tin-man needs some advice.......

[vector1]

find a big open parking lot and hammer it!!!!!!!!, or experiment as the white man says.

[StewbieC]

When you can smell burning rubber and there's lots of smoke or you're feeling a little dizzy you know it's time to back off a bit.

Sorry couldn't resist!

Drive it like you stole it!

[coosawjack]

I would not have an automatic trans with that much power......"surprise" downshifts can be catastrophic...wet or dry!!!

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by coosawjack

I would not have an automatic trans with that much power......"surprise" downshifts can be catastrophic...wet or dry!!!

coosawjack: *aaaaw S*** too late my friend its a a done deal already, so help me understand:

downshifts can be catastrophic...wet or dry!!!::
tin-man

[TINNMANN]

If you drive it like there are egg shells between you and the throttle you might be ok. Any abrupt moves either on or off the gas could get interesting. Depending on the stall speed of the converter and the valve body your shifts could be abrupt and brake traction at the worst time!!! I suggest that you join up with a auto cross group and practice running the cones. There is a thread that says "IF YOU TAKE ME FOR GRANTED I WILL KILL YOU" and I think you should repeat that line every time you put the key in the start position.
Cheers Greg

[undy]

drag radials...

[Tommy]

tin-man,
You are wise to pose this question. High powered, light weight, short wheelbase cars have a tendency to break the rear tires loose. When that happens, the rear end can swing out to one side causing the car to change directions very quickly. My car has less power than yours and it will break the rear tires loose simply by pressing the throttle down in third gear. If you were drving at 50 MPH and pressed your gas pedal down far enough to engage the automatic downshift, I strongly suspect the rear tires would break loose making it difficult to steer.

I echo the advice about learning to drive your car at autocross events. These are great for three reasons. First, the environment is much safer than public roads. Second, competition will encourage you to find and exceed the limits of your car (and your driving skills) so you know what is and is not possible to do in your car. Third, you can safely indulge your desire to drive your car hard and fast, so you can resist that desire when you are on public streets. After you have gotten comfortable with autocross, I suggest you try a few track day events so you can see how your car responds in higher speed situations. Good luck with your new car.

[RallySnake]

In the famous words of Sterling Moss:

“It’s better to go into a corner slow and come out fast than it is to go into a corner fast and come out dead.”

In other words, learn to get your braking done before you turn the wheel.

RallySnake

[azfordman]

Originally Posted by tin-man

coosawjack: *aaaaw S*** too late my friend its a a done deal already, so help me understand:

downshifts can be catastrophic...wet or dry!!!::
tin-man

Tin-man, to give you a real life example, although not in a cobra....last month I drove to New Hampshire to pick up my car, driving North out of Boston it had recently rained and I was driving on a uphill grade with the cruise control set at 55 mph (1999 F-150 Lightning, supercharged, automatic transmission) the cruise control kicked in to accelerate along with the supercharger, transmission down shifted, and the rear tires broke loose and started spinning!!! Nothing bad happened, did not go into a major fish tail or anything, but I did learn the lesson that I cannot use cruise control in the rain with this truck. I could imagine the same thing happening in a light car like a cobra. Hope this helps....

[jhv48]

Very simple:

Never floor it unless you are pointed straight have lots of hiway in front and to the side of you, and have both hands on the wheel.

Change underwear and repeat as often as it takes to learn a healthy respect for that engine.

For every other time, go soft on the gas pedal.

[skippy]

Originally Posted by coosawjack

"surprise" downshifts can be catastrophic...wet or dry!!!

Yep i second that and im just getting used to mine, even spins in 4th gear.

I would (as i have in the past) taken advance driving courses, its really the only safe approach to it.

Enjoy and keep it straight.

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