Who has the most serious cornering ride on the forum?

[deckofficer]

I'm new to the forum and am curious to the performance of all the different Cobra replicas. My intent is to have a ride that "all out performance" was the goal but totally streetable. I'm interested in the lightest, lowest cg, and something around 525 hp (for 91 octane) without it being cammed to the point of being a pain to drive on the street. Any rides fit the bill that you can think of would be appreciated.

[Bill E]

It is us or JBL

[Jerry Clayton]

Check out Scottj ride---

[Bill E]

Bob any one, can make big hp for cheep these days. The trick is getting it to the ground and around the corner, and matching it to the drivers ability. It tacks testing and patients. Most cobras are over powered for the chaise they have. Very few tune to the driver or the ability of the chases and rubber. the third component is the drivers ability to control it. Traction control is a wonderful tool to use to train a driver into using his hp correctly. A good al round car for you may be a disaster for the next guy. Cars at the levels think you are talking about must be talerd to the driver. Bill E

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Maybe you can rebody an Audi TT. It has 4wd and two roll bars. It'll sure get around the corners.

[lovehamr]

When looking for a corner carving replica, the RR competition results of Reg Dodd, Tony Martin and others with their Backdraft comp cars would be hard to overlook.

[slider701]

In terms of which individual car is the best handling you might want to check out this thread on Bruce Cambern's CSX3170 which kick the **** out of everyone in the 2010 Optima Street-Car Challenge

44-Year-old Cobra Wins Street Car Challenge

[deckofficer]

I did visit the JBL site and was impressed by the chassis engineering, but even more impressed by 1.4G on the skid pad. Is this for real, or manufacturer's hype? I mean 1.4G is a most amazing feat. Dry sump oiling would be needed I would think. Also, is a track Cobra capable of being streetable? Meaning it can deal with most dips and rises of road surface and transitions. Comfort not a big deal as I drive my Track-T 550 miles in a day with no more drama than a dead butt.

[rustyBob]

Bob you need to attend Run-N-Gun in Hastings Nebraska this year.....
talk to some of the guys that run their Cobras there.....

[deckofficer]

rustybob,

I'd love to get educated right here on the forum. Next year is booked for T related events. I still enjoy being the big fish in the small pond. That, I'm sure will change when I join your ranks, but would like to arrive with a ride way above average in the performance department if you know what I mean.

[Bill E]

You mean like this

[deckofficer]

Bill,

I am a big fan of positive displacement blowers, would run one in my Track-T if it would fit under the hood. Best of both worlds, great off idle performance and a good top end. Last two NA engines I've run, 2nd to last high rpm performer, current engine is a grunt master, 516 lb/ft at just 2800 rpms. Tell me more about your ride, performance charcteristics, etc. Is that like a Whipple? Also does it have that fancy valving that allows about 1/2 hp of parasitic drag in non boost conditions? Is that a 4.6L ? BTW, we are almost neighbors, I'm just south of Placerville. This summer I'll be driving the T up to Oregon, maybe we could hook up for a burger and chat.

[Bill E]

sent you a PM

[Bill E]

yes it is a 4.6 Im just off I5 stop by any time

[RICK LAKE]

deck officer Bill are you looking for the stock kit when you buy it or someone that has done a ton of work to make it handle better.
Question do you have a limit on money spent for improvements?
If you are looking for a couple of the best handling cars in cobras,
Cobra#3170 and Morris. both here on the forum. One has alot or ground effects the other runs with a stock look. Both winners of events.
JBL has a canterlever front end on the cobras. A guess they are setup after F1 race cars. Have only seen a couple on the track and they where fast. ( this also depends on susension setup and drivers ability and knowing the track.
Backdraft Tony Martin builds a light custom car and at the last 3 R&G has driving the wheels off his car coming in #1 or #2 in class.
Can make the same call for FFR cars and Superperformance cars.
There are a couple of other cars that have also been super fast.
First would be a Lister 1,800 lbs of speed and a long wheel base for handling
GS corvettes are another light weight car with great handling. Couple of years back the GS cars and Super Sevens where the fastest on the track.
Bottom line you are looking for a light car for track racing. You need to find a company that does alot of R&D on suspension, wheels and tires to build the best handling car. Alot of track time is needed, recording tire temps, what the motor is doing, drysump motor. alot of maintainance. Driver school a couple of times will get you started in the right direction. The rest is being smart and COMMON SENSE on the track. It's hard to find the limits of your car and drive at them all the time without spinning out and hoping to not hit any thing. This is 1 reason Run&Gun was moved to MPH track. Large open area and very little barriers to hit. The worst thing is cleaning out the tall grass for the ducts and vents, but it sure beats hitting a wall. Been there, done that. After you get the car on the track gets some pictures and write feedback on how the car handled, what the weather was like, tire pressures and temps. This will give you a good base for improving the car and your driving. Rick L.

[Excaliber]

I wouldn't rule out an ubiquitous FFR! Equipped with IRS, a dry sump 351 and 17" tires you get a relatively low cost and a very competitive ride that can hang with the best of the best. Low weight is one of the factors. Properly setup, it's gonna be hard to beat.

A low weight Kirkham or JBL is certainly worth considering, but the dollars are substantially higher than an FFR would take for similiar performance.

[deckofficer]

Rick,

Thanks for taking the time to post a great reply. I have every intention of doing a racing school with whatever new ride I pick up. It took 18 months to find my current Track T and arrive at a economy-based purchase price. The previous owner built it to be competive but never drove it in that fashion, so as I slowly probe its handleing I feel like a non paid test pilot. Since it has no safety features for the driver, I'm not probing any further.

[Richard Hudgins]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

I did visit the JBL site and was impressed by the chassis engineering, but even more impressed by 1.4G on the skid pad. Is this for real, or manufacturer's hype? I mean 1.4G is a most amazing feat. Dry sump oiling would be needed I would think. Also, is a track Cobra capable of being streetable? Meaning it can deal with most dips and rises of road surface and transitions. Comfort not a big deal as I drive my Track-T 550 miles in a day with no more drama than a dead butt.

Actually that number is not manufacturer hype. It is the result of a JBL with Michelin Pilot tyres getting around the Motor Trend 100 foot radius skidpad in 9.3 seconds. It was driven by the Motor Trend test editor at the time and timed by them. This time was reported to JBL as they were not in attendance. It was a dry sump car.

The blue car that is shown on the very first JBL web page is owned by Chuck Miller and that car did 13 seconds on the Willow Springs 200 foot skid pad on Hoosier slicks. I was driving. Timing was by Willow Springs personnel.

That same car with a G-tech Pro installed consistently showed 2.4 G in turn one on the long track at Willow and 1.8 in turn two. (Note: turn one has some banking but I do not know how much and the lap times were 1:29>1:30.5)

I think that you will find these lateral acceleration numbers are pretty common these days for properly set up competition cars on slicks.

Also, the stock wheel rates of the Comp chassis are quite low and you would find the ride more comparable to a normal road going sports car then a "Track car". I think that one of the owners of a JBL could describe the ride better then I as almost all of the seat time I have in a JBL is track time.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by Richard Hudgins

Actually that number is not manufacturer hype. It is the result of a JBL with Michelin Pilot tyres getting around the Motor Trend 100 foot radius skidpad in 9.3 seconds. It was driven by the Motor Trend test editor at the time and timed by them. This time was reported to JBL as they were not in attendance. It was a dry sump car.

The blue car that is shown on the very first JBL web page is owned by Chuck Miller and that car did 13 seconds on the Willow Springs 200 foot skid pad on Hoosier slicks. I was driving. Timing was by Willow Springs personnel.

That same car with a G-tech Pro installed consistently showed 2.4 G in turn one on the long track at Willow and 1.8 in turn two. (Note: turn one has some banking but I do not know how much and the lap times were 1:29>1:30.5)

I think that you will find these lateral acceleration numbers are pretty common these days for properly set up competition cars on slicks.

Also, the stock wheel rates of the Comp chassis are quite low and you would find the ride more comparable to a normal road going sports car then a "Track car". I think that one of the owners of a JBL could describe the ride better then I as almost all of the seat time I have in a JBL is track time.

Richard,

That post of yours is music to my ears. I am NOT going to keep pushing the envelope on my Track-T, as I would rather stay alive. The fact that I'm king of the anthill with my fellow bucket owners is just fine by me. To get some serious jollies driving, after proper instruction of course, I think I have found my next ride. I also use the G-Tech. Still keeping the T of course because I will need an ego massage after mixing it up with you guys on track day. After the spanking I'm sure to recieve the first couple of seasons, I can slip back with the T group and regain some dignity. The idea of a track Cobra being more comfy than my Track-T has me seeing visions of me towing the Track-T with the Cobra to the longer distance T events I enter. As of now I drive the T to all events, even the ones 2000 miles from me.

BTW Richard, my winter place is just north of Lake Elsinore, so we are neighbors almost.

[Bill E]

Richard this is something I have been working for the larger cars. It has gull wings for the larger guys to get in and out. Tt has a hatch back for lugged. Up to now there has not been a hard to available for the bigger cars. that was actually functional. I realize that it is not every ones cup of tee but I an surprised by the response so far. This thing is lockable and removable in about 8 minuets. A good option for croscontry