Long distances in your Cobra's

[just dreamin]

Drove the cobra to our nationals meet two years in a row. Distance is 920 km (about 550 miles,each way). Left on friday back home monday night. I drove back wearing my crash helmet wife caught the bus home. Next time I went alone. This was on what you would call a secondary or back road and is the main road from Sydney to Adelaide. The nationals were then held at West Wyalong which is on the way to Sydney. You should all come and visit one day. Regards John

[Bartruff1]

Kinda like grandkids....for about 3 hours.... to hot...to cold...to windy...to noisy...to uncomfortable for long drives...get a trailer if you have a wish to drive roads that are more than 200 miles from home.... also, consider that you may not want to leave the car (even if covered) in a unsecured place overnight as they attract a lot of attention and I would not want to expose mine to wet weather... just my 2 cents...others have a different view...

[Karl Bebout]

Check with Tucson John....48 continental states in something like three weeks. He is SIR Iron Butt!

[mpanten]

One word of caution, apply sun block often, I learned that one the hard and painfull way.

[Zoom This]

Two summers ago my buddy and I drove my SPF on a 3,000 mile road trip over 8 days. We limited our days to no more than 250-300 miles, which was ok since we took mostly secondary roads with a lot of sight seeing. Took lots of water, sunscreen, snacks and warm clothing, when required. Worst part was going through Montana with 96 degree heat at 90-110 mph all afternoon to get to Great Falls. That was the only hot day we encountered along our trip. Felt like beef jerky with a seat belt on by days end. Car performed flawless and was surprisingly comfortable over the 8 days in the saddle.

Bill

[Ozzir]

Wow. Some great stories on here. Some of you are troupers. I have wanted a Cobra for years and 6 years ago while searching for a Cobra I came across a Viper that was too good of a deal to pass up. It was a 98 coupe. I sold it after 4 summers and bought another Viper. 05 SRT. Had that for 2 summers but I kept coming back to the Cobra. I sold the 05 Viper this year and have made a deal on a Cobra and cant wait to get it. I'm used to the raw brutal power of the Viper and LOVE it. I've done a couple race schools that used the Cobra's as the track cars and loved them and a buddy of mine has a Superformance Cobra and I droll over it every time I see it. I will miss the Viper Im sure especially on long trips which I do regularly. With the Cobra I might just buy an enclosed trailer and trailer it to where I need to go. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for all of your replies.

[Ozzir]

Originally Posted by Bartruff1

Kinda like grandkids....for about 3 hours.... to hot...to cold...to windy...to noisy...to uncomfortable for long drives...get a trailer if you have a wish to drive roads that are more than 200 miles from home.... also, consider that you may not want to leave the car (even if covered) in a unsecured place overnight as they attract a lot of attention and I would not want to expose mine to wet weather... just my 2 cents...others have a different view...

I was down to 2 Cobras to buy and yours was the other one. If I hadnt bought the one I did I was going to come and get yours. If Im ever out touring in your neck of the woods I'll let you know and perhaps we can meet for a cruise. Hopefully you keep it and continue to enjoy it.

[Bxx1]

Just my 2 cents…Each year my longest drive is to Monterey/Pebble Beach/Laguna Seca in August. I take the long way from Sacramento, across the GG bridge, down Hwy 1, and take a few short side trips. Stupendous scenery and great roads. Overall its over 6 hrs. driving and 230 miles. After the drive I am ready for a rest but we gotta find a nice restaurant… get back in the Cobra and head out again. The long drive makes up for the time the car sits in my garage week after week. I look forward to this each year!

[snakebittexan]

Two years ago a group of us from Texas (and Arkansas) shipped our cars to California and drove the PCH from San Jose to San Diego. Last year we shipped them to Rapid City, SD and drove the Bad Lands and Black Hills for five days. In both cases we put on a little less than 1000 miles and broken up into small bites it was easy. I once rode a Harley straight back from Deadwood, SC to Denver (8 hours) and our only complaint was the boredom going accoss Nebraska. Be prepared, make several rest stops and you'll have a blast!

[Bartruff1]

Originally Posted by Ozzir

I was down to 2 Cobras to buy and yours was the other one. If I hadnt bought the one I did I was going to come and get yours. If Im ever out touring in your neck of the woods I'll let you know and perhaps we can meet for a cruise. Hopefully you keep it and continue to enjoy it.

I don't have any plans to sell it now, as I sold some other cars and have the garage space I wanted.... Eastern Washington has great Cobra weather and roads from mid April to mid Oct and cool summer morning are the best...I drive mine like a road bike, same weather , same roads, same distance ...

[JBCOBRA]

Every September since I got my car in '05 I have driven it to Watkins Glen for the Vintage GP from the Philly burbs. In those 3-4 days I drive it about 1000 miles. Great times! and an adventure in motoring

[Rich_ACC]

I have over 26K on the car and will drive it anywhere. For the really long trips 8 - 10 hrs the top goes up just so I don't get beat to death from the wind and sun burned. If you ever have had the top of your ears toasted it's not fun. I do look forward to fuel stops about every 270miles to get out and stretch the legs, grab a drink / food and check the car.

I can make LV to San Diego in two stops or Phoenix the same.

Enjoy the Ride
Rich

[Legless]

The biggest problem on a long drive is boredom, boredom and cobra don't belong in the same sentence. I drove mine 550km yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it. Admittedly it was great weather but I drove for 8 hours and found it much more comfortable than I ever would have imagined.

[Silversmith]

After a hour or so I need to stand up & walk ariound for a few minutes. I'm not sure I would enjoy 4 to 8 hours flat out crusing in my ride! But I've been told the new rides like spf's & ffr's have much better footboxes & leg room! In my old girl I have to push the clutch in to strighten my left leg & for the right. Well I just make SURE there are no cars in front of me!! LOL

[cobradvm]

Here's a link to a photo blog I did on ffcars.com. A group of 4 of us drove from Seattle to LA and back last year. We drove down the Pacific Coast Highway, did Mulholland Drive, and a track day at Buttonwillow. I ended up blowing a head gasket near Sacramento on the way back up. We had planned a second track day at Thunderhill but the engine blew right as were arrived at the track the night before. It had been having issues for a while. I ended up having to tow it home.

Bottom line is it was one of the best adventures I've ever had. Sure things may go wrong (two out of the 4 of us ended up having to be towed home), but that's half the adventure - nothing ventured, nothing gained.

250 to 350 miles a day is easy - 500 would be pushing it, but doable for a day if need be. Anything longer would be punishment.


http://www.ffcars.com/forums/28-nort...e-la-back.html

We're leaving Seattle at the end of June this year for another trip down to Norcal.

[YerDugliness]

It is 860 miles between my two homes, so I usually break the drive down into two days. I've learned a few things:

I wear earmuff type hearing protectors, like most others not b/c of the noise from the sidepipes, but to eliminate the wind buffeting my ears. However, having said that, I do notice that the earmuffs also seem to diminish the fatigue factor caused by the sidepipes. Have you ever noticed how tired you get in a very noisy environment? That's because there is a muscle in your middle ear that "disassociates" the three bones that transmit sound to your inner ear...it functions much in a "reflex" motion, so long term noises cause it to fatigue and loosen up, then the sound gets louder and you'll find yourself getting tired. Wear hearing protection.....we all lose a huge amount of our acquity over the years, I wish I had worn hearing protection when I was driving tractors on the farms of SW Kansas/SE Colorado as a teenager!!!

Stop frequently. I seldom go over 150 miles without getting gas (driving range on fuel tank is over 250 miles). I always drink a bottled water every hour, too. I stop at rest stops for snacks. Stretch while you're stopped and you'll feel better at the end of the day.

I wear a hat and therefore don't have the sunburn issues.....but, sunscreen is a great idea as the constant movement through the air can dry out the skin and result in wind-burns.

With propper preparation and good weather, two days at 400+ miles/day is doable, even enjoyable (except for the "boredom" in north TX and the OK panhandle!!).

My Cobra is equipped with a sound system, I think I might have a headphone jack wired in so I can listen to music....earbuds under the hearing protectors....but, then, I really like the throaty growl from the sidepipes with the hearing protectors on, I have had the car for 3 years now and haven't worried about wiring in the headphones, so maybe not?

I spoke with Bob Kallio (probably butchered the spelling), who operated Midwest Cobras before Shell Valley merged with his company....he said his Cobra has A/C, heat, and cruise control, he drives his 4 seasons of the year. He was in Nebraska.....that means COLD winters....he used his ragtop and side curtains and said he was quite comfortable year-round.

Cheers!

Dugly

[WardL]

I bought my Cobra used in Florida and was encouraged to drive it home to Washington State. That would have been a big mistake for several reasons. The short overnight trip I took while in Florida was fabulous, but I found the Cobra set so low the tires scraped every time we hit a bump (like you do on every freeway bridge). The wind was more than I wanted for 3,000 miles. My wife loves to go in the Cobra, but she would not have enjoyed the trip home. Throw in the stress of a new Cobra and I was REALLY glad I had it shipped home. I am very glad I went to Florida to check it over myself for the purchase.

[BAsque1]

Thought about doing the Gumball rally route until I drove 2-3 hrs straight just cruising around. My right knee is throbing with pain. The angle of the leg is kind of sideways and kills you for long distance driving. The seats are more comfortable than a regula Cobra and being the wide and longer body car the movements are smoother.
I still love my car---No Pain No Gain!!!