Cobra Driving Takes Skill

[Jerry Clayton]

I think lots of times an accident could of been driven out of but brake imbalance along with poor corner weighting made every one just a passenger------------

[motordean]

As long as you listen to Aretha Franklin and give your cobra a lil' RESPECT, you will be just fine. It does also help to have a small block....

[D-CEL]

Great thread for all of us! A helpful reminder to respect the angry little bastard of a car.

[289fia_cobra]

My FFR was built to be a "driver", not necessarily a racing machine. First and foremost, I built it because I simply love the curves of the body and the overall boner I get when I step in and just drive around. Having grown up around a Ford Fairlane station wagon and owning a 65' Mustang (4sp.4bbl 289) the FFR spoke to my youth and it's just the way I wanted to keep it... a 60's machine with some modern build, but true to it's root. This meant a total immersion of builder, driver, and mechanic. I have since had two close calls due to cold tires, spinning 45 deg. on one but another a good 270 deg. but luckily, no crashes. YES, I have learned huge respect (also, swapped out the Nitto drag radials... that had a little to do with it.) I've let two people drive my car. One is a certified racer and he didn't do anything more than drive it like a normal car but did note it's NOT race car by any standard (he's done Indy lites and lower class NASCAR and shifter carts.

The other was my nephew that I first took to a parking lot and had him run circles and a little right turn here and there to get a feel for brake, throttle and steering. Even then he's apprehensive (scared) and has only driven it across the lawn to his company's car show 2 times with me in it.

It's the only car where I am fully aware of who's around all clocks of my position on the road. Thankfully, there are no blind spots After some 7 years and 25,000 miles, I'm can say I'm cautiously comfortable with this beast. And yes, I've seen the rookie crash of the tirespin in 2nd and immediate off-throttle car spin thereafter. Wasn't a pretty site but it was at least repairable and nobody got hurt... I'll leave it at that (no, it wasn't me.)

[Bernica]

My contribution on this thread:

For those with the big tank (42 gal), take heed....

I was new to the car (my fault). Full tank (that's about 255 lbs), somewhat cold tires (my fault) and jumped on it to pass a truck on the freeway (my fault). Rear broke loose and I started swapping ends and sawing on the steering wheel to save it after a most terrifying event that required 3 lanes of the freeway to get it to a stop. Fortunately, everyone on the freeway stopped and let me bring it back. The weight in the rear was throwing me around like a rag doll!

I limped it home, did a couple of prayers and tried not to throw up.

That was a few years ago. Respect? Yeah, I've got that!

[Bernica]

I should also mention that the event was back when I was on BFG's. Gone shortly after.

[COBRA427]

Scottj: Thanks for noticing how slow my build is, but at least I'm a hell of a lot faster than CatNip

[Mother]

Still building after seven years. Maybe this spring. I am in no hurry. It is a hobby that I savor. It would be a shame to be burried in the car. I hope I get it together before that adventure begins.

[vatdevil]

I track and autocross my SPF and find a few changes to the car help greatly reduce snap spins.

1) good tires...under 200 treadwear. I run nitto NT01s
2) properly functioning limited slip. Currently have a Truetrac
3) setting balance to slight understeer. Adjustable RT sway bars

They still occassionaly happen even with these, but thats due mainly to driver error.