[olddog]

I have only driven one Cobra. Mine. It is the best handling car I ever drove. It will outcorner, accelerate faster, and stop quicker than anything I ever drove. The only thing I ever rode in that could outperform it, is other Cobra's and there are plenty out there that are light years ahead of mine.

The short wheel base is a true hand full, if the wheels get loose. If you let it get very far side ways, the back end will come around real fast. I have never spun it out, but I have come close on an autocross course a couple times. Your correction has to be dead on, with very fast reflexes. Over stear it and the swing back is tough to overcome. I'm no expert driver, but I also have no ego pushing me. It is my experiance that getting out of the throttle at the first hint of loosing traction is best. Few people can power there way out of trouble. To sum it up, because the handling is so good, when you do loose traction, you are going to be going way too fast and turning way too hard to recover. I absolutely will not push the car on the streets.

As for Hp, forget about peak numbers. Look at the torque across the entire rpm range. The flatter the torque curve, the easier the car will be to handle. An engine that only has 200 lb-ft at 2000 rpm and 500 lb-ft at 5000 rpm is more difficult to handle because every time you step on the peddle, depending on the rpm, the reaction is different. If there is a rapid increase in torque in a short rpm range, it is even trickier to handle.