Dick smith record broken 4/11/2015

[big-boss]

Virgil, what an accomplishment....... You make all of us proud.......

I took my street sorted KMP498 to 150 a couple of times- it was a handful to be mild. I even kept it over 120 for 30 min on the Lincoln Highway and that was OK.

I can only imagine 199- not only a great testament to your driving skills but to your abilities to set up the car. I did not know Dick Smith that well but I would certainly agree- he would be one of your biggest fans......

Congratulations again and Godspeed be with you.

[DMXF]

Originally Posted by big-boss

I took my street sorted KMP498 to 150 a couple of times- it was a handful to be mild.

Back in '65-'66 Shelby American advised owners of Cobras who were going to use the cars for any serious performance usage that things like bump steer, etc needed to be set up. It was just part of finishing the cars for the intended use.

One aspect that Virgil may have hit upon, however, is the Hoosier tires have more "rake" than some popular tires used on Cobras, even the Avons, ie; the fronts are notably smaller than the rears. Years ago I remember a Goodyear engineer telling me their front and rear "Cobra" tires are made from the same mold, they just insert a spacer to make the rears wider - this is a compromise for cost savings. Back in the day Dick Smith and most Cobra racers ran rear tires that were notably taller than the fronts. While I think the trend since the 70's has been to have the front diameter closer to the rear than they were at the 60's and 70's extremes, the fact is some degree of this disparity helps keep the car planted at high speeds. Even in Nascar stock cars in the early 90's one thing that Jack Roush's cars had used to their advantage until everyone else caught on was cited as building more rake into the bodies when they were put on the chassis.