Cobra Clearance question

[ldmclain]

I had a 2009 ZRI recently that would barely scrape the ground when backing out of my driveway... not the carbon fiber spoiler but the plastic vertical air damn underneath

I have a Unique 427 arriving soon that I will be completing and wonder how the clearance compares to my ZR1... I would think the ZR1 sits lower based on pictures and just the naked eye... I don't want to have any scraping with the cobra

Thoughts?

[rodneym]

Cobras are NOT particularly low, although the front rails on an accurate frame can scrape on rare occasion. It's the lack of overhang in front of the wheels that makes approaches and aprons not a problem. Under exhausts are a different story.
When I go to car shows with my buddies, they all have to take driveways slowly and at an angle. That's when I go around and give 'em a hard time

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by ldmclain

I had a 2009 ZRI recently that would barely scrape ...

Thoughts?

It really doesn't matter how low a car sits, it's the angle of the change from, say, a horizontal plane to the sloping driveway and the distance of your lowest body part to the tires (usually just the two closest tires). Even if a car is only a half inch off the ground, it's not gong to scrape on a flat surface. Likewise, it's not going to scrape going up a steep incline once it gets all four wheels on that incline, and it might not scrape once it has the closest two tires on the incline. On most Cobras, the sensitive transition is when you have all four wheels on one plane, and you start driving up the slope. The oil cooler shroud can sometimes hit the ground until you get the front wheels on the slope. A good "cheater way" is to come in on an angle and get one wheel up on the slope and then turn hard to get the second wheel up on the slope. It's really a basic trigonometry question, but the less than four inches of clearance that I have on my oil cooler shroud on my ERA rarely scrapes on anything if I'm going slow enough, and if I come in on an angle I can get over, up, or down safely on just about everything that's not ridiculously angled.

[KDubU]

As per what Rodney wrote, generally you are fine with the nose and rear. It's the underneath such as the bell housing or possibly oil pan that sometimes sit below the framerails. Not sure about on the Unique though. Congrats on the new pending arrival.

[patrickt]

... and if your bellhousing and blockplate hang down below your frame rails, you should trim them off so they are flat and even. Yes, that voids the sfi rating, but if you're ever driving along and your bellhousing kisses one of those steel plates they put over holes in the city, you're going to have a really, really bad day....

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by patrickt

... and if your bellhousing and blockplate hang down below your frame rails, you should trim them off so they are flat and even. Yes, that voids the sfi rating, but if you're ever driving along and your bellhousing kisses one of those steel plates they put over holes in the city, you're going to have a really, really bad day....

The lowest point on mine is the bellhousing - which has already been hacked off flat as much as possible. There's not much below the ring gear.

The old oil pan was much lower, but when I had the new one built I had it set up so the bottom is parallel to and just slightly above the bottom of the frame rails. The pan has kick-outs on both sides and the sump is about 80% of the length, so there's no issue with capacity in spite of the reduced depth.

The thing I worry about most is parking lot speed bumps - I avoid them whenever possible. If I have to I'll either straddle the gap they often put between them, or take them on an angle as others have described.