Drag race - Kirkham 65 side-oiler vs Ferrari 458 italia

[CobraDan]

[Buzz]

I agree with others that given an inexperienced pilot, the Cobra will be far more difficult to race, but in the mean time, let's settle this with some bench racing.
Has anyone on here pushed their 427 powered Kirkham to 11.5 or better in the 1/4 mile? Different driver, car, tires, motor, etc yes; but I would think in theory at least, the Cobra stacks up well.

[tommygold]

I'm the OP. Hi everyone. What an amazing community -- post something late at night on Saturday and get a terrific, sometimes detailed, set of responses.

Neither spam nor a troll. I'm a Washington lawyer. I got the 458 (black on black) around 3 weeks ago from Ferrari of DC. It's a 2011 and has about 480 miles on it now.

My buddy is a Venture Capital guy who lives in Las Vegas. He's had the Kirkham for a year and has put about 20 miles on it, embarrassingly. He bought it used in 06, and he says that it is registered as a 65.

The race will be at the Las Vegas Speedway. I just need to ship the car out there.

So this is definitely for real, and the stakes are definitely very high.

It sounds like the key question here is to get some more details on his car. I apologize -- I'm neither a car guy generally, nor someone who knows Cobras certainly.

I do know that he has a side-oiler, and that he doesn't have anything else special intended to make the car hyperfast, such as nitrous. If you let me know what questions to ask about his engine, I'll be glad to.

In terms of the slicks, he bought the car with them on, and I think he just thinks they look cool. I tend to think that the slicks will earn him about one second over my tires in the quarter mile.

My great advantage does seem to be at the start, when my computer can deal with the launch and he has to generate a great start. Then I get the advantage of the shifts.

He will invest the time to get the shifting down better. There's a lot of money and pride at stake.

It will be videotaped.

Thanks for all your responses.

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by tommygold

My buddy is a Venture Capital guy who lives in Las Vegas. He's had the Kirkham for a year and has put about 20 miles on it, embarrassingly. He bought it used in 06, and he says that it is registered as a 65.

I'm sorry, but to me this looks like a recipe for disaster.

He has owned the Cobra since 06 and has put 20 miles on it. Experience in the Cobra will be zero. Based on what I have read so far, both of these gentlemen have large egos (and I do not mean this in a negative way) and their ego and pride will be on the line in this race. That means neither will be willing to lift and possibly loose if something goes wrong.

I hope and pray I'm wrong on this. And that the Cobra wins.

I just noticed something funny here. In one sentence he states he's owned the Kirkham for a year, but the next sentence says he bought it used in 06.

Somethings going on.

[Don]

Tommy, for the three races, post the incremental time/speed for each vehicle in addition to the 1/4 mile ? Might even consider switching cars after the initial runs.

[CobraV8]

Only a very small percentage of the Cobras I've seen (both in reality and video clips) do run in the 10s. Some Cobras I'd put my money on in this race are Greg Schroeders SPF, Brian Dinsmores Factory Five, hotfingers chevy powered Everett Morrison and the twin turboed 331cui Factory Five that can be seen in a couple of youtube clips.

Most of these cars are kind of purpose build, and the drivers seem to know a bit about racing.

The venture capital guy who put 20 miles on his Kirkham that he bought with some kind fo slicks will lose

Simon

[decooney]

Originally Posted by tommygold

I'm the OP..... "He's had the Kirkham for a year and has put about 20 miles on it"

This to me is a key statement. If your buddy truly only has about 20 miles on his Cobra, or if you know he has not had much experience driving other high torque Cobras in the past, this will make it an interesting race. And, if he has not learned to launch a Cobra, or how to heat up the tires to launch it properly, I'm thinking he better have a whole lot of horsepower to make up for mistakes at the start and catch you somewhere down the track; if he knows how to use it. Can you film this with 3+ cameras at Launch, from behind, and at the end of the track finish line?

My vote goes to the person who puts in the best practice runs beforehand and does not break or degrade their drivetrain too much before the race.

[CobraEd]

I didn't read the entire post, but what does Motor Trend and Car and Driver say the Ferrari runs???? Once you know that, you have the time to beat.

Most decent Cobras run in the mid 11s. Faster ones obviously are less than that. Traction is the issue.


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