We had fun testing these two exciting Mustangs at Motor Trend's usual Fontana, California, testing venue. Per normal MT practice, the driver was Chris Walton, and the acceleration data is corrected to standard-day conditions. In short, if running for pinks, you'd better be good-or choose a venue with corners. When the road gets twisty, the R gets gone.down to the driver. The acceleration data is corrected for standard-day conditions.
| | '03 Cobra | '00 Cobra R |
| Acceleration |
| 0-30 | 2.139 sec | 2.149 sec |
| 0-40 | 2.910 sec | 2.862 sec |
| 0-50 | 3.730 sec | 3.819 sec |
| 0-60 | 4.902 sec | 4.737 sec |
| 0-70 | 6.045 sec | 5.929 sec |
| 0-80 | 7.676 sec | 7.296 sec |
| 0-90 | 9.306 sec | 8.820 sec |
| 0-100 | 11.103 sec | 10.832 sec |
| Quarter-mile | 13.095 at 110.82 mph | 12.942 at 111.51 mph |
| Braking |
| 100-0 | 341.27 ft (4.73 sec) | 328.79 ft (4.53 sec) |
| 60-0 | 121.67 ft (2.65 sec) | 117.77 ft (2.72 sec) |
| Handling |
| Lateral Accel. | 0.82 g | 0.94 g |
| Slalom | 64.0 mph | 69.0 mph |
Ours was not the first time Motor Trend had tested either of these cars-although it was the first time they had been tested together at the same day and track. Digging through the MT files unearthed the following test results for comparison. Variables in cars, drivers, weather, and test surface account for the differences between these numbers and those we obtained testing using the same-track, same-day format. It's interesting how these two cars swap mph and elapsed times in the standing quarter and mile. In a drag race, it would definitely come down to the driver. The acceleration data is corrected for standard-day conditions.
| | '03 Cobra | '00 Cobra R |
| Acceleration |
| 0-60 | 4.82 sec | 4.82 sec |
| 0-100 | 11.25 sec | 10.81 sec |
| 0-100-0 | 15.67 sec | 15.29 sec |
| Quarter-mile | 13.01 at 110.69 mph | 13.09 at 108.55 mph |
| 1-mile | 33.5 at 151.4 | 33.01 at 149.5 |
| Braking |
| 100-0 | 319 ft (4.42 sec) | n/a (4.48 sec) |
| 60-0 | 116 ft | 116 ft |
| Handling |
| Slalom | 69.4 mph | 65.4 mph |
| Skidpad | 0.85 g | 1.00 g |