How do Cobras handle?

[speed220mph]

We're talking about a car that's set up correctly, here. With that said, the Cobra also has "active handling", as I told the guys on the Z06 Corvette web site. When you're at 100%, you as a driver are very active. Elbows are a blur more or less, depending on how you use the throttle when in a turn.

[Mulv]

Hotrod


Before you go to the track and listen to the bench racers, you might want to check this post..... the person is still in intensive care since before Thanksgiving.... He had at least 30 open track events behind him, not exactly a rookie. My 125hp Honda Civic laps Thunderhill approximately 16 seconds a lap faster than the factory five spec racer. The Honda has the fuel economy transmission and can only just reach 100 mph on the fastest part of the track.... the whiners will cry about gearing ,etc., but the truth is thee Cobras are far faster on the straights. Draw your own conclusion. I raced as a pro for 10 years and an amateur for longer and have done 15 laps with my SPF. I have no desire to do 16.....

Cheers

Steve

[Mulv]

Oh sorry, here is the post:

SPF crash at Thunderhill

SPF Crash at Thunderhill on Bay Area Cobra Club... There are some nice photos..

[coyled]

Mulv, how is Lew doing? Pretty scary crash. Are you saying that Lew had done 30 open track events in his cobra? That is lots of experience. Scott

[Mulv]

Hey

Yeah, Lew went to the track constantly and had a timing transponder attached to his roll bar... Updates on Lew are at:

Updates on Lew Comerford

As far as I know there is no change from the last report...

By the way, my movers are here and I will be unloading at my new Chateau in Scottsdale on Friday... The DeathMobile should be there at the same time... are you guys touring this weekend? We could use a break from the moving thing.....

Steve

[RACER X #99]

Steve,
Got to agree with you about Open Tracking with an open top car, it is very dangerous and as we can tell by what has happened to Lou it can really hurt you.
But so are other hobbies dangerous, every year many are injured for life, skiing, rock climbing, skin diving and many other sports.

I know many guys like youself who are accomplished road racers yet they will not get into a Cobra or any other open type racer.

I certainly would not try to talk anybody into Road racing a Cobra if I thought they had fear of doing so. It is just that some guys and girls are more risk takers than others and the thrill of high speed adventures outweighs their fears. They're is nothing shamefull about being fearful of something as I am real afraid of high places and climbing ladders which I have to do scares the crap out of me.

Certainly not trying to play down Lou's injury's and I hope for a successful recovery.

Roger Davis/Cranky

[CowtownCobra]

They belong on the track. Street take a lot of restraint. I have found 2nd gear to be the ***** from hell. I either go side ways, or, as I stupidly did yesterday, make a surprise lane change. Driving lessons are a must

[grumpy]

Designers,

If you look at one of the most competitive series today, GTS, with tire tracks at 64-68" combined to the 96-98" wheel bases, then taking a percentage of shrinking the wheelbase down to 90" the track falls into the track of a 90" COBRA of yesteryear. By running a couple of the computer geometry programs on the front suspension taking all the COBRA CSX into play I really don't think the wheel base is the problem.

Go kart who said go kart?

Most available COBRA's we have suffer from using production items in the suspension for cost reasons thereby stepping us a very rigid fixed design for the car.

Take a clean sheet of paper and then hit the 90" button, you will be surprised in the outcome. If only it were that easy!

grumpy

[BMK]

Hi all



We have been discussing this very issue on Australian Club Forum.

See Thread ....Drift



Cheers its been good reading.

Bernie

Bernie Knight
Mt. Gambier South Australia

[Hal Copple]

i think if you want to really race, get a real race car. But I also believe it is very important to learn any sporting car's, and the driver's limits, and the most safe place to do this is on a race track, with good instruction. Our SPF has many hundreds of track laps, mostly with my son driving. But this way, he has learned threashold braking, axpex's, wet driving, and so much more, some of which does carry over to his street driving, i am sure. Our car has a full race suspension, brakes, and now a full width, taller rollbar. Two Halon systems, and we were Nomex from head to toe. On the track, we run Hoosier race slicks.

I believe well-driven replicas, such as when Dennis Olthoff a few years back did so well in the One Lap challenges, against some pretty stout competiton, both car and driver, speaks well for our primative cars' abilities.

On the street, having learned on the track where my car and my limits are, i stay very far away from them. As for a replica's "handling", here is a pic of our car at Charlotte motor speedway a year ago, before the higher rollbar. Note the very flat corning attitude. Chris driving.

[speed220mph]

Just as a matter of interest for all was what the late Mark Donohue and Penske did when they were involved in F1 racing. They took a state of the art sprint car and their F1 car to a skid pad and ran them both at their limits. Both cars were fitted with dry asphalt tires and the wings were removed from the F1 car. Result, lap times were basically identical. Put them both in their environment and the results would be drastically different. What this illustrated was the correct tires and load on them rules when it comes to cornering. The same goes for power to weight ratio.