Considering a Cobra have some questions

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by Detroit Bill

First question (I have several). I am going to guess these cars are a bit squirrely. Short wheel base, light, lots of power, stands to reason. I am good with squirrely but how squirrely is it?

Second question. If it is a handful does swapping out to 17 or 18" rims with modern rubber make a dramatic difference? I understand it is not period correct but it still looks good.

I'll start with thouse two questions and see how it goes.

Thanks

Bill

I see later that this diverges, but I'll give my answers to your direct questions.

Answer 1 part 1: Yes, they are squirrely. Consider that your Cobra wants to kill you every time you drive it and drive it accordingly. Be especially cautious in colder weather since most of the tires people use are hockey pucks in colder weather.

Answer 1 part 2: You don't say but most people who look at Cobras want a 427. They have lots of horsepower and torque (and it is the torque that usually gets you in trouble). Seriously consider what you want to use the car for. In driving my car on the street the engine always felt like it was dragging down - you could never give it enough RPM to keep the cobwebs burned out of the exhaust. As a result I found myself driving most of the time in lower gears at higher RPMs. If the primary use is as a street car I strongly encourage you to look at one of the 289 series vehicles. I'm considering a new Cobra and it will likely be a small block car.

Answer 2: Stick with stock sized tires. (At least you didn't ask about putting a Chevy engine in it).

The Cobra really likes to oversteer - rear end breaks loose and you go around in a circle. Lots of horsepower on acceleration (and it doesn't even have to be a great amount), or lots of torque on deceleration especially when combined with a downshift without RPM matching and heel-toe shifting is very difficult to do with the pedal configuration on a Cobra.