in the good fall air with the parts you see here. We'll let you know if that happens!
By now, the only serious upgrade the car needed was a live axle. What prompted Ken to add this in the early stages of the car's life was seeing what happened when a local '03 Cobra broke a halfshaft at the dragstrip. The stock IRS exploded, throwing a tire, a wheel, and axle shrapnel through the rear quarter-panel. Where Ken's car was headed, he couldn't afford to wait for this to happen to him, so a built 8.8 was quickly installed by Richard and Greg. One other item that was changed before the car's national debut was the installation of a fully rollerized, race-prepped, Trans King Transmission's C4 automatic with a 9-inch, 5,000-stall converter. The thought was that the automatic would take some of the shock out of the supertorqued 4.6.
Ken began reading about the exploits of Nitrous Pete on www.modularfords.com. Using a combination similar to Ken's, Pete was running in the mid 10s, but he was also testing the much-anticipated Kenne Bell Blowzilla specially designed for the '03 Cobra. So Ken had Richard order the unit-which arrived just as they were heading to the Bradenton, Florida, NMRA event.
With a sting of 10.60-10.70s at Bradenton, Ken and the Strictly Performance crew put the nation on alert that they were serious players. And, while Nitrous Pete got the better of them, they couldn't wait to get back to the shop to start messing with the KB twin-screw blower. By the time the Reynolds, Georgia, NMRA event came around, the boys from Texas were ready. The KB blower was installed, and Richard spent more than 160 man-hours on the dyno with the car working up the perfect tune on a DiabloSport chip with the stock computer. Richard gratefully acknowledges the help he received from Willie, Pat, and Greg of DiabloSport, and from PDQ with the programming. With more than 20 psi from the more efficient KB blower, the nitrous was backed down to only a 50-horse hit. Still, the car ran a 10.14 at close to 140 mph, only hinting at things to come.
The team was excited! They had gone soft with their tune-up, and still the car was ready to rock and roll with any other '03 Cobra in the free world. Richard worked the NOS jets with a set of NOS precision-ground drill bits, and he began testing more nitrous on the car. At the Houston FFW, the car ran a 9.90 on every pass, with the best being a 9.91 at more than 141 mph. The team was ready for the best in nation, so they packed up the yellow warhorse and headed to St. Louis for the sixth-annual Mobil 1 World Ford Challenge.