Dave B

I've been itching to run this kid's Cobra for about 2 months now. I see him everywhere and he and his buddies are always giving me that "look" of confusion. The kid goes to my old highschool (I'm 26 now). My buddy has a brother that's a senior at the school and I asked him about the kid's Cobra. Apparently, this 97 Cobra is the "fastest car" at school. It's even outrun another schoolmates 98 Z28 (sounds like bad driving on the Z28 side). The Cobra's only mod is a intake system. The only other stuff done is lowering springs, Altezza style tails, and some ricey foglights. This guy supposedly wanted to race me because I had beat a handful of his friends in the their Honda's and older Mustangs. The word at the school is I've got a Stillen SC. Hardly. My mods are a modified stock airbox (SCAI), y-pipe, and b-pipe.

Well, tonight was the night. As I was cruising home from a very late night at the office, I pull out onto a main drag which is a nice mostly flat straight that's a 45mph zone. Low and behold I see a set of hyperwhite headlights and ricefoglights start closing in on me pretty quickly and I notice it's the Cobra. He gets in the other lane and paces me on my bumper. I'm thinking WTF? I drop my car into 2nd at 40mph so he can get a glimpse of my tach reading rather high. I nudge to show I'm game. He slowly gets next to me as we're rolling. I nudge again. He nudges. I take off. He doesn't follow. I slow down and figure he isn't gonna bite because he doesn't want to waste his time. I was wrong. He dips into the throttle from my rear bumper. I follow a second later. By now he's on my front bumper. From 45mph straight to 95mph, this guy didn't gain a single inch on me except for the jump. I shut down at 95mph and we roll up to the light. He rolls down the window and asks how much boost I've got. I tell him all I've got is exhaust work done. He smiles and says there is no way that thing can keep up with him like that on the topend. I too felt the same way. I offered to show him under the hood and the trunk to enforce the fact I wasn't lying. He was dumbfounded and said he believed me. He said that I had a freak of a Maxima and I smiled. I asked if he wanted to go from a stop and he said he had enough for one night.

This is the first DOHC Cobra I've raced and I'm really surprised I hung on like I did. I guess I could call him a bad driver, but all he had to do was shift into third and I didn't see any signs of him missing a gear (ie slowing down). I'm nto saying I'm as fast as DOHC Cobra, but this race was far closer than I ever imagined it could be.

Dave

Moe

I races an SVT Cobra, he got the jump but obviously couldn't drive worth a **** because I stayed right with him, he was fairly impressed. 01 SE manual stock.

Bryan H

not to burst your happy bubble dave. but he can't drive
a stock cobra should walk on top end. majority fo the ones i raced have

BTW, im running 18 psi now, wanna run em?
<hint hint nudge nudge>
also you will be getting some money from me in a couple weeks
just got myself out of jail tonight because of the insane power i have come unto in the gsx now. and fixing little problems here and there on it. i haven't forgotten ya d00d. just thought id let ya know

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

Yeah, maybe the guy didn't know how to drive. Even if that's true, it's a good kill Dave. It's not your fault if the guy can't drive. Btw, isn't the newer Cobra much faster than this '97? I heard that you got to have at least a supercharger to maybe hang with the newer Cobra.

Don in Texas

iTrader: (-2)

I can remember running a Supercharged Cobra at the SA racetrack. They were making a big deal out of it, pushing the car around the pits, double-checking the tire pressure. Myself, Russ, Adam and I think Peelboy were all in the car with it running heater on, waiting to run.

We only beat him by less than a second, but everyone thought it was gonna be a slaughter. I love those races. I use to think Cobras were pretty quick stock, I know you don't have to modify them very much to get them running really good.

WoodEar

that's somthing i have been saying for years, you beat the driver, not the car.
unless you really believe a cobra is slower than 14.9.

madmax2k

Dave raced him from a 45-95 mph roll. Quarter mile ET wont necessarily determine the winner since traction has been eliminated as a variable.

ereet

from all the kill chatterings, I'm assuming the Cobra's top end isn't the same as it's low end. My readings bring me to the conclusions of:

4.8L's = poop
Off the line = byebye maxima
On the highway = why isn't this maxima eating my dust?

.. Looks like your story would prove most of those right hehe.

RussMaxManiac

Umm actually I have seen stock cobras run 14.0-14.5, for a 97-98 year, so I don't see why he can't hang if he gets good 14sec 1/4 time slips.

RussMaxManiac

Like I have said in the past, I ran one in my 98, and 2000, the 98 one I hung with, the 2000 model, he edged me but was no where near a hard pull or slow pull it was more like 1 ft every 5 sec. And this was highway style.

WoodEar

see the funny thing is:
if i remember right, when i posted a while back saying domestic muscle like cobra don't have a strong highend(about i was pulling on them in both my GS400 and M roadster on highend), dave was the one saying i am wrong, they have good highend.
now here goes the cobra can't shake a maxima lose on highend.

so what is it now? do they, or do they not, have good highend??

emax02

iTrader: (1)

It was a stagged race on the street we had a flagger and all. The 97 Cobra was a 5spd it had racing gears,K&N filter and a Jet chip. My 95 Max was a 5spd with Stillen Intake,Denso Plugs,Uprd ecu,Alloy flywheel,Centerforce Stage III clutch,Y-Pipe,RT Cat and a Stillen Catback. Well enough said,heres how my race went down, We lined up and the flager flaged us and we were off, the Cobra just flew off the line and took a 2 1/2 car lead {I was like $hit I am finished},anyways I began to gain on him rather rapidly by the time I hit 70mph{in 2nd} we were nose no nose then I smacked it into third and just walked him big time. The end result was me winning by about 4 car lenghts by the time I hit 105mph and we called it quits. Well to answer Woodears ??? no the Cobra's do not have a great top end but they have a great bottum end. P.S. I sure miss the speed my 95 Max made it was way quicker then my I30.Good news my Y-Pipe and cat=back are going in today,that ought to help.

Dave B

To answer everyone's questions, including Woodear's:

My 14.9 was in the dead of the summer heat and my 60 foots are pathetic. I've hit trap speeds as high as 96+mph. He traction, I dont see why I couldn't come close to mid 14s. I ran the Cobra from a roll, therefore traction wasn't an issue. It was 35 degrees outside when I raced him. The 97 Cobra is rated at 305hp (about 265rwhp) and weighs about 3300lbs. Stock Cobra's at my track typically hit low to mid 14s @ 95-98mph. Many mags have run 14.0s@100mph in the stock Cobra DOHC. The problem with the 4.6 DOHC Cobra is it's very TALL gearing and in ability to launch hard. Either it's a serious bog/tire spin and a high 14/low 15 second timeslip or a perfect clutch slipping/burning low 14 second timeslip. The Cobra comes with a 3.27 gear which isn't near enough gear for a car that weighs 3300lbs, has peak torque at 4500rpm, and peak hp at 6300 rpms. By simply swapping in a 4.11 or 4.33 rear gear, the DOHC Cobra is transformed into a mid to low 13 second car. Not only that, the Cobra pulls like a ***** on the topend. With the stock gearing, the Cobra does 50mph in 1st, 78mph in 2nd, and about 110mph in 3rd. This is far from optimal gearing for a car like this in ANY acceleration contest.

Which brings me to my conclusion about the race. Chances are he started in 2nd since we were at 40mph roll, therefore he was under his peak torque. He took off and I followed. Then he hit 3rd long after I hit 3rd. I let off at 95mph which means he still had a ways to go in 3rd and he would have probably pulled me because he would be deep in his hp range in 3rd where as I would have had to grab 4th which doesn't pull as good as 3rd. I really doubt he was a bad driver because all he had to do was shift one gear and hitting a good 2 to 3 in a Mustang is cake (I used to drive and race them all the time). I think the reason I stayed he him was because I was in my optimal power and acceleration range. He on the otherhand was caught in between. If he had gears, I would have been toast, immediately.

BUT the fun part is all his buddies will think there is something about my Maxima that makes it incredibly fast. This is the fun part for me.

Dave

Bryan H

put a 4.10 gear in a cobra 4.6, and get a higher top speed. THIS is where the top end comes into play. ford did some goofy designing of it


never did say if you wanted to run or not davey
its a stock gsx with wheels and exhaust i swear

WoodEar

well i don't think my question is answered.
quite simple:
for the *stock* cobra, do they or do they not, have good highend?

Dave B

Taken from the first Road Test of the GS400 in Car and Driver (the fastest GS400 to date):

0-100 15.1 seconds 14.5@98mph

Fastest DOHC Mustang Cobra tested (Motor Trend):

14.00@102mph


As you can see the, the Cobra is over a second faster to 100mph which indicates a stronger topend pull. The GS400 starts to loose steam after 90mph vs the LIGHTER and LARGER DISPLACEMENT DOHC Cobra. Face the music, Woodear.


Dave

WoodEar

ok so what's the 0-100 for the maxima??

also, you said this yourself "Stock Cobra's at my track typically hit low to mid 14s @ 95-98mph" before, i suppose that's in reality. now you said 14.0@102, i suppose that's magazine.
so, you use the reality time(which is slower) to imply you should be able to hang with a cobra, but on the other hand you use the magazine time(which is faster) to imply GS400 should not pull from cobra.
isn't it double standard??


[Edited by WoodEar on 02-01-2001 at 11:46 PM]

Phil02E46

chris.. if i remember correct davey has juice.. that might clear up ur ponderings

WoodEar

hey phil you are prolly right.
damn, i didn't have my drinks today so i don't think right.
muhahahaha

Dave B

Nope. I don't run any power adders except for a y-pipe, B-pipe, RT cat (if that counts), and a modified stock airbox.

Yes. The stock to mostly stock Cobras run mid to low 14s at my track with trap speeds in the upper 90s. You must remember I am racing at a track that is 1200 feet above sea level and these ets were from last summer's season of racing. On a colder day and a sticky track, many of these cars would be quicker. The reason I bring up mag times is because I think they reflect what a good driver can squeeze out of the car. A great driver should be even quicker. Woodear, at your track there have been bonestock Cobras that have run 13.6-13.7s@103mph. Go check the "Corral" website.

As for me hanging with the Cobra from a roll. Like I said before, he was below his peak racing gear when it started. He probably lugged a bit, which was enough for me to keep up. If the race had continued after 95mph and I upshifted to 4th, I would have been toast. From a stop, he probably would have gotten me by 1-2 cars by the time we hit 70mph. A NA Maxima just can't match a RWD launch, even if the car has bad gearing. Many Cobra's have been tested to hit 5.6-5.8 0-60s. My Maxima might be in the lower 6 second range.....maybe.

I'm not stupid enough to sit here and say a well driven Maxima with all the NA bolton's is gonna beat a well driven stock 96-98 Cobra. It's just not gonna happen. Period. The Cobra is a faster car. I just got lucky.


Dave

Chebosto

iTrader: (1)

$20!

the kid can't drive the cobra right.

WoodEar

i see, so basicly what you are saying is, max can hang with cobra on highend, but gS400 can't. right?
just playing...

anyway, i knew for a fact that i can pull from cobra, i ran them several times on hway in both of my cars, from 80-130. i always pulled on them. not trying to persuade you or anyone to believe, just telling what happened.

Dave B

I believe it. I've beaten 13-second cars on the street to 90mph. Anything is possible in a street race.

Dave

Bryan H

davey boys afraid of nitrous

Dave B

Davey boy would get greedy with NOS and become addicted. Davey boy would probably end help blowing himself up because he would want more and more. Davey boy needs to say NA to live.


Dave

Bryan H

davey boy has a point, maybe davey boy needs forced induction

dsm perhaps?