2001 Cobra

[Taz]

Brillo's 440 had a six-pack, shift kit, and gears. It was heavy, just like most American muscle back then, but it would winkle the asphault when he jumped on the loud pedal.

My personal automotive rites of passage most often involved ignoring the laws of physics and both my own and my car's limitations while road racing. To wit, charging into sweepers waaaay to hot. Results: 1) flew my '67 Camaro ass-first off a cliff and 2) went airborne after skidding into a dirt berm my '82 X11, rolled 90-degrees, and slammed roof-first into a giant tree. Both times, the cars were write-offs. Both times a buddy was riding shotqun with me, and we both walked away without a single scratch. I guess God really does protect fools! But I figure I used up at least two of my nine lives in those incidents.

:r:

 

[2001LaserRed]

Well, I've just got to reply. I hear what you are saying about certain people taking the blame for abusing their cars, and I agree to a point. But to say that the Cobra shouldn't be run at the track on the 1/4, and that if it is that I should expect it to break just doesn't jive with me. I don't think anyone said this in exact words, but that's the impression I get from reading a majority of the posts in this thread.

I had an '88 GT that I beat the piss out of for about 130000 miles or so. I was in my early 20's when I got it new, and the only thing I ever had go wrong was the heater coil. That car cost me under $15000 fully loaded. This Cobra cost me close to $30000. I really think I should be able to take the thing to the track a few times without expecting it to break, and without anyone at Ford claiming that I've "abused" the car. And I understand that the car was built to be a better all-around road car. So, when road racing, one doesn't take off hard? I'll bet that's not true, but I've never done any official road racing, so maybe I'm wrong. Just because it has an IRS doesn't mean that it shouldn't be able to take off fast does it?

Now I'm not taking sides, and definitely not siding with sprayed, but I am saying that unless the Cobra was meant to be a show-car only or just be collected and not driven, it damn well should not break just because I get on it hard every once in a while. It should definitely hold up as well or better than my GT did!
Anyway, that's my input. And please don't take the few sentences out of my reply where I'm basically comparing my GT to my Cobra and give me grief about how the cars are just totally different. That would be missing my point entirely, and I'm well aware of the differences (or at least some of them).

 

[tommylightning]

I think some of us were reffering to some guys saying that they are launching their new Cobra's at 2500 RPM's or more with around 2000 miles on the car. That I don't think should be done at around 2000 miles. Sure you can take it to the track, but use your head.

 

[Taz]

2001LaserRed,

There's a whole spectrum of colors between babying a car and beating it like a red-headed stepchild. I agree with you that we should expect to be able to get on our cars hard without breaking them, and I believe that falls somewhere between the two extremes.

Sprayed admitted to running his new Cobra at the digs with less than 1K miles on it. I personally think that's retarded, but even that, in and of itself, shouldn't have been a problem. No, I believe the problem was the driver and his lack of sensibility. Have you ever met a truly "ham fisted" person - the kind of individual who can't turn a bolt without twisting its head off? I have, and these people buy cars, just like the rest of us. But they drive them in the same manner as they do everthing else, so they're continuously breaking their cars. In another thread, Sprayed complained of severe wheel hop and stated that he "smoked them" all the way through 3rd on one of his runs. That speaks volumes about his lack of sensitivity. If most of us were after a decent ET, rather than just showing off, we would have found a way to hook it up long before 3rd.

As far as the suitibility of an IRS as a dragstrip rear end, I don't think anyone would argue the fact that the same car with a solid axle will produce better times than it will with an IRS. Beefcake owns the quickest daily driven Cobra that I know of. He has managed 1/4 mile ET's in the 10's. Part of what enables him to achieve these times is that he has swapped out his IRS for a solid axle. If you're interested, you can even see videos of his runs on his web page: www.teambeefcakeracing.com

Regards,

T-

 

[01Snake]

Well put guys. There comes a time when you reach the maturity level where you take fault for your mistakes (believe me, we all make them).

 

[2001LaserRed]

Hey, thanks for the replies. I knew you all were sensible, but you got into a fervor putting sprayed in his place, and kinda went to the other end of the spectrum in the meantime. I just wanted to help bring it back to the middle.

Jeff