Quote:
Originally Posted by 3040csx
I’m really leaning towards G 60-15‘s in the front and N50-15s in the rear
Kind of scary though that I can’t find one cobra with that tire combination
There’s got to be somebody out there somewhere that has this set up
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On cars like ours, with so few choices in many areas, when you find no one using or doing what you are contemplating, there is typically a reason.
While the driver of any high powered vehicle needs to be deliberate and circumspect, it is even more true about our cars. A Cobra replica can have chassis improvements and handling improvements that can equal or exceed those of the original vehicles — this is good. In addition to the handling the car easily eclipse the torque and power of the original's by 150 to 200% without blinking an eye!
Don't forget the original cars held the Guiness world record for zero to 100 to zero for some outrageous period of time 20, 30 maybe more years. The engines we have today make vintage engines pale in comparison.
The sole item between your replica and the ground is the tire
you put on the car. To under estimate the significance of this decision is to do yourself the greatest possible disservice.
There is a phenomena that Cobra's experience called trailing torque oversteer or TTO for short. It is what happens when you are negotiating a turn, sometimes not at a very high speed, and lift on the gas momentarily. Maybe you thought you wanted to slow a bit or maybe you thought you entry speed for the turn was a whisker too high.
What happens next does not have a lot to do with your reason for lifting and everything to do with the fact you lifted. The tail of your car will begin to rapidly drift to the outside of the turn and the nose of the car will begin to point to the inside of the turn. At this point there is no longer any recovery possible. This whole series of sad events can occur in less than a second or two at most.
Think it won't happen to you? Think again! There are many new owners with crashed Cobra's who just didn't believe the cars were capable of this level of mischief. Don't be fooled, they are and then some.
You will find any number of seasoned owners on this site that will tell you each time you get into the car and turn that little silver key, your car is going to try to kill you. This is not a conscious decision on the part of the car. It is a lack of understanding of the cars and their behavioral proclivities, by a driver, that will get that driver in trouble or worse killed.
BTW just about the time, give it a two to three year gestation period, that you think you really understand these cars and their idiosyncrasies is when you are at the greatest risk and most likely to kill yourself.
Irrespective of period correct look considerations buy the best possible tires you can afford that fit in your wheel wells. Don't skimp! When you do (skimp) you are playing Russian roulette with more than one bullet — and you didn't have to.
Be smart, be circumspect but above all be prudent and don't do anything that puts you at greater risk — you are already way over the top compared to almost every other performance car on the road.
Ed