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

[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

[FredBMOC]

Tin-man,
As a newbie with some track experience my understanding is that the problem with Cobras and even more so with automatic transmissions is a combination of factors including the short wheel base, heavy engine, and way too much power but regarding the automatic transmission the problem is as follows:
When one changes gears in a car the weight distribution of the car changes and either the back or front end instantaneously becomes heavier depending on what gear shift you did ( up or down ). This is fine as long as you are planning on it and in fact is beneficial: for example you come down a straight, brake in a straight line ( putting more weight on the front end for better braking), downshift ( again putting more weight on the front end for better braking), enter the turn and accelerate through the turn (putting more weight on the rear tires for better traction) and keeping the rear end planted on the ground. All as it should be for spirited and track driving..
Now this same process on an automatic car becomes problematic as you can't really control when the shift occurs: you do as I describe above braking but the car doesn't downshift you come to the turn , slow down, the car is weighted and in balance, now you step on the gas and the car downshifts changing the balance of the car, in quick succession first forward as it downshifts than back as you accelerate. These weight redistribution changes can upset the balance of the vehicle and cause it to go into a spin or simply to have you pointed towards the inside or outside of the turn when you were not really planning on it; not a good situation...
Anyway this is a just a very short and simple explanation of some of the issues faced. Add to that the fact that you have an insane power to ratio and can simply brake traction on the rear wheels any time you twitch your foot on the gas and you have a recipe for a challenging vehicle to drive.

Best wishes with your new ride!

Fred

[Tom Wells]

tin-man,

I saw this and am forced to chime in:

"surprise" downshifts can be catastrophic..

I'm not sure what this means. I have a C-6 in my car (built by Carl Rossler, Girard, OH) and can tell you from experience that others warned about this before I got my car.

Here's what my experience says about that: It is speculation based on ignorance, not experience!

I've run my car in autocross, at Roebling Road, Sebring and Daytona to name a few places. I put it in drive and two-foot (one on the brake, one on the gas) and it is heavenly! Others have driven this car on the track and remarked how easy it is to drive, and can go quickly and smoothly.

Those who say "don't do anything sudden" have the correct idea. Concentrate on being smooth and fast will eventually happen.

The most important thing I've learned about the automatic is that it is vital to have the correct torque converter and a really effective trans cooler. I learned this after boiling the fluid out and melting the cooler's fan the first time I ran 30 minute sessions at Sebring. I found a torque converter guy in Deland FL (FTI) who recommended a 9-1/2" converter and a 1600 rpm stall speed, who also assures there is maximum oil flow through the converter. Apparently if oil flow isn't sufficient, not enough cooling can occur in the cooler itself. All I can tell you is that before the converter, trans temps went over 320F in the trans pan, and afterward never exceeded 240F.

So enjoy your auto - it wouldn't surprise me to see more dedicated race cars switching to automatics - oh, wait, some already have!

[coosawjack]

Originally Posted by Tom Wells

tin-man,

I saw this and am forced to chime in:



I'm not sure what this means. I have a C-6 in my car (built by Carl Rossler, Girard, OH) and can tell you from experience that others warned about this before I got my car.

Here's what my experience says about that: It is speculation based on ignorance, not experience!

I've run my car in autocross, at Roebling Road, Sebring and Daytona to name a few places. I put it in drive and two-foot (one on the brake, one on the gas) and it is heavenly! Others have driven this car on the track and remarked how easy it is to drive, and can go quickly and smoothly.

Those who say "don't do anything sudden" have the correct idea. Concentrate on being smooth and fast will eventually happen.

The most important thing I've learned about the automatic is that it is vital to have the correct torque converter and a really effective trans cooler. I learned this after boiling the fluid out and melting the cooler's fan the first time I ran 30 minute sessions at Sebring. I found a torque converter guy in Deland FL (FTI) who recommended a 9-1/2" converter and a 1600 rpm stall speed, who also assures there is maximum oil flow through the converter. Apparently if oil flow isn't sufficient, not enough cooling can occur in the cooler itself. All I can tell you is that before the converter, trans temps went over 320F in the trans pan, and afterward never exceeded 240F.

So enjoy your auto - it wouldn't surprise me to see more dedicated race cars switching to automatics - oh, wait, some already have!

Tom,

I must respond to this as I take issue with your "speculation" comment.....

I have a 2004 Mercury Marauder that I Supercharged and I have had many "nearly catastrophic" downshifts especially in wet conditions......not wild about automatics anyway except in drag racing!!!

Removing the "Kick Down" linkage will certainly eliminate downshifts but in computer cars the function is up to the PCM......meaning it happens under a variety of different conditions...thus the "surprise" comment!!

Road race conditions do not come close to street driving conditions since you are constantly concentrating on being smooth and most of you are going the same direction!!??