Tragic Accident

[Anthony]

Yes. Very sad. My condolences.

Yeah, I heard that these cars were dangerous before I got my cobra, but I really couldn't understand why, as I had driven many muscle cars over the years, and during hard acceleration, I always felt I was in control, no matter what. That changed once I got my cobra, and just about crashed it. Then I realized what was happening, a combination of several factors.

The cars have a near 50/50 weight distribution. During hard acceleration, more weight is shifted to the rear, and the harder the acceleration, the more shift. This decreases the weight on the front, i.e. traction. When one of the rear tires loses traction, the other driving rear tire forces the car to take a sharp turn no matter the position of the front tires, as they have no traction. I almost hit a tree.

As soon as you feel the car starting to turn, you need to lift the throttle as fast as possible. These cars are very dangerous.

[scottj]

When the rear steps out under acceleration, suddenly lifting off the throttle often causes a spin as weight is quickly transferred off the rear and to the front tires. The term is snap oversteer and Cobras do it easily.

[Texasdoc]

Originally Posted by Anthony

As soon as you feel the car starting to turn, you need to lift the throttle as fast as possible. These cars are very dangerous.

NO! This will cause off-throttle oversteer and throw you the other way. Let the gas out 50% immediately, then decrease throttle gradually (over a second or two) until back under control. Then you can let off completely and brake if needed.