That's all contextual. bliglum was likely alluding to the change to IRS on the current 2015 to newer Mustangs that are also in excess of 400hp. In the end, Ford could have given the Mustang IRS a decade before the 2000 Cobra R if the cost benefit was there. The 8.8 LRA was so loved (by the drag racing community), so durable, and so simple and cost effective that they obviously held it as long as the automotive world allowed them to. Despite this, Ford has proven with 89-95 T-Bird Super Coupes that they can design a euro-inspired IRS (and front suspension) better than the ones that they later developed for the 99/01 & 03/04 Cobras as well as this R. Japanese and European cars prioritized dynamic handling potential as their parent market road systems had more switchbacks, turns, and elevation changes than the US (per percentage). The early Z's drawing their inspiration from Europe, naturally had a high priority on handling while 1969 Mach 1s, Chargers, etc were all about stop light to stoplight or the strip.
I grew up on "Motorweek". John Davis must be pushing 85 years old now and he is STILL doing Motorweek. I LOVE the retro reviews! This Cobra R is a freaking flamethrower!
I had the extreme pleasure of owning #288 of 300 for several years...I've owned eight V8 Mustangs over the years, among them some of the fastest/rarest, not to mention a few other of GM's fast offerings, including a big block Camaro and Corvette along with two BMW's and I'm here to tell you the 2000 Cobra R model Mustang was quite an engineering masterpiece. The first time I drove it I went around an off camber corner near my house that you'd end up almost hitting a neighbor's mailbox if you weren't careful (it got hit so many times by other people I stopped counting) and I didn't even notice any off camber effect, it just tracked like it was a flat corner...I knew then I had a special car....I had it at the limit several times at 175 mph (once on a slight downhill grade it pushed 180 mph) and at that speed it was dead stable, you could one hand steer it with complete confidence. One thing it didn't mention in this video is that it came with A/C and radio delete...I had a very expensive Blaupunkt radio/CD installed in mine which made for a cool ride, if not thermatically certainly emotionally... Still my favorite car I've ever owned.
Steve Fowler great story! This has been my favorite Mustang since they've came out. And I always loved the 32V 5.4 V-8. I have one in my '04 Nav, with a CAI, exhaust and a custom tune. The sound of the engine at 5,700 rpm is intoxicating
I’m from Colorado, I was going to school in Phoenix. They had one in the dealership! I wanted one back then, and I was 18. I could only imagine how fun this car was back then!
Meh. Looks dull and stupid at the same time. This era Mustang is by far the worst era, not counting the Mustang II. They're just dull, conservative cars. GM meanwhile had the awesome looking Camaro SS and the amazing looking Firebird WS6. This run of 300 cars doesn't mean much, when it came to the models that people actually bought, GM was wiping the floor with the Mustang in terms of performance and looks.
Any Japanese car with AWD would destroy it. That's the downside of GT, they never quite got it right in terms of how AWD changes handling and can slow a car down on a track - despite the fact it gives you a lot more traction and greatly increases acceleration. In my experience it's easier to drive a RWD car really hard since you're always expecting it to break loose and ready for it, with an AWD car you rarely push those limits as if it breaks loose it's gonna be an issue since it rarely happens and there's no consistent way it breaks loose.
This was my absolute dream car during early adolescence. I was hoping to get older and buy one, but the prices are insane on these now from what I’ve seen. Rather just buy a c8 and be done with it. Leave this a dream.
The 2000 Cobra R is of my all-time favorite Mustangs and this is coming from a very heavy heavy Mustang enthusiast. $54 was a lotta cash 16 years ago...wait, 2000 was 16 years ago? Man good times flies fast....
The best sounding Naturally Aspirated Cobra of all time. (Wish the V10 Boss 351 would have made it to production too). Just add an A/C, radio, and back seat back in and it would be the ultimate DD.
It was a fun car in the Gran Turismo series, which is as close as most of us will get to one. :) Even better when you look up the real spring rates and input that in the game. The programmers guessed at the spring rates, guessed really low, and never updated it. :-/
This cost $55k 15 years ago, yet the new GT350 is $6k LESS and will outperform this in every way imaginable. The extra performance brought by 15 years of advancements is not what is impressive, but the significantly lower price in the face of inflation is.
***** I was thinking it would be something like that, but didn't bother to plug in the numbers on an inflation calculator (I use the US Dept. of Labor's).
***** Good point. This particular vehicle is a pretty big outlier on the inflation spectrum. I remember comparing three early 90s trucks that Motorweek Retro posted a while back to see how they stacked up to the modern equivalent. I built the trucks as close to the old versions I could. Corrected for inflation, today's trucks were about 10% more expensive. When, you consider how much more capable, safe, and the extra features new vehicles have, that 10% premium seemed like a deal. The bigger issue is that wages have not kept pace with inflation and your dollar doesn't stretch as far like you said. It's sad to see so many people financing cars for 72 or 84 months.
Scott Wilson And be surrounded by cheap GM plastic? No thanks. You Chevy fanboys were just embarrassed because Ford showed you what a similar cubic inch Mustang could do and it hurt your LS1 feelings
@@scottwilson599 last time I checked a z06 in that year was more expensive, and was more produced. Good luck touching that R now for under 100k that z06 now is much cheaper because you can't copy what Ford did with this car.
@@roninkraut6873 I would rather be surrounded by cheap GM plastic than have that 5.4 liter piece of shit they are the worst fucking engines ever fucking made. At least the LS engines are dependable unlike that 5.4 piece of shit.
I was in a used car lot a few years ago and they had a Mustang of this vintage that had a factory installed super charger. That thing was ungodly fast. I believe it was some sort of SVT. It ran nice and I almost bought it. Now, seeing that no one has ever heard of such a beast, I wish I had bought it. I have a mint 1990 I bought new that has all of 10,000 original miles on it. I love the understated look of the older 1990 5.0L sedan. But these newer ones with that modular V8 are a heck of a lot quicker. This generation around 2000 to me seem to be the best of the best Mustangs and a hell of a lot better looking and overall performing then the newer ones. And yes, I have driven all the different generations. The newer ones impress me so little that my daily driver is now an Infiniti Q60S. But, I still love pulling out my old 1990 5.0L for a Sunday drive.
Ford made a fast & furious worthy car. Picnic table rear spoiler & all 🤣🤣🤣. Not going to lie, would have loved to own one myself. The mustang was the 1st car I fell in love with when I first arrived in the states. More than half my life later, my biggest regret was not owning one yet.... hopefully soon!
Impressive tech and performance for the 2000 Cobra R, which would cost about $73,000 if adjusted for inflation in 2015. Now you can get similar performance in 2015 Mustang GT, which starts at around $31,000.
Im not a mustang fan never have been, my dream car as a kid was a 30th edition Camaro which i now own for 11 years, my forever car, but I actually like this one. Its a shame they didnt make the normal mustangs or gt's like this.. Mustang's always seemed to underperform but this one is hot and she moves!!! Respect 💪
at the expense of slowing down on the track...with all the hi performance internals. the potential is def there for a straight line rocket at 200mph turbo or super charged.
My brother got to help put the motors in these cars in Dearborn. They had to do it separate from the assembly line because it took longer to fit the motor in. Don’t want to hold up the line for a specialty vehicle
The intake tube in the rear quarter window was to cool down the differential. Testers were beating the crap out of them. It did not make it to the production models.
I’ve never been much of a Mustang fan, even after owning a few, but this particular Mustang always did it for me. Had a 2000 GT with a 5-speed and it was ok but I always wanted an R...
I can't wait to drive my 95 mustang restoration that I've installed a built IRS in...I want to know if I can get my hands on the front Brembos and if they will work for me.
Personally I've never had the pleasure of owning one of these but it's one of two out of my number one favorite cars of all time...this Mustang is tied for number one in my heart with the Mazda RX-7FD3S.
Would it be nice if they put a 5.4L DOHC engine with 385 hp on the Panther platforms, add a 6-speed transmission, change the differential and crankshaft to withstand speeds in excess of 260 km / h, and add an advanced suspension system. Do you think Ford was able to make these improvements on the Panther platforms? It would be great if it made the same improvements as it did with the Mustang, Expedition, and F150.
First saw the Ford SVT Mustang Cobra R, when I first played NFS: Hot Pursuit 2, and this is the kind of Mustang I fondly remember. It is a very fun vehicle to look at, but that simplistic, dismal spoiler wing is what's really distracting.
That was a big deal in the dark days of the early 4.6 liter GTs; it gave me hope for the future. And now, a stock GT off the showroom floor can go 0-60 in 4 seconds.
@@rodmunch69 get the 10 speed auto, and the Mustang will go 3.9 or 3.8, I’ve seen both times published. And the Camaro will be back; might take a while, and it’ll probably be electric, but I’m sure it will be back.
@@epa316 When they brought it back, it looked great, but in the refresh, they just ruined the look by making it so boxy and plastic looking. They'll likely bring it back in another 7-10 years, and yep, you're right, it will be soulless electric car. Just hopefully it's not a soulless electric SUV like the eMustang. BTW, no issues with electric cars, I'd love to have a Tesla, I just can't believe we legit, right now, have a car that will drive itself like 95% of the time (on beta self driving software, that is available to the public, it can really do that already). I love all the tech you get with electric cars, but there is certainly still a place for ICE powered sports cars that are less about lap times and more about fun to drive. Heck I've owned all sorts of sports cars, multiple Corvettes, a Camaro a Mustang, some BMWs, a 400hp GTO and more, and the most fun to drive car I've ever owned was a 1985 Fiero GT that was basically a go-kart - which is why it was so fun, it had no power steering, no power brakes and nutjob I bought it from had lowered it while cutting out the cap and mufflers and just having baffles on the back. It wasn't fast by any means, just super fun to drive.
No its dead GM has completely abandoned it for like 5 years and now there closing the curtains on it like dodge hopefully it comes back and comes back cool tho
Would it be nice if they put a 5.4L DOHC engine with 385 hp on the Panther platforms, add a 6-speed transmission, change the differential and crankshaft to withstand speeds in excess of 260 km / h, and add an advanced suspension system. Do you think Ford was able to make these improvements on the Panther platforms? It would be great if it made the same improvements as it did with the Mustang, Expedition, and F150
Along with the '95 Cobra R and latest GT350, this has to be my favorite modern Mustang... but $55 grand 15 years ago? You could buy a stock Cobra and spend nearly 20 grand on modifications, which would likely give you an significantly more impressive machine- not saying this wasn't impressive, and it was quite exclusive...
Larry N It's not that hard to make a functional component beautiful. That's what the best car companies in the world are known for. The wing looks ugly and Ford could have done something to make it less bulky.
Would it be nice if they put a 5.4L DOHC engine with 385 hp on the Panther platforms, add a 6-speed transmission, change the differential and crankshaft to withstand speeds in excess of 260 km / h, and add an advanced suspension system. Do you think Ford was able to make these improvements on the Panther platforms? It would be great if it made the same improvements as it did with the Mustang, Expedition, and F150
