Driving a cobra

[hauss]

First let me say I am no race car driver. I hear a lot of people say cobras do not handle well and I just don"t agree. I was driving my backdraft with a 600hp stroker through the mountains and some clown in a bmw started to push me so I decided to play his little game and went for it .Short sifting and hitting the corners hard. I was totally amazed on how well my car handled never broke traction or even squealed the tires! The car was under complete control the whole time, as I left the Bmw in the dust. I believe the low center of gravity and the big tires makes these cars handle like go karts. I am completely satisfied with my handling just want to hear what others think.

[Ron61]

I agree but racing another car on a highway, even one that is not heavily traveled is not a good thing to do. We have an abandoned section of highway that is no longer in use that winds through some hills and if we want to try our cars out we go there or to the track. And if a cobra is set up correctly they will handle almost as well as the new super cars with a good driver.

Ron

[tortuga]

Funny thing is a BD is essentially a BMW with an American v8 and a plastic body ...

Ditto on the road racing, too many variables plus if worse comes to horrible you can lose your fortune, freedom, or even your life...or worst of all end someone else's...

I drive briskly on back roads, but the heat of competition will always make you and your competitor push that much harder...

Not trying to be holier than thou, just an old guy who's seen $hit happen.

Enjoy

[Alfa02]

I have to agree, with Ron61, and Tortuga. Playing on the pubic highways, is not the thing to do for all the reason's tortuga pointed out. I've Auto-X, Road raced, vintage raced pretty much my whole life (63yo). And before someone say's it cost too much money to do those thing's, Auto-x will cost maybe $25-30, for many run's. Plus you get your adrenal out, and it does make you a better street driver (Quicker & better reaction's), and you learn what your car can & can't do in a safe setting. Cheers Tom.

[blykins]

This reminds me of a story....

When I was in college, I had went back home for a visit. At the time, I was driving a Nissan 240SX, with some aftermarket sway bars, struts/shocks, etc. I had two buddies with me and was driving down a very curvy country road that went for about 20 miles.

I saw a late model 6-cylinder Mustang (this was in 1997-1998) slide up behind me and was pushing me pretty hard. After a little prodding from my buddies, I dropped a couple of gears and very easily ran away from him in the curves. He would gain ground in the straights, but I would gain it back.

We did this for probably 10 minutes and it kept getting a little faster and a little faster.

As we neared city limits, I slowed down to the speed limit. We went through a couple more curves, a straight-stretch, and then I saw a sheriff's deputy parked on the side of the road facing us. I noticed that the Mustang had dropped way back and as I passed the deputy, he made a U-turn, pulled in behind me, and flipped the blue lights on.

I pulled over and the deputy pulled in behind me, followed by the Mustang.

The guy in the Mustang was a park ranger, who just happened to be irritated that he was getting whooped up on by a rice rocket.

The deputy knew my dad and uncle, and since he didn't witness me speeding or driving wrecklessly, he drilled me for a few minutes and then let me go. I honestly thought I was going to the pokey that day and was wondering what I was going to say when I called my parents. I still get that sick feeling in my stomach when I think about it.

So, moral of the story is.....watch where you play, because you don't know who you're playing with.

[blykins]

BTW Hauss, I PROMISE you that you have more than a .060" lift camshaft.

[twobjshelbys]

You're lucky. You could just as easily have been here in a picture of a dead guy having wrapped his car around a tree racing on an open backroad.

Consider getting a bumper sticker that says "I let you win".

Save racing for the track.

[rodneym]

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

Save racing for the track.

It becomes more apparent every day.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by rodneym

It becomes more apparent every day.

It's not the first time I've seen one of these. It reminds me of what the Catholic kids used to tell me Confession was like [I'm not so I have no first hand knowledge]. I'm sure the priest reading this would have said something like do 25 Hail Mary's repeat 25 times "here but by the grace of God go I" and don't do it again. [No blasphemy intended.]

My dad, having heard this story told 25 years later would still have smacked me up the side of the head. He wasn't Catholic either.

[hauss]

Short shifting never lost traction relax boys and is not there a quote in the bible that says he who is without sin cast the first stone? Driving hard yes being pushed yes racing no. Just want to know what you all think of people who say cobras do not handle well ?

[Alfa02]

Hauss, no offense given. I believe what we tried to get across to you. 1-you're a new owner (With 600Hp) in a 3000lbs. car, with no traction control, no ABS, etc. 2-you said your self "No race car driver" cars with these numbers you need at least some High HP driving exp. 3-Two wrongs don't make a right.(Since I've been a racer, I only need to deal with speed there) 4-Ron61 said it best, "Please be careful till you get wheel time". 5-Do a track day ($125-250), then go flog the S--T out of it there in a safe setting, and if you crash, you'll only hurt yourself, Better yet, spend your money on a "HP Driving School", best money you'll every spend. Please take this post in the manner it was given, we don't want anything bad happening to another Cobra owner, Cheers Tom.

[wanab5150]

Here’s my two cents

I raced motocross for 34 years, which does not include my short track, cross country and scrambles racing. I have a year a mini sprint cars and just didn’t care about going in circles. I’ve had 2 Corvettes one a Z06 which did handle extremely well even in stock configuration.
In the BMW department I’ve had several 740’s...a535 and two Z3’s the last Z3 was a 3.0 liter. All of the BMW’s handled fantastically and even a moron could drift one without going to see Jesus permenentally.
I was a Police Officer for 24 years and literally been to a school a year for persuit driving in cars thet don’t belong in persuits. Cop cars are NOT modified hot rods from the factory...they are just stock stripped street cars.
So... with all my amateur driving experience, I would say the Cobra with its 90 inch wheel base is the worst handling car I have ever driven. While they will hug the road, it’s the millisecond that the rear brakes loose that it’s over. If you’re not pushing both the front and rear (sliding) you’re not driving the car. My Superformance Roush 427 /560 horse with the 315/rear and 265 fronts has worked better than expected on Leguna Seca, Infenion and Thunder Hill tracks. They all have pretty smooth tarmac and every corner is covered with nice sticky rubber. It did drift when going into a corner but only when I did my part perfectly. If I didn’t, I paid the price of loss of speed. The positive .... loosing the rear hopefully it won’t kill you with the run off areas saving your ass.
I’m 12 year Cobra owner and to this day do not know a soul who can drive one efficiently. My friend in the LA group who I have driven with for 10 years on Cobra runs was paralyzed from a crash in about July this year. All was fine till the back end stepped out a couple of inches then it was over and he rolled it. You can read about it online “crashed Cobra in LA”.
Your Backdraft is a ridged brick like most of these cars. The fact you have less aggressive BMW suspension might actually allow you to get away with stuff most Cobras can’t. I haven’t driven one.
Anyway, the only drivers I have ever known to be able to drive a Cobra and make it handle are in the racing hall of fame.
These cars are fun as Hell but deadly compared to a modern super car. I sold my Z06 12 years ago and couldn’t be happier to drive the scariest, most redicolously over powered,worst handling car Ive ever driven. Feel it out on track day and over drive it so you can find the limits. Wear a diaper.

[Kit Coyle]

Bravo WANAB5150...A very well written and informative piece. Some may even
listen, and I hope they do, because macho can get very, very expensive! I think
I'll slow it down a bit myself!

[HTM101]

wannab5150,
That's a darn good read and well said. I have a fraction of your time of road race driving, and I don't have a history of sports cars ownership to compare my Cobra to. However, having owned mine for almost 25 years, I drive it as though it's an unpleasant surprise waiting to happen when pushed near its limit.

I also own a 2007 Z4 coupe that I can drive through a tight curve with one hand, whereas I'd be gripping the Cobra tightly with 2 hands. Heck, I think my wife's Nissan Maxima handles better than the Cobra. Still, the Cobra is the only car I've driven that creates such a high level of stimulation.

[Large Arbor]

I find my Cobra handles very well. I tend to only really hit it on back roads and empty free ways. It corners well although one summer day with my daughter we went buy a guy mowing his grass into the highway. I nearly came sideways fast and still was not sure what I hit that was so slick. It was likely the grass.

Phil

[Ron61]

I no longer race but used to do so on a road track. I always went to the high performance driving schools and never attended one that I didn't learn something from. One friend of mine was almost killed his first time on the track when he tried to keep up with the ones who had experience. If I can find some pictures that I have of what was left of his cobra I will post them. Two guys I knew had plaques on the dash in front of them that said I Will Kill You, meaning the car if they got to wild. I spent a ton of money on suspension and making the car handle well too. Also having it corner weighed and balanced will help more than you might think.

Ron

[Ron61]

Here are a couple of pictures of his Cobra after the wreck, He was never able to drive much after this. And remember, this was on the track and not a public road.







Ron

[twobjshelbys]

I don't know why people post about these "indiscretions" with the seeming expectation that they are going to get a reaction of "yeah, I never thought of doing that so let's all go out and be stupid and try to kill ourselves today". In fact, in all of the places where I've seen similar posts not a single time has anyone suggested this behaviour is anything but stupid.

I suppose robbing a bank has a certain thrill about it. I've never seen a bank robber brag about it though. Well, maybe Bonnie and Clyde.

[Three Peaks]

I've owned a bunch of sports cars over my 65 years and driven like an idiot more than a few times. So I have a pretty good feel for when a car is going to step out and when it isn't - and sometimes I'm even right, before the car does it anyway...

But all this just means I drive my Cobra pretty conservatively because I can feel it more than any other car I've ever owned and I can tell it is always ready to step out. I have about 525 hp and it feels every bit of that when I step into it. I've had a couple track days and HPDE days and learned a ton, but it doesn't mean I'm going to be stupid on public streets. Just the opposite- I learned how easy it is to get out of shape in any car. My track days were before I had my Cobra.

A short story- my first drive with the Cobra club in my Cobra I was short shifting and generally taking it easy trying to find the little bugs I still needed to work out. Suddenly, I noticed my temp guage going up fast (found later I blew a freeze plug). Just then, I hit a hairpin curve in the road. I was in third gear and lugging down so I gave it some gas to get around the corner so I didn't have to heel and toe around the corner. The engine had plenty of power to break the tires loose even in third gear at around 15 mph and I did a quick 180 and ended up on top of a bunch of rocks with my front end. Damaged my brand new paint job and hurt the hell out of my pride... but I survived (barely) to drive another day. And it only took less than a second of a distraction....

A member of our club hit some loose gravel in his ERA and flipped his car over when he lost control. His rollbar saved his life as he slid down the road on his top....

I think every Cobra driver has that moment when he realizes what is under him when he drives. Hopefully, it only hurts your pride....

Bob

[Danr55]

Why do folks feel like they have to prove their Cobra is fast? I had a guy pull along side in San Diego at a stop light and he wanted to race. I passed and caught no little bit of crap from him and his friends in the car. (65 GTO). At the next light, the same thing. I politely pulled two hundred dollar bills from my wallet and said "Ok, here's my stake. Where's yours? Or would you rather race for pinks?" At that point he quickly began to back peddle and offer many reasons why we should race for FUN. I told him to come back when he had cash or could afford to lose his ride.