2008 Cobra Jet Mustang - Snakes On A Reign

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Horse Sense: As it did in 1968, Ford produced a first-year run of only 50 '08 Cobra Jet Mustangs. Several of these race Ponies were purchased by Brent Hajek, who also owns an original Tasca Ford 428-powered drag 'Stang. Brent vowed that the supercharged Super Stockers were not purchased to sit in storage or on display at car shows. Proving the point in February, Brent entered four of his new Cobra Jets in the NHRA Winternationals, 40 years after Al Joniac took an original Cobra Jet to the winner's circle in Super Stock eliminator at the same race.

Each year we hear about or see new 'Stangs that are built specifically for drag-race competition. Of course, the horsepower and level of technical sophistication for these race cars vary with respect to the class they're built to compete in. However, one thing that is common among all of the drag Ponies we encounter each racing season is that a huge amount of enthusiast blood, sweat, tears, money, and time has been spent producing these bad-to-the-bone, wickedly fast Mustangs.

Building a race Mustang for any racing discipline is an endeavor that is accomplished by acquiring necessary parts and constructing the car, either yourself, with the help of friends (as your tech editor did with Saul "The Surgeon" Gutierrez of Extreme Automotive on Project T-top coupe), or by commissioning a shop or race-car builder to make it happen (as we've done with Project Boss 340, which is being assembled by A.R.E. Performance and Machine of Simi Valley, California).

Needless to say, that brief drive was an absolute tease as the growl of Cobra Jet's 425 supercharged horsepower had me ready to do a lot more than just putter up to the parking space at barely 6 mph. (Before you Melvins reading this get too worked up, understand that the 425 is the NHRA's factored horsepower rating for the new cars, which at a weight of 3,300 pounds, should put the cars in the "AA" classes of Stock and Super Stock eliminator. Fully opened up, CJs are capable of making more than 600 flywheel horsepower.)

For the last few years, Ford has made tremendous inroads in supporting "grassroots" racers, creating the FR500 Series (S, C, and GT) of full-tilt turnkey race S197 Mustangs and making them available through the Ford Racing Performance Parts catalog and Ford dealerships nationwide for those enthusiasts who have the funds to buy the factory-built racers.

Without sounding too clich, it's amazing how history has a way of repeating itself. Forty years ago in 1968, Ford introduced 50 unique, now legendary drag cars called Cobra Jets-lightweight fastback 'Stangs packing 428ci engines, Top Loader four-speed transmissions, and enough hard-core race trickery to make the CJ Mustang an instant winner in Super Stock eliminator at NHRA national events.

Fast-forward to the present, and Ford Racing now has a new addition to its FR lineup of race Mustangs, this one being the '08 Ford Racing Cobra Jet (FR500CJ). While the FR500S, FR500C, and FR500GT 'Stangs are all geared toward the road-racing sector, the new FR500CJ is a factory-produced, supercharged 5.4-liter race Mustang that's all about covering the quarter-mile and chasing NHRA Stock and Super Stock glory-nothing more, nothing less. Similar to the method in which its '68 namesake could be purchased, today's version of the Cobra Jet is available through any Ford dealership's parts department-literally-to anyone who can cover its $69,900 price tag.

We had the great fortune of interacting with Ford's born-again drag Mustang shortly after the new Cobra Jet was introduced at the '08 SEMA show. Even though the 'Stangs probably don't have class opportunities in NMRA other than Super 'Stang, Modular Muscle, Open Comp, or the bracket categories, there's no doubt that the CJ is a bad-ass hot rod, one we're pretty certain will quickly achieve the same glory that its namesake did when it ruled the Super Stock ranks in the late '60s.

KJ And The Jets
Seeing an '08 Ford Racing Cobra Jet Mustang from afar is one thing, but last November I had the opportunity to experience the car up close and personal on two separate occasions.

My first encounter with a CJ came when I was asked to transport one from John Force Racing's headquarters in Yorba Linda, California, to the Pomona Fairplex for the NHRA Powerade World Finals. We loaded the 'Stang into our enclosed trailer and trucked it over to the track, where I drove it through the pits and then parked it at Motorcraft's display in Nitro Alley (the manfuacturers' midway).

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The Cobra Jets made their public on-track debut at the World Finals, when Funny Car drivers John Force and Bob Tasca III held a one-round shootout just before final rounds. Both drivers ran side-by-side high-10.80s at 128 mph in cars they had never driven before.

My second run-in with a Cobra Jet was a lot more personal, as I actually had a chance to take over the controls and make a pass in one at the PSCA Street Car Super Nationals IV. Everything about the experience was awesome, from setting the line-lock and doing a tire-roasting burnout to dumping the clutch and taking off down The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, banging the gears of the six-speed tranny like a man possessed. (Unfortunately, Ford's engineers handcuffed guest drivers with a disappointingly low 5,000-rpm rev limit, which I discovered when shifting from Third to Fourth gears.)

When it was over, I picked up my time slip and learned that I had jockeyed the Cobra Jet 'Stang to an 11.01 e.t. at 126 mph. The performance is by no means earth shattering. However, when you consider the Vegas/Pomona altitude differences and my hitting the chip on the 3-to-4 gear change, it's cool to see that the Cobra Jet is a consistent race car, as it ran right on par with the Force/Tasca 10.80 passes at Pomona.

An in-car GoPro Motorsports HERO video camera captured my run in the Cobra Jet. Dial up www.50mustangandsuperfords.com to see and hear the thrill I experienced.

5.0 Tech Specs

Engine and DrivetrainBlock
Ford 5.4-liter iron
Bore
90.2mm
Stroke
106mm
Displacement
5.4 liters
Crankshaft
Forged eight-bolt
Rods
Forged I-beam
Pistons
Forged
Compression Ratio
8.5:1
Camshaft
10mm lift
Heads
GT500
Intake
Aluminum w/air-to-liquid intercooler
Throttle Body
Ford Racing 62.5mm twin
Mass Air
Ford Racing 123mm
Injectors
80 lbs/hour
PowerAdder
2.3-liter Eaton Twin Vortices supercharger
Intercooler
Air-to-liquid
Fuel Pump
GT500
Headers
1 7/8-inch long-tube
Exhaust
Turn-downs
Transmission
Modified TR-6060 (six-speed) w/SFI scatterproof
bellhousingConverter
N/A
Rearend
Ford 9-inch with factory S197 mounting points.
4.11 gears, spool

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Electronics

Engine Management
Stock
Ignition
Stock
Gauges
Cobra Jet 5-inch tach; Ford Racing oil pressure, water temp, oil temp

Chassis And Suspension

Front Suspension
K-Member
Stock
Control arms
GT500
Springs
Mustang GT
Struts
Ford Racing adjustable
Caster/Camber
N/A
Brakes
Mustang V-6
Wheels
Bogart 15x4.5 w/specific Ford Racing offset
Tires
Goodyear 28x5-15 front runners

Rear Suspension
Springs
Mustang V-6
Shocks
Ford Racing adjustable
Control arms
Ford Racing drag-race specific
Brakes
Stock
Wheels
Bogart 15x10 w/specific Ford Racing offset
Tires
Goodyear 30x9-15 slicks

The Sum Of Its Parts
How bad-ass would it be to transform a stock GT, or even a V-6 Pony, into a strip-blazing supercharged race 'Stang? Well, if you've got the car, the gumption, and the finances to take on such a project, all you need to do is order these Cobra Jet parts, all of which are available for consumer purchase through the Ford Racing Performance Parts catalog.

CLICK HERE FOR THE IN CAR VIDEO

We spied this Shelby GT500 processor sitting in the front seat of the Cobra Jet during the photo shoot at Fontana. Attached to the PCM is a high-tech, high-dollar ($10,000) M5 calibration tool, which allows engineers to tune a CJ's engine on the fly, as opposed to the time-consuming process we're familiar with using many of the popular consumer tuning tools. Because the racing experience of the celebrity and media jockeys who were driving the cars varied widely, the two CJs that made the West Coast tour unfortunately had a 5,000-rpm rev ceiling, which is about 2,500-rpm lower than the actual rev limit for Cobra Jet's blown 5.4.