ERA or Superperformance 427 Thoughts and Observations

[patrickt]

Evan is without question a man of discerning taste when it comes to Cobras.

[Learjockey1]

I appreciate the insights as to my speed requirements as there is still a nice unrestricted area south of Stuttgart heading towards the Bodensee. I was once breaking in my Ducati 1098 and had to keep it under 5000 rpm and that was at 120 mph. A silver Mercedes pulled up and wanted to race. However, as the German guys know, you need to have 6th sense as to when to and not to. Responsible driving is paramount. I am stationed here and live on base so the registration and noise would not be problem. I have an 83 German spec 635 and every time I go out I end up racing some kid in an Audi TT, Mini Cooper S or 3 Series who remembers when the 635’s and 911’s ruled the left lane. I do not let them down. 3.5 liters of Dr. Bosch injected un-catalyzed six cylinders is still 3.5 liters and is actually a fairly good sized engine over here, however, 7.5 Liters would mix with the others, i.e., Lambos, Ferraris, AMG’s, and GT3’s and get me back into the V-8’s. Again, thanks for the insights and the humor. Is there anybody with an ERA in the Jacksonville, North Florida area or Charlotte NC area? I will be in the area for some Christmas leave in about a month.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Learjockey1

Is there anybody with an ERA in the Jacksonville, North Florida area or Charlotte NC area? I will be in the area for some Christmas leave in about a month.

You'll love the way both ERAs and SPFs look. I doubt you'll be able to find anyone that will give you a taste of 140+mph speeds, even as a passenger (and no one's going to let you take their Cobra out for that kind of highway run). BTW, the "scare" factor in a Cobra is double for the passenger -- I don't know why, but it's twice as scary being the passenger, under the exact same conditions, than it is to be the driver. Maybe even three times. You might want to just grab a quick flight up to Bradley Int'l Airport and visit the ERA folks -- call first and arrange a date because they like to close down for a couple of weeks around Christmas. If you're really going to run sustained speeds in the 150+mph range you'll want the car set up exactly right, starting with speed rated tires at the very minimum. Of course you know that if you make a mistake at that speed, or if something fails catastrophically, you're a goner.

[Chilibit]

The German cars suit the German driving environment. Italian cars suit Italy. A cobra in the left lane is really like bringing a really big knife to a gun fight. You are going to lose. It is ruled by the 200K dollar cars. Think Ford GT or, like someone said, ZR1 from this side of the pond. I have gone down that stretch at 250 kph and been blown into weeds. I could not even tell what country the tags were from he went past me so fast. All of this was in patchy fog and drizzle. If you can do it, you have more guts than I do. My SPF is a driver pushing 25k miles in three years. It is a wonderful car. As is ERA. They would be a blast on the 'B' Strasse routes. There are lots of cobras in Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland. I would go find those guys and have a beer. I would give their thoughts considerable weight. Ciao.

[750hp]

Originally Posted by Learjockey1

I was once breaking in my Ducati 1098 and had to keep it under 5000 rpm and that was at 120 mph.

You might want to check your speedo or tacho, because something doesn't add up. Here's a datalog from a 1098S...

[D-CEL]

I always think of us, the Cobra guys, as hammer fisted, gun toting, red meat eating, Cigar smoking, tough F'ing bastards.
You have to be, if driving a Cobra is your choice.
These are essentially old race cars on the street.
Am I the only guy that read that page in the book?

I was on a drive with a with my local Cobra group one day and somehow, I ended up the last car in a 20ish car string.
We limped laboriously down a long, dead straight two lane road, surrounded by farm land, stuck behind a old jeep going about 40mph. Nobody around us in any direction, yet the leader wouldn’t lead the charge.
I grabbed second gear, stepped out and dropped the hammer. The big drag radials hooked, the 4.10's let the motor spin. Shifting at 6800, the line of cars trailing behind me.
With the motor screaming I flashed by the lead car in fourth gear at about 6500rpm. (To this day, the driver of that car says to me as he points "I'm deaf in this ear because of you"...Yea, sorry about that.)

I thought to myself, "This is a car! This is what Cobras are for!"
I shifted into 5th and held my foot hard on the pedal. I watched the tach needle climb and climb. At 5900ish rpm I lifted.

Noisy: Yep
Windy: Yep
Complete concentration: YES SIR!
Scary: Nope
Capable: Yes
Lots of cars that can run at these speeds with less effort. Cars with better aero, a/c, quiet comfy cabins with radar assisted parking.

If those things are high on your priority list, a Cobra is not for you.

The wind, the heat, the smell, the roar..that is the Cobra, less than that is just that. Less
These cars are capable of incredible things, they just require a lot. Input, muscle, concentration, skill..
Doing it the hard way.

That’s what makes us Cobra guys

Jason

[timpound]

i could not have summed this up better, well done, thanks

[jhv48]

Makes me want to go out and kill a bear with my bare hands.

[TButtrick]

Originally Posted by Learjockey1

I desire my American V-8 roots and require a car to sustain 90-120 mph cruising with sustained periods of 140-160 and still take me through the Alps and small towns. I am looking for a feeling of polish, essence, and finish that only comes with RD time and engineering passion. Subjects such as pedal arc, pedal pressures, great brakes, control feedback, cowl shake, solidness and smoothness, warmth and pleasantness, of the car are what I consider. Unwanted or excess vibrations will disqualify.

I just don't think you'd be happy with ANY replica with those requirements. Sustained 90-120Mph speeds can be brutal in these cars. I'd look seriously to a ZR1 to fulfill the requirements.

[Jamo]

I know you're talking about SPFs or ERAs, but you might want to chat with Gerry Hawkridge at Hawk Cars, who finishes up Kirkhams and their own chassis for use in Europe.

For such speeds (which I agree with others...tough in these things), and barring any thoughts of a Daytona Coupe, you might want to think about a LeMans top equipped Cobra, and think about a rear-exhaust setup.

[428street]

I'm going to be up-front that I will be very biased here.

I've been around, drove in and seen almost all "the other" Cobra replica's out there and don't get me wrong they are all nice and fit someone's budget, dream and desire.

In my research and in dealing with ERA for the last 3-4 years you will not get an as close to original looking car with 21st century engineering out of any other car manufacturer.

Their thought process was to take the outer shell of the original car and keep it very close to the original and then re-engineer most if not all the short comings of the original car.

The built quality is that of a Rolex watch, 911, or any other high end, high quality machine, device, toy, etc.

I could not be happier with the car, the company, the experience and the smile I get everytime I drive that car.

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Actually, there's a guy in Germany with a black 427 ERA (571) who tracks his car. His pic is in the ERA website and I think he is (or was) a contributor here, but I don't know his name (maybe somebody here knows). His car is one of the inspirations for my own ERA (718).

[Mooch]

Originally Posted by ZOERA-SC7XX

Actually, there's a guy in Germany with a black 427 ERA (571) who tracks his car. His pic is in the ERA website and I think he is (or was) a contributor here, but I don't know his name (maybe somebody here knows). His car is one of the inspirations for my own ERA (718).

#571's owner is Walter - wkreuchi(at)bluewin.ch and he is in Switzerland, however #652 and #2052 are in Germany. See below.

[marcocsx3121]

These guys are right on. I can relate a snowy morning in 1966 when I was on the Munich-Stuttgart autobahn. The road wasn't exactly snow covered, but there were slick spots, so I was keeping my Sunbeam Tiger (the first of two that I owned "back in the day") to 80-90 mph. I spotted rapidly approaching headlights in the rear view mirror, so being a red blooded young man, I kicked it up a notch or two. At 115, I folded, and let a bright red Porsche 911 blow past. To add insult to automotive injury, it was being driven by a blonde GIRL. If I'd been in the Cobra, I'd have folded just as quickly.

Like the man said, German cars for German roads.

[PANAVIA]

Originally Posted by marcocsx3121

At 115, I folded, and let a bright red Porsche 911 blow past. To add insult to automotive injury, it was being driven by a blonde GIRL. If I'd been in the Cobra, I'd have folded just as quickly.

Like the man said, German cars for German roads.

Sabine Schmidt >?

[TButtrick]

Originally Posted by marcocsx3121

These guys are right on. I can relate a snowy morning in 1966 when I was on the Munich-Stuttgart autobahn. The road wasn't exactly snow covered, but there were slick spots, so I was keeping my Sunbeam Tiger (the first of two that I owned "back in the day") to 80-90 mph. I spotted rapidly approaching headlights in the rear view mirror, so being a red blooded young man, I kicked it up a notch or two. At 115, I folded, and let a bright red Porsche 911 blow past. To add insult to automotive injury, it was being driven by a blonde GIRL. If I'd been in the Cobra, I'd have folded just as quickly.

Like the man said, German cars for German roads.

Like the man said, German cars for German girls.

[WarrenG]

Can't speak to either of the 427 cars, but I know that my ERA FIA is quite happy at 115 mph. It actually seems to get "tighter" to the road at that speed. Not sure it would be comfortable noise wise for too long though without earplugs. I'd think you'd be going deaf quickly just from the road noise.

Supposedly, these cars, aerodynamically, are like a brick when they get up to around 150 mph. Not sure sustained 140-160 is a realistic expectation. But then that's what everybody said about the F-4 Phantom originally also and they just put bigger engines in it!

I would expect the ERA 427 to be similar not sure about the SPF but one thing the SPF has over the ERA is that it would be a much faster lead time for a new one.

[twin turbo]

Learjockey1, based on your requirements of 120 mph cruising and sustained driving at 160 mph, these cars are a poor choice with their open cockpits and poor aerodynamics. Cobra replicas are great for short bursts of acceleration, such as 0-100, not sustained high speed driving in comfort. If you try to use a soft top and have it stay in one piece at 160 mph, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise. The aerodynamics really are a big brick in the wind. In my opinion, these cars are rude and brutal sprinters, not highly refined high speed cruising machines. Cheers.

[PANAVIA]

Well - my personal preference is SPF , the ERA is a fine car and a nice piece of equipment. But an SPF is a very drivable piece of equipment.

For the high MPH cruising I would opt for a 6 speed and the 17" wheels. In that way you can get modern High-Perf VR/ZR rated tires at any reasonable expense in a 15" tire.

For ease of use you may want to consider a 351W based engine. --

My 0.02.

[CowtownCobra]

If I had a choice to replace my car, it would be the ERA. But I'm a hands-on tinkerer, the SPF is a showroom type car, the ERA takes some work and you can build it your own way. Add to that customer service second to none.