How much power is enough?

[skippy]

Well again its still a good question.

After 8 years owning my SPF i tired of the 500hp of my old 392ci.

After long talks with Keith Craft we decided to up the Cubes and all the little goodies to bring that X-factor feeling back.

After now driving its first 1000 miles that factor has certainly come back, but also at a price, im now as we talk upgrading all the components to handle such power, ie front brakes SPF upgrade, upgrade axel and now suspension.

Is it all worth it ? So far a massive yes, will only know the full x-factor feeling when all the upgrades are done.

I say go big from the start, we always grow into old shoes..

Skippy.

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by skippy

Well again its still a good question.

After 8 years owning my SPF i tired of the 500hp of my old 392ci.

After long talks with Keith Craft we decided to up the Cubes and all the little goodies to bring that X-factor feeling back.

After now driving its first 1000 miles that factor has certainly come back, but also at a price, im now as we talk upgrading all the components to handle such power, ie front brakes SPF upgrade, upgrade axel and now suspension.

Is it all worth it ? So far a massive yes, will only know the full x-factor feeling when all the upgrades are done.

I say go big from the start, we always grow into old shoes..

Skippy.

Go big from the start? I see your logic there, but then maybe some of the 'journey' is lost as there's less of the incremental upgrades that also help with accimatizing to the big power.
Cheers,
Glen

[ItBites]

I regularly use all 700 hp from my 540cid. I can use it on the street or at the track. Don't know what folks are talking about with too much... If I had 200 more, I'd use that as well. Maybe N2O next!

I think most folks use substandard tires so they just spin, or maybe have bad rear suspension geometry? Anyhow, if you know more than a box of rocks, 700 hp is fun and controllable.

[Silverback51]

I have said it before, but I will say it again.

The throttle is a rheostat, not an off/on switch. What fun is a car that you can flat foot it in any gear and not break the tires loose.

My wifes JEEP SRT/8 is fast, but anyone can drive it. All you have to do is push the pedal to the floor and point it in the direction you want to go. It's not very exciting.

With the Cobra you cannot flat foot it in 1st or 2nd, and sometimes 3rd depending on the conditions. You have to learn how to apply the throttle to acheive the maximum results. That's fun.

So, in my opinion you can never have to much power. You can however misuse what you have and get in trouble because of it.

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by ItBites

I regularly use all 700 hp from my 540cid. I can use it on the street or at the track. Don't know what folks are talking about with too much... If I had 200 more, I'd use that as well. Maybe N2O next!

Are you Crazy??
700 + nitrous? On the street? You would have to submit a proposed route to the local constabulary before you took it out of the garage, wouldn't you?
Just kidding, ItBites. Go with the nitrous.
Cheers,
Glen

[poisonsnake]

Originally Posted by xb-60

are you crazy??
700 + nitrous? On the street? You would have to submit a proposed route to the local constabulary before you took it out of the garage, wouldn't you?
Just kidding, itbites. Go with the nitrous.
Cheers,
glen

yup!!!! Go nitrous!!!:lol: 800hp. snakes all day long in Detroit,Mi

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by poisonsnake

yup!!!! Go nitrous!!!:lol: 800hp. snakes all day long in Detroit,Mi

Didn't Shelby do an 800hp 427 with twin Paxton superchargers for Cosby?
And doesn't the story go that Cosby drove it and gave it straight back because it was too dangerous to drive?
I think that bit is really just a story, the real one being Cosby gave it back saying "What? Only 800 hp? Put nitrous on and make it into a real car"
Cheers,
Glen

[COBRANIP]

Why on earth did my post have to follow Tin-Man's????
I won't get any respect!

A quote I like:

Horsepower........is your right foot.
(i.e. use as much or as little as you choose.)

[lovehamr]

Depending on the driver;.................PMS?

[Jerry Clayton]

Biggest problem for me is when I'm getting close to usable amount of power, I have to look for a place to hook a second parachute----

[CBattaglia]

1 of my friends wont ride in the car anymore. And I wasnt pushing it at all. I drove one him to a party and he opted to drive another guys mini van home with his 1 year old twins in the back to avoid getting back in the cobra. I guess for him, it was too much power

Another way to tell you have enough power: When you can pass 2 cars at once and do not have to go to full throttle.

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by CBattaglia

1 of my friends wont ride in the car anymore. And I wasnt pushing it at all. I drove one him to a party and he opted to drive another guys mini van home with his 1 year old twins in the back to avoid getting back in the cobra. I guess for him, it was too much power

Another way to tell you have enough power: When you can pass 2 cars at once and do not have to go to full throttle.

Assuming you don't suffer from the aforementioned flatulence?

[bdeutsch]

Maybe the question needs to be changed a bit.

Of late, Lamborghini and Ferrari have essentially said enough is enough...i.e., the HP wars (maybe not said in exactly this way, but idea is there). Suspect that primarily due to increasing demands for increased corporate MPG ratings, they have concluded that the topic is perhaps best resolved via weight reduction (those familiar with Colin Chapman's philosophy @ Lotus can perhaps smile at this). Of course, downside of approach is that HP is relatively cheap to produce as compared to real weight reduction via use of carbon fiber and other exotic, albeit incredibly expensive, material.

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by bdeutsch

Maybe the question needs to be changed a bit.

Of late, Lamborghini and Ferrari have essentially said enough is enough...i.e., the HP wars (maybe not said in exactly this way, but idea is there). Suspect that primarily due to increasing demands for increased corporate MPG ratings, they have concluded that the topic is perhaps best resolved via weight reduction (those familiar with Colin Chapman's philosophy @ Lotus can perhaps smile at this). Of course, downside of approach is that HP is relatively cheap to produce as compared to real weight reduction via use of carbon fiber and other exotic, albeit incredibly expensive, material.

There’s no doubt that weights of particularly the more expensive cars have headed north in recent years.
Compare a Ferrari 599 with 610BHP pulling 3725lb with a Kirkham with an aluminium 427 producing 500+ BHP at 2150lb
The red car has a p/w ratio of 360BHP/ton and the silver car has a p/w ration of 510+BHP/ton.
That’s a huge difference, and a lot of Kirkhams have a bit more than 500BHP.
A sobering thought is that a lot of the tyres fitted to Cobra replicas are S or H rated
Cheers,
Glen

[olddog]

Cosby Joked he was going to give it to Governor Wallis (excuse any spelling error - even if he deserves no respect).

I believe Cosby sold it to a fellow who destroyed the car and was killed in the process.

If memory serves it was 900 Hp designed to go over 200 mph.

[olddog]

Hp isn't the right question.

The torque curve over the rpm range is what makes a car predictable and controllable or not. A nice flat torque curve from 2500 to 5000 rpm with a smooth ramp on both ends is very predictable and easy to learn how to drive. Obviously it gets harder as the torque increases, but it is manageable.

When the torque is shooting up in leaps and bounds to a very short lived peak and then drops off a cliff, the car is totally unpredictable. I hate an engine that has 200 lb-ft of torque at 3500 rpm and 500 lb-ft of torque at 4500 rpm. One second you have it floored and it's a dog. The next second the tires go up in smoke. Every corner you come out of at a different rpm and the response to the loud peddle is wildly different than the last corner.

[twobjshelbys]

No amount is enough. Now how much is too much is a totally different question. In general (enough) < (too much)

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

No amount is enough. Now how much is too much is a totally different question. In general (enough) < (too much)

sorry Tony, my mind is drawing a blank here since math was never my strong point so can you elaborate on your equation?

Where I am having difficulties is your formula seems to be in direct conflict with conventional wisdom that states in part, based on well known suppositions and in many cases absolute hands on experience "a Cobra has similar aphrodisiac qualities that affect men in the same manner that women do", thus how can enough be less than too much?

I have always subscribed to the fact that power and women are, in absolute terms, equal to each other and thus being the case it follows that one could quite rightly opine and make an argument to support the notion:

Power and women, always want more, can never get enough.

Given this state of mind you can readily see how I became confused.

Hope you can defend your equation.

Cheers, John, AKA, tin-man

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by tin-man

sorry Tony, my mind is drawing a blank here since math was never my strong point so can you elaborate on your equation?

Where I am having difficulties is your formula seems to be in direct conflict with conventional wisdom that states in part, based on well known suppositions and in many cases absolute hands on experience "a Cobra has similar aphrodisiac qualities that affect men in the same manner that women do", thus how can enough be less than too much?

I have always subscribed to the fact that power and women are, in absolute terms, equal to each other and thus being the case it follows that one could quite rightly opine and make an argument to support the notion:

Power and women, always want more, can never get enough.

Given this state of mind you can readily see how I became confused.

Hope you can defend your equation.

Cheers, John, AKA, tin-man

Wow! I asked a simple, down to basics question, and you guys are into heavy philosophical stuff.
Cheers,
Glen

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by xb-60

Wow! I asked a simple, down to basics question, and you guys are into heavy philosophical stuff.
Cheers,
Glen

Given the very nature of this memberships composition and the fact that most of the readers either have, or are planning for, or are anticipating delivery, or are building their own, they are all Cobra enthusiasts and have their own particular vision of what will bring pure thrill of ownership and hopefully provide profound satisfaction when driving. Thus, IMHO each person will have a strong opinion on why they chose what they did.

Arguably, all the available choices regarding engines, size, torque, plus tires, transmissions, number of roll bars, paint color, stripes, no stripes or if it should be an exact copy of the original or modified to suit the owners preferences can be discussed at length with counter arguments, recommendations and suggestions put forth for consideration and counter discussions.

That is what makes this Club Cobra Forum what it is: WORLD CLASS.

Now if each of the various posts either ask or answer a question or opine on the merits of what has been said I can see how such comments could be considered as being derivative of a basic philosophical curiosity of the Cobra given, philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, and experiences and is distinguished from other ways of addressing such issues by its critical, systematic approach and its reliance on generally rational discussion and argument. Phew!

So Glen, when you innocently throw out how much power is enough or when others ask what is best, BB or SB or which tranny is best, you can bet your bippy you will receive a diverse response from all spectrums and members and get a few smart ass comments like mine thrown in just for good measure. But I am guessing, that you original question was rhetorical since you have already made up your mind and are just looking for confirmation that you are making the right choice.

Sorry guys, I could just not let this one go unanswered.

Now back to how much power is enough and my answer is this: get an engine with as much power as you can manage since you only live once and remember, in general, the guys with lot's of power typically have large brass ballz, a big swingin' stick, cuss a lot, walk with a swagger, have an attitude bigger than a bus, drink a lot, like their ladies hot, have nerves of steel and don't take S*** from anyone, anywhere, at any time.

But then that's just my opinion.

Cheers, John, AKA, tin-man, Zhuhai, P.R.C.