Anyone go from a Porsche to a Cobra

[Mike Main]

Ive always wanted one-actually to build one but with 2 young kids and limited time building is not really an option. That being said I drove and almost bought a Superformance 3 yrs ago but instead bought a porsche which has been great - with 7800 miles i dont drive it all that much(weeknds).
But I yearn for sidepipes and the sheer power of a cobra. Also the occasional tinkering with it wont hurt either.
So has anyone left the refinement of modern day sportscar for the brutality of the cobra?
Ive been to porsche driving school and pushed the car to some limits and seen instructors go to the edge and ralize the cobra will not have that same handling and electronic aids to help you if you go to far.
Thanks for your input.

Mike

[carmine]

A Cobra is a Snake and what a perfect name for something that will bite you if your not careful.

[CobraEd]

A Cobra is an automotive icon of brutal power, . . . . . . a Porche is a glorified German Corvair.

.

[CBattaglia]

There is nothing like a V8, especially with side pipes as you mentioned.

In an old issue of Road and Track they had a shoot out between a Porche, ferrari, lotus, viper and one or 2 others. It was when the viper first came out.

At the end of the article they graph the performance and get driver feedback. Although the viper didnt win many (if any) individual categories, it was every driver's favorite car to drive.

You just cant beat the feel of a big engine screaming with raw power.

[ERA2188]

Porsches are cool to drive, nice engine sound, but they are no where near the "fun quotient" of a cobra, whether it be a small block FIA car (my preference) or a big block 427 (or even a stroked small block 351 in a 427 body). The cobra is a nicer looking car than the Porsche, to me, and the plain old school combination of classic lines and reliable V8 power, can't be matched by a Porsche. I sold my first cobra (after 2 years of use) to have a brand new one built - and had the option of going for a Boxter or the new Coupe version - but the only one of the 3 that really makes me grin with anticipation is the new FIA with the KC 331 stroker and the ERA custom rear suspension. Just can't wait to get that car!! (and I wouldn't have had to wait for the Porsche). That little stroker, with the AFR heads and a nice cam, will have a real, real nice sound. I can just hear it now going through the gears on Card Sound Road, the back way to Key Largo from Miami, on Sunday mornings!!! Wahooooo

[Lew Ledyard]

I have both. They are very different. Each is really fun. Sometimes the Porsche is a better car for the moment, sometimes the Cobra is. It would be difficult to pick one over the other as they both do what they are supposed to do very well. It is like asking which is better, lobster or cable tv?

[JGC]

I drove a 930 for years as a daily driver. Great car and very reliable. If yo think it I didn't really drive it just suffice it to say I went through rears about every 4000 miles.

Frankly I got bored with it. Too slow at only 420HP. Really got bored waiting to spool up. It would eat Vipers & Vets and older liter bikes but because of the turbo they would always jump way ahead and you would have to over take them on boost. Probably was demoralizing to them after they thought they'd easily win.

I have run other Superformances with less HP and find them more exciting then the Porsche. A few more weeks and my SPF will be on the road. Engine dyno'd at 695HP. That should be enough for a start.


Jack

[Cashburn]

I have had customers go in either direction... from a Porsche to a Backdraft and also from a Backdraft to a Porsche. In either case they are happy with the car they are in for different reasons. I don't think you can go wrong either way if it is to be a "fun car". Totally different from one another though.

You won't turn many heads with a Porsche though.

[MFE III]

My daily driver is a 996. I like the contrast. Sometimes in in the mood for the refined Fräulein, and sometimes I'm in the mood for some abuse from the Nasty Biatch!
Matt

[RodKnock]

Both are outstanding track or street cars. If you can afford to have both, then you should own both. Nowadays, early Porsche owners often install the late 90's air cooled 3.6L engines in the early cars and they just fly.

[Hal Copple]

Son had a Boxster for several years, hopes to get back into a rear sports car one of these days. For me, someday, i want a 997 or what is available then. I can appreciate what they are, and can do.

But i have been thinking about my own replica, an SPF, and comparing it to how much i think i would like to own or replace it with a modern C6 Corvette.

I don't think the current Corvette is all that handsome, even if it is "world class", esp for the price. But in a few years, there will be a new model out, and it will just be an older non-descript Corvette, not distinctive at all. I barely notice the C4 cars at stop lights, and the C5 'Vettes while i think pretty good looking, they are starting to look kind of ratty as they drift down the food chain. It will always be that way with Corvettes, despite their prodigious performance capability.

On the other hand, i never get tired of admiring or driving my SPF. It will always be uncommon, and has the timeless good looks of the great cars. When i can, i will hop in and drive 200 miles on the back roads to get a good hamburger, then drive home. It is like that i think for the biker guys and groups out there. They don't seem to need a reason to be on their bikes, just a destination far enough to get to and back before dark sets in.

My SPF is like that for me. I don't need a reason for a day trip, just seeing the other side of the mountain is enough. I don't know if would do that in a modern car like a Porsche or Corvette. Maybe driving a replica is a fulfilling experience, while a modern sports car is basically just really nice transportation.

Two hundred years ago, would Mountain Men have driven Cobras, and Bankers Corvettes?

One thing for sure, I will never sell my Superformance, no matter what luck and fortune may park along side it.

All the best,

[Blas]

I still have my Porsche, since 1980...Its a 924 with a highly modified suspension. It would out handle the Cobra by a wide margin on any twisty tight road course...But...It only has about the same horsepower as the one speed heater fan motor on my Cobra....But I still like it...

[bnewell]

I sold SPF1299 and bought a 1993 RSA.....kept that a year, sold it and bought KMP297.......that is currently for sale and I am looking at a 1994 3.6 Turbo.

All nice cars.......just depends what you want in life.

[Lew Ledyard]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Nowadays, early Porsche owners often install the late 90's air cooled 3.6L engines in the early cars and they just fly.

That is what I did. It is a really fun combination.

[yamazee]

Ahhhh Finally someone else with the same crazy thoughts that I had. I had a brand new 997 S about a year and a half ago. I loved the car, and there was really nothing bad to say about it, I also always wanted a cobra. I could'nt justify having both ( at least not to the wife) so the porsche whent for a 4 door benz, and then I bought a backdraft. Here's the thing, you will never get the refinement out of the cobra you enjoy in the porsche, you will never come near the handling of your porsche in the cobra, hell you wont even be a fraction as comfortable in the cobra that your are in the porsche. BUT, you will never, and I mean never grin as big from ear to ear as you will in the cobra when your foot is to the floor! For half of what I spent on the porsche there is a fun factor to the cobra that no other car can give. That being said, you should be aware of what you are giving up, cobras are cool, fast, and fun, but they are a not production cars, some things in the cobra are just plain chinsy, and there is zero comfort and convenience to them. I added a top to mine, its fairly useless, I added a/c to mine its also fairly useless, so what is usefull then? The brut power of this car, the force feedback on the steering wheel from no power steering, the stink of the exhast at a light (as my wife puts it) and the pure fun you will have driving this beast that hardly seems like its worthy of being on public roads. I say dump the porsche, get the cobra! You will find you will have way more fun in the cobra, but you will drive it less. I dont regret it one bit, but I will tell you that there will come a day that I go back to the porsche, right now that day is very far away. Good luck, this is a tough boat to be in.

[UKjohnnycobra]

I have a Porsche Carrera 4 and my home built Cobra. Completely different species. The Cobra is brute power, really quite uncomfortable for passengers as the suspension is so hard. The seats are basic and the air conditioning is always on. With sidepipes it makes sitting in traffic very uncomfortable so there are only certain roads at specific time of day that I would take it out....but when I do you couldn't lever the grin off my face (or my passengers) with a crowbar.

The Porsche is more stylish (its a 1994 964 widebody....not many of them around)and Mrs Cobra doesn't have to worry about her hair getting messed up. When I drive it you couldn't lever the grin off my face (or my passengers) with a crowbar.

I drive a subaru most of the time.

[SP01715]

Originally Posted by JGC

I drove a 930 for years as a daily driver. Great car and very reliable. If yo think it I didn't really drive it just suffice it to say I went through rears about every 4000 miles.

Frankly I got bored with it. Too slow at only 420HP. Really got bored waiting to spool up. It would eat Vipers & Vets and older liter bikes but because of the turbo they would always jump way ahead and you would have to over take them on boost. Probably was demoralizing to them after they thought they'd easily win.

I have run other Superformances with less HP and find them more exciting then the Porsche. A few more weeks and my SPF will be on the road. Engine dyno'd at 695HP. That should be enough for a start.


Jack

That's going to be an animal. Mine with 561 hp is a handful. Congrats and be safe...

[RodKnock]

I love both, but please don't discount that same visceral feeling you get driving an early S or RS Porsche at 7,500 RPM at the track. Different yes, but both can be animals in their own way.

[petek]

Porsche - the experience is in the driving near the limit. Comfort in virtually any driving situation. Complete trust in the machine. Tinkering will cost bucks, if not mega bucks.

Cobra - the experience is in the driving at any speed. Slow speed around town you get an amazing amount of attention. The exhaust note is enough to keep you smiling for hours. High speed on the track, taking a single corner at speed and doing it right will keep you smiling for weeks. Taking a single corner and doing it wrong will keep you puckered up for hours! Tinker at your heart's content. Blow it up and it'll cost you less than the cost of a transmission in a Porsche to fix.

[LMH]

Spent 15 years as a PCA member and 911SC owner. (back in the 80's/90's) Love Porsches very much but sometimes it's really nice to get into a "back to basics" sports car w/o refinement. When I want refinement now, I drive my Lexus!
Larry