The Mustang Cobra Is Back And It Sounds Meaner Than Ever

When is a Mustang GT350 not a Mustang GT350? When it's a Mustang Cobra. Yesterday we reported on rumors that Ford was readying a high-winding successor to the 2015-20 GT350, and now we know that car will resurrect the Cobra badge. We even know exactly how it will sound, and well: dribble.

A teaser video published to Ford Racing's Instagram account features text slowly spelling out the word "Cobra" while an evil-sounding V8 sings in the background. Small pause as each shift bangs home telling us the motor is backed by a manual transmission. Oh my. Where do we sign?

"You'll want to hear this," says the text accompanying the video. "For the drivers, with an all-motor heart born from racing. Ford Mustang Cobra, a Legacy Reborn. The story continues in 2027."

So Cobra it is, which makes sense, because Ford's licensing deal with Shelby died a few years back, and Shelby now sells its own tuned Mustang with GT350 badges.

And we might even be in line for not one, but two Cobras. The letter R in "Cobra" is highlighted in two separate points in the video, the final time in Ford Racing's trademark blue color. That suggests Ford is preparing Cobra and Cobra R versions of the Mustang, just like it did in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Cobra name aside, Ford's social post mostly tallies with the story we wrote earlier this week about Ford building a successor to the S550-generation GT350 and GT350 R. Those cars featured a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter Voodoo engine with a flat-plane crank V8 design most commonly used by supercar brands like Ferrari and McLaren. They made 526 hp and redlined at 8,250 rpm, but were phased out after 2020.

We can't know for sure if the engine fitted to the Cobra also has a flat-plane crank, but it sure sounds like it could. And it doesn't sound turbocharged or supercharged. The engine bark is too crisp for our ears. Most blown V8s sound slightly muffled, and the frequencies are bass-heavy, but this has real bite with no supercharger whine. Some rumors suggest Ford is going to homologate the 5.4-liter V8 from its Mustang GT3 race cars for road duties. That engine is limited to a maximum of 550 hp under FIA Balance of Performance rules, which isn't much more than the 500 hp the naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 in the Dark Horse makes. But those rules wouldn't apply to street cars.

A high-revving V8 character would set the Cobra apart from Ford's current forced induction Mustang heavy hitters, the supercharged, 5.2-liter, 795 hp Dark Horse SC, and 815 hp GTD, even if it won't make anywhere near as much power.

Think of the Cobra and Cobra R as the 911 GT3 and GT3 RS of the Mustang lineup, and the Dark Horse SC as the 911 Turbo S. And like the GT3, at least one, and maybe both of the Cobras, will come with a manual transmission. That's something not available on the Dark Horse SC or GTD. Next year is already shaping up nicely.