Mustang Cobra Mammoth Blower Kit - Wild and Woolly

Comparing the new Mammoth intake casting to the standard Cobra inlet (right) is another example of size making a difference. Obviously the Mammoth intake casting is wider-mounted and much deepeer to allow 1,500 cfm of air to make the turn into the compressor. The new intake casting is the key player in the Mammoth kit.

Finally, for those who haven't pedaled a 700hp Mustang on street tires but fancy the idea, be advised that it's a different experience than moving from 300 to 500 hp. Big-power street cars demand restraint, understanding, and occasionally real skill from the driver, and strangely enough, can be slower than the typical 400hp bolt-on Mustang in most casual street situations. The big-power car's limitation is traction, and with so much power, it's laughably easy to blow off the rear tires. At the least, this can be bothersome to work around every time you want a nice squirt of power. If you're a sporting sort, it can be embarrassing when a bolt-on car walks away from your tire-spinning power-wagon. At its worst, mega-power can mean losing control over bumps, sand, rain, or other traction stealers, so plan on being fully engaged with your car if opting for the big power figures on the street.

We won't advise you to have fun. That part comes automatically.

Kenne Bell uses the air bellows from the Ford GT in the Mammoth cold-air inlet but adds this unique plastic insert. Its job is to reinforce the bellows against collapse, which KB says is a problem bvecause the Mammoth ingests a lot air.

The standard KB cold-air kit is not only smaller, it shows many more rough air passages and convolutions.

The Mammoth cold-air kit, the standard kit breathes from a more limited volume of underhood air. Interestingly, the oval rubber parts of the Mammoth version conform easily to the kit's round air tubing.

Fuel System Upgrade
OK, 700 rwhp is nice, but hey-you want it all. In that case, you need the fuel system upgrade developed by Kenne Bell in conjunction with and sold by D'Agostino Racing [(954) 583-8884; www.dagostinoracing.com]. It supplies the big box of hardware and software needed to move the Terminator past 700 rwhp and into four digits.

Beginning with the nuts and bolts, the Cobra's stock fuel pumps are replaced by high-output Ford GT units. The GT fuel pumps are fitted to a stout billet "hat," or bracket, that simplifies installation considerably and provides positive O-ring sealing compared to shoehorning the GT pumps into the stock pressed-metal bracket.

In the kits, a second fuel pump driver module is added, along with supporting wiring and a relay. To drive the second FPDM, a Kenne Bell dual Boost-A-Pump is required; it's supplied in a single box with two BAPs inside.

Kenne Bell's Boost-A-Pump and Boost-A-Spark hot-rod the current to the fuel and spark systems to compensate for high boost pressures. The BAP in the Mammoth fuel upgrade kit is unique in that it's actually two BAPs in one box.

The Cobra's 5/16-inch fuel line tubing is upgraded to a 3/8-inch hose. New fuel rails are used at the engine-not because the stock rails are undersized, but because it's the easiest method of attaching the new fuel line. Larger 62-lb/hr fuel injectors, naturally, and jumper wiring harnesses are must-haves as well. On the spark side, a Boost-A-Spark box pumps up the current.

Most vexing to tuners, however, isn't getting the fuel to the engine, but handling the electronics in a realm far past where Ford ever designed the Cobra's computer to run. Simply put, when making 800-odd horsepower, there isn't any computer code to handle the necessary calculations-that, and the stock mass air meter flatlined hundreds of horsepower ago.

In the standard KB Terminator kit, the stock mass air meter flatlines around 500 rwhp. Ramping up the fuel pressure takes care of that problem up to the mid-500hp level. In the Mammoth kit, the larger intake tubing helps the air meter read more volume. The real breakthrough came when Jerry Wroblewski showed how to rig the SuperChips Custom Tuning software Kenne Bell tunes with to double the mass air range by halving its resolution. Bingo! With that tuning sleight-of-hand, the stock mass air electronics in the big intake tube could handle up to 700 rwhp. Special thanks to Jerry from Kenne Bell and the rest of us for providing a key strategy to making the Mammoth work at an affordable price.