New Cobra buyer - Questions - Driving Them...

[AdamIsAdam]

Originally Posted by patrickt

A lot of people can't visually recognize the difference between a FFR, SPF, or an ERA. To them, there would be no difference, and that's fine. To others, the difference is marked. The older FFRs have a very pronounced posterior, SPFs have their own eccentricities, ERAs have rectangular frames (instead of round ones). Some actually prefer the differences, others don't. The hips, fenders, and stances of the three cars are totally different but, if you can't see them, then it doesn't matter. If all three were parked side by side, almost anyone could spot some of the obvious differences, but not unless they were side by side. Some of the big differences that might jump out are the curves of the body itself, some of the smaller differences are things like the direction of the wipers, whether the pedals are floor mounted, the angle of the radiator, the angle of the windshield, etc. From a performance perspective, there are plenty of track quality FFR builds out there that will run circles around my FE powered ERA. But if you don't know what an FE is, or why it's important, then it doesn't matter. When it comes to performance, if the car "wows you," then that's what you want -- and it doesn't matter what's under the hood or what the car looks like. Would you pay an extra five grand for 6 pin drive hubs that you can't even see? How about an outboard braked IRS rear? An extra grand for a reverse rotating Smiths speedo? What about fitted side curtains? If you can't spot the differences, or if they don't matter to you, then you shouldn't pay for them.

Excellent reply. I did see, learn, figure out many of those factors. I weighed them all, plus one more not mentioned: safety inherent in the design of each car.

From what I can tell, FFR's frame in the MKIV is superior here, with front and rear crumple zones, plus that new X bracing on the side for some side impact protection. Something seemingly 100% absent on most other frames I've seen that are boxed and you basically sit atop them.

The MKIV did improve the rear end looks, as you indicated. I like it but it did take me a while to learn to spot the difference.

pin drive and true spinners are VERY cool IMO, as is the reverse sweep speedo and other touches.

As you can tell, I'm leaning towards finding a well built FFR. To me, what Superformance has going for it, is the consistency of a factory build (and ERA's built at ERA).

See where i'm leaning?