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Though this might be of some interest so I took the liberty of cross posting it from a thread in the TLX section.
Interesting evening. The Tudor series is at VIR this weekend & was invited to a reception for a couple of the Porsche GT Le Mans Class drivers at the local Porsche dealer. They brought along the 911 RSR which is a nice piece of work.
Earl Bamber & Nick Tandy are also two of the three who drove the Porsche factory teams 919 Hybrid #19 car to the overall win @ the 24 hours of Le Mans this year. The #17 team finished 2nd & the #18 team came in 5th.
What was special about the Le Mans win was Earl & one other driver Nico Hülkenberg were rookies & the #19 car was supposed to be the backup incase either of the teams main cars went out.
Remembered had this on my phone
As per our conversations here the 911 is running throttle body restrictors & weight. They feel the biggest problem they will have at VIR are the StingRays.
Have to agree with them, really, the 4.1 mile track has two longish straights. The stock ZR1 is good for 2.50 laps with pro-am drivers which is quicker than the 911's. Expect the October C&D Lightning Laps issue will lower that number with the new Z-06.
Wonder if the TLX will get up to bat at the LL this year. I'll never tell. In the 8/9 years its run no TL variant has ever done the event.
Extra: An attention to detail thing. This is a production based race car & look how good the door to body seam is. What is special about it is despite the tight street car seam gaps, if you open the door & lift up on it the door comes right off the car.
Last edited by BEAR-AvHistory; 08-20-2015 at 08:27 PM.
Weather is changing & heater works very good with the tonneau cover over the passenger seat.
Have just over 1500 miles on the car & am running to 6500. Very quick with a 2K feather the clutch launch, no slippage on the drag radials. Settled on 22psi front 23psi rear.
Had a 911 Turbo of unknown vintage or power unsuccessfully try to lose me up Durant between Sixforks & Honeycutt. Nice twisty road between the horse farms with a few elevation changes. To blind to pass so just hung with him but it would have been interesting on a road course with some passing room
The Hawk HPS front & HPS+ rear pads on the drilled rotors are doing very well. Will stop inside a 100ft marked off area on the street from 60mph. Good straight stops with no lockup.
Have a full face helmet so for my Birthday next month & 2 layer Nomex jacket, gloves & arm restraints are on the list, will be track legal in the spring.
Last something you see in the movies but never believed was real.
Out doing some "HoneyDo's" today. in the Cobra Pull into a strip mall that has a tailor to pick up a dress my wife had altered.
There is an empty space across from the store on the end of the line facing a retaining wall.
On the other side of the space is a large red Ram 1500 4X4 HEMI. I ease into the space on the clutch with a few engine revs. All of a sudden the RAM'S alarm system goes off.
I look around, get out of the car & move quickly to the tailor shop. While in the shop the alarm times itself out. Pick up the dress get back in the car, belt in & turn it on.
Glad to see you are enjoying the car. There was nothing better than getting in my dad's old MG on the cooler days, tonneau cover on the back, top down, and heat blasting. He used to drive pretty late into winter in NJ with it and the tonneau covering the passenger seat.
On another note, I've been experiencing the fear of getting older, thanks for giving me something to look forward to, building a bad ass car.
^ X2 Glad you're enjoying the Cobra. I love the stories, keep 'em coming!
I recently came across a few videos on YouTube of a car show where everyone guns it while pulling out of the parking lot. I swear I saw your Cobra in two of them. I'll have to recheck to see if they're from NC but does that ring a bell of a car show you've attended? I believe it was a Mustang/Cobra show.
Grew up in Jersey City. Back in the early '60's had 2 TR-3's & a Morgan +4SS. At the time one of the TR'S was a daily driver 365. Went to the roof & side curtains over midwinter. It spanned the time between blowing the 57 Fords engine & taking delivery on my first new car a 1962 409/409 Impala.
On the car show, have never done one so it was not me. Have seen pictures of a few cars with my paint scheme but never in person.
That said our Cobra group makes a bit of noise with 15 or so leaving our monthly Saturday morning coffee at a local Hardees.
Thought this might be of interest. One of the guys installed a Kaase Boss 504 into his Factory Five Cobra Replica.
Engine is so big it needs to be installed in pieces. Makes 685hp and will break the tires loose about 100mph in 3rd. Said that he won't try that again!
Cubic $ car on the dyno. He is testing a number of header muffler combos to see which performs the best.
This is the test of the test to prove the concept. We are waiting one final set of mufflers to come in from JEGS, they have been shipped, to run all the test sessions as close to back to back as possible.
A number of us will be ordering whatever turns out to be the best overall. I have been pushing mine & cracked open a bad weld. Leaking air on overrun makes for some spectacular backfires.
Must have dropped the link. This is a Ford 302 5.0 stretched out to 347CI. Has a similar injection system to the big engine above. Made 507whp on the dyno. Vid loads slowly but is pretty good. Great noise coming out of the headers so turn the volume up. Near 125 decibels at full tilt. I am currently running the set tested.
This piece is long but its the best description I have seen about owning one of these things.
Driving a Cobra
"If you want to just gas and go, and never have to worry about replacing an alternator, or snuggling down the header bolts, or getting a wet leg driving in a rainstorm, or learning how to set your carb float level, or driving in traffic on a warm winter day with "winter gas" in the tank, get a Corvette. "
With a Cobra you have to remind yourself that you are driving a hand made race car on the street. There is no compromise for anything other than pure speed. These cars are brutal and unforgiving, with all the refinement of a medieval battle ax. Like being in a relationship with an exotic dancer, you can never take anything for granted. These cars don't have millions of miles of testing refinement before you get yours. For any trip longer than an hour, you need earplugs, and goggles, and carry Advil and eye drops.
You will need to learn to "read" the clouds for rain in your path, and have experience in un-wrapping your frozen fingers from the MotoLita. You will experience lady passengers "wetting" the passenger seat when you merge into traffic from an on ramp, and then nearly burn their calf getting out of the car.
You will have all the invisibility of a burning Hindenburg, and flee from underground parking lots when uncountable car alarms are screaming your departure. When you shop, you will remind yourself that these cars get more attention than a dead body in a parking lot.
With a power to weight ratio better than almost every supercar, you will find your 1/4 mile times traction rather than power limited. On the other hand, when you stage, out of the corner of your helmet's visor you will see almost the entire audience lining up at the fence, most with cameras up. If you track on a road course with a Porsche club, owners of expensive German machines will come to the fence to watch you power out in smoking oversteer.
You won't even try to start your engine in the garage, but push it out onto the driveway, else your loyal watch dog will croak from the exhaust fumes. If you idle next to other "sports" cars at a traffic light, by the green, their girlfriend will be coughing green phlegm into her hanky, yelling at her date to just go! When you refuel, you might as well prop the "bonnet" open, because you are going to have to show your motor to just about every other guy there.
When you order your wings at Hooters, your waitress will whisper in your ear "take me for a ride." When you stop at the red light, the girl in the convertible next to you will invite you to "take my top off too."
When you slowly pass a troop of Harley riders, they will look over and give you thumbs up. When you want to ease out into traffic, other cars will immediately pause to let you go ahead of them. When your engine has its hot, crackling, intimidating exhaust side-pipe aimed right at the flank of the GTO, or the Z28, your exhaust pulsation's slowly unscrewing his lug nuts, the other car will remain motionless, as if the slightest quiver of his car will cause your car to stomp it dead.
When you leave it open in a parking lot, and come back to find your sunglasses and cell phone still sitting on the tunnel, it is because your car has sullenly warned those who came over to admire it "touch me and I will rise up here and kill you dead."
When you put that tiny silver key into the ignition, and begin your start countdown, your car will whisper "take me for granted, and I will kill you."
When other drivers just hop in and snap up their belts while backing out of their parking space, you will still have two more minutes before you even get all the Simpson's properly on and snugged down. Pulling up in a Cobra is like landing an F4U at an ultra-lite convention
.
In summary, very, very few drivers want this kind of attention, or can tolerate all that a formidable Cobra demands. These cars are intolerant mistresses.
But remember, there will come a day when you have to hang up your car keys for the last time. And perhaps you want to say then "I did it."
Ten Cobra Driving Safety Tips
1. The two most dangerous words in aviation are, “Watch this.” The same goes for driving a Cobra. Humility is a wonderful personal trait to have for driving a Cobra safely. If you’re not humble now try thinking you’re a hotshot driver in a Cobra for awhile – you will get humbled, as they say down south, “…right quick.”
2. “You don’t even know what you don’t know”. Huh? Well think about it – if you’re not a professional race car driver, you’re kind of out of your element in a Cobra. I saw a video of a Cobra going out of control and rolling because the driver missed a downshift at speed in a sweeping turn. This caused the rear wheels to momentarily lock up and the rear end to slide out and thus the rollover. I didn’t even consider that as a possibility when I’ve been downshifting all this time, did you? That’s my point; I didn’t even know what I didn’t know. That short wheel base Cobra you’re driving can introduce you to all kinds of nasty things you never thought possible. Be careful out there and learn from others. The problem with learning from the school of hard knocks is that the tuition is too high.
3. “Know Thyself”, was said by the Greek philosopher Socrates. How true it is when it comes to driving a Cobra safely. I know that for myself I’m unqualified to be driving my Cobra anywhere near its performance limits. I have virtually no racing experience, very little training and I’m in my 50’s so my reactions are not what they used to be. Instead I have the advantage (I hope) of wisdom. It is said, “The superior driver uses his superior judgment so as to not have to use his superior skill.” The most important thing here is recognizing limitations, do you?
4. I saw a video of a Cobra going out of control when the passenger door was not closed properly and the driver tried to close it while underway. The lean of the body when reaching for the door caused the throttle foot to press on the pedal. Probably not a problem in a regular car but in a Cobra that does 0 to 60 in less than four seconds it’s a recipe for disaster – especially when you only have one hand on the steering wheel! What’s the lesson here? If something falls on the floor or to the side of the passenger seat from g-forces or whatever, wait until you’re stopped (in neutral) before reaching to pick it up.
5. Beware of the club ride. It could be that you will be surrounded by some guys driving bullets (it’s been said you don’t shift a Cobra – you just chamber another round) who are in denial or unaware of their limitations and driving experience. These guys and I’m including myself, have good intentions but are young at heart so the “two teenagers in a car” phenomena is in effect. You know how it goes; they say “This is so cool, let’s do something crazy!” Two teenagers in a car will do things one teenager in a car would never do. This effect can take hold in a club ride. Use caution
and don’t get caught up in it. Be a defensive driver knowing someone, because of the above, may do something totally unexpected right in front of you.
6. Street racing kills. Its stupid and only the completely self-centered do it. It can kill you, or worse yet it can kill innocent bystanders. So just say “no” and go to a track. When that Viper pulls up next to you at the stoplight and revs his engine, then if you must, yell “Ace Raceway [or whatever your local track is called], this Friday, 6 PM.” You’ve just saved face and saved lives -- and I bet he never shows.
7. Take command of your Cobra. You can’t be afraid of it or else timidity will prevent you from taking the decisive action necessary to stay out of trouble. Now you must respect your Cobra, but not be afraid of it. Analyze yourself privately deep down and determine if you’re kind of afraid of the car. If you are, then its time for some professional training or time to sell the car. This is supposed to be fun and if you’re afraid of the car why deal with it, it will only cause trouble. A Cobra isn’t for everyone and there’s no shame in that.
8. Don’t let anyone tailgate you – ever. Folks behind you might want to get an “up close and personal” look at a Cobra and end up tailgating you. If you have to brake hard for some reason your car will stop much faster than theirs. You have no head restraints, virtually no crush zone and you’re basically sitting on top of a gas tank. Get the picture? Pull over to the slow lane and slow down if you have to in order to get them off your tail. Attention comes with the territory when driving a Cobra and the distractions can be dangerous.
9. Do “what if” scenarios in your head. Quickly now, what would you do if you were going down the freeway and your throttle return spring bracket let loose and you went to full throttle with no throttle control. Too late, you’ve already crashed. My answer is instantaneous and simultaneous controlled braking, clutch in, neutral gear then ignition off and coast to side of the road watching out for traffic and then and only then think about what happened. The key word here is “instantaneous”. You can’t do this quickly if you haven’t considered it beforehand. Be graphic and realistic in your scenarios.
What would it sound like and feel like if you went to full throttle unexpectedly going down the freeway? How much time would you have? My engine has an electronic RPM limiter so I’m not going to worry about blowing my engine by depressing the clutch at full throttle. And so what if I did blow my engine – my life is at stake here. “What if” scenarios are wonderful because they’re free, they can save your life, and as my dad used to say, they “tickle your brain.”
10. Don’t go for a drive in your Cobra to clear your head. Clear your head then drive your Cobra. This ain’t the car to be driving when you’re distracted.
11. A bonus tip: Have fun – safely.
12. Leave the alcohol for the end of the day. Maybe, a single beer with a meal, but no more. These cars can go from fun to "OH S*^T!!" faster then just about anything I've driven.
“There's nothing nice about a Cobra, it's stripped down to the essentials – a big engine, a small car, and four wide tires trying to keep the whole business on the pavement. It's loud, smells like gasoline, and shakes, shudders, and bucks. It makes your arms tired and your feet hot. You nearly crash about once every ten minutes. It's so damn wonderful you can’t believe it
Cobra heard whispering to the owner circa 1963:
"When you put that tiny silver key into the ignition, and begin your start countdown, take me for granted, and I will kill you."
"When you order your wings at Hooters, your waitress will whisper in your ear "take me for a ride." When you stop at the red light, the girl in the convertible next to you will invite you to "take my top off too."
For anyone interested in one of these there is an abandoned project on eBay with no reserve that might be a steal. Was bid to around $17K including the engine, trans & rear end.
This is a finished one for sale to give you an idea how good the price is. You should be able to duplicate this car for about $10K more into it for a little of this, a little of that + body work & paint.
Was a double header on Saturday, Coffee&Cobras plus an Antique Car Show.
Our "Triangle Cobra Club" is a non-club loose group get together that takes place the First Saturday of the month, normally at 10:00AM in nice weather, at Hardies Fast Food on Creedmoor Rd In the strip mall at the Millbrook Avenue intersection.
This week we had about 18 people there with 12/13 cars plus a few guys that have cars under construction. We also have people looking to evaluate the FFR cars before investing in buying one. Some of the cars are also Superformance & an English imported kit.
The local Antique Auto Club's Triangle Chapter was also have a car display the same day & we were invited to attend.
A group of us motored up the Interstate at Speed Limit +10. Was a Rolling Thunder type run & much fun. At the show we were spread out a bit. Was my first thing of this type & was a very nice day. Lots of good chatter & nice people.
One funny thing was when we rolled in as a group well after the start due to our own get together some of the Amelia Island, Pebble Beach types looked like they were witnessing a Hells Angels Chapter crashing a wedding reception. Expect the open exhausts & license plates like FANG, COYOTE. VENOM, HI OFICER, VRY FAST etc confused them.
Some cars there which had personal significance to me 3 parked side by side with was kind of spooky. A fourth was one row over.
When I was 16 one of the gang of 5's mother bought a 59 impala 2 door Hardtop. If was our official Cruise Central Ave in Jersey City on Friday & Saturday nights till the rest of us turned 17 & were able to drive legaly.
The Red & White car is a 55 olds 2 door Hardtop. My Dad had one of these in dark green & white & was the car I learned to drive on & took my driving test.
The British Racing Green Austin Healy 3000 MKIII was the car my rival for a girl drove. That girl became my wife & my best man also drove a MKIII Healy.
My first car was a used 57 version of this 58 Ford in the same livery. Only difference was the 58 had quad headlights & some black trim on the red & white interior.
Last The Ultimate Kit Car. Spread out on the ground is a Model T Ford.
The Old Farts Pit Crew are about 50% through assembling the T,
The T is hand cranked & driven away under its own power 8 minutes & 2 seconds from the start.
Last edited by BEAR-AvHistory; 05-08-2016 at 10:25 PM.
One of our Triangle Cobra Clubs members had a very flimsy excuse for missing out First Saturday last weekend.
Bob Stearns went off to play with his plastic fantastic again instead. He will be at Watkins Glen this week and Pittsburgh International and Mid Ohio at end of month.
He said, "I am staying competitive for an old man! Live your dreams life is short!"
The races will be on TV so maybe some of you will see the Old Man Privateer at speed.
Picture is Bob in 93 at Sebring Internationals Raceway back in the first week end in April, another missed meeting.
08-20-2015, 08:24 PM
Whoa
@ "You will have all the invisibility of a burning Hindenburg..."
Great thread and build. It makes me a little scared even thinking about owning one of these.
