Let me start out by saying "technology IS a wonderful thing".
I hate to say it but in a lot of ways Mulv is right. Most modern chassis/suspensions will make up for a lack of a LOT of horsepower on the track and with the way that some of these "tuners" are tweaking these sewing machine engines nowadays, I give them a LOT of credit. Have any of you seen these rice burners turning 7 second (OR UNDER) quarter miles on ESPN (I still get a kick out of the FAT slicks on the FRONT tires
)? These cars are no laughing matter, but they never will come to symbolize the glory and powererful appearance of even a small block Cobra... It's just different...
Now before you all jump on my sack and do the twist, I do also agree with Buzz in a VERY big way.
Personally, I have only owned a Cobra for a few months now and admittedly, I haven't had her on the track yet. I HAVE put her through some pretty good paces out on the streets in different circumstances however meaning 25MPH freeway exit ramps at 60MPH, apexing street corners when nobody is there to slam into, etc. and I have summized my own philosophy which surprisingly agrees with Buzz's synopsis. A Cobra requires a driver to put his "ass on the line" to be fast! Smoking the tires as you "drift" through the corners. Using sheer front to rear momentum changes to oversteer/understeer your ways through the corners. Balls to the wall acceleration when the road/track is straight enough to allow it. Hard mashing of the brakes to get you to your cornering speed. These are the things that make a Cobra perform with the High-Tech boys. Sometimes it WILL be good enough to pass up the shoeboxes, sometimes it may not! I DO believe though that 95% of the guys who track their Cobras really do not drive them like they stole them, and quite frankly, I don't think that I will drive my Bessie that way 100% of the time either when I finally make it to the track! It has taken me too long of dreaming of owning a Cobra to go out and wreck it just so that I can say I beat WHATEVER on the track... Now, if somebody would like to GIVE me a race-ready Cobra and let me have at it, I am sure my lap times in that will exceed ANY lap that I could do in my own baby... Owning a Cobra is a prestige/respect thing as much as neck snapping acceleration. It takes A LOT more money on the street to get all the looks you will in even a $25,000 Cobra. THAT'S because Cobras STILL are the high-water mark after all of these years! The legends that were created in these little buggy-looking cars with HUGE American muscle under the bonnet survives STILL even after 30+ years...
A couple of you have chimed in here that have Vette suspensions under your snakes. I can remember (late 80's/early90's)Road and Track test driving an Everett Morrison Cobra with a Vette chassis and they said "..this is THE best handling car we have EVER driven... PERIOD!" and this was in the era of the Ferrari F40!
Can't you vette boys do much better on the track then even the "new" vettes? Weight STILL has to be in your favor right?
My 2 cents,
Pat
p.s. I have this little "tuner" that frequently buzzes down the street where my office is. This "thing" sounds more like a jet engine than a car. Let me tell you, it looks to accelerate VERY quickly! When the weather turns nice up here again, I WILL wait for him to drive by and see what Bessie can do, but from the looks of it, I do not think it will be an easy race... Like I said before, not "bad" just "different"!
