Cobra Safety and HP

[Jahred]

To Hal:

" looked over my shoulder to see about my merging, and my SPF abruptly went hard right then left, and only by reflexes and good fortune, was i able to correct it, and complete my merge. I was at most 3/4 throttle, with concrete light poles just to my right.

I asked the Olthoff's, why my car would do that, when i never have had any incident of other than straight line accleration even with full throttle."

....Been there done that with the Porsche. I was guity of talking with my hands under modest acceleration........I would be a buck to a bagle that when you "looked over your shoulder"........your hands followed resulting in a loss of traction ..... I only mention this cause I think its one of the most important things we can do to be safe........if your eyes are not on the road ahead of you, its tough to know where your hands are gonna be.........and a Cobra under acceleration is gonna be very quick to follow...........

[427sharpe]

The amount of horsepower and torque built into a motor is irrelevant. Its how (and more importantly WHEN) you use them that are the crux of the matter. A moron can get into serious trouble with 50 horsepower as well as 500.
My .02

[Hal Copple]

How true: i rolled my dad's English Anglia in my HS parking lot, put it on its room in front of the flagpole, by the principal's office, i think it had about 40 hp at most. Did not need much power to do that little stunt.

pushed it back over onto the wheels, and drove it home, to my dad's anger with me. did not drive the rest of the summer.

[Richard Hudgins]

Well Folks,

I am quite amazed at the direction this thread has taken as well as volume of responses.

If I were doing a dissertation for a PhD in marketing, this would have been a perfect footnote on research into consumer opinion and needs.

The responses have shown that the product does not have to work very well, (from a pure engineering standpoint) but it does have to do the following:

1. Set off car alarms when used.
2. Entice every other driver on the road (If they drive a rice rocket, a Camaro or Mustang) to race said vehicle.
3. Attract People who have 44 Magnums.
4. Attract People who have had dirt bike and road bike experience.
5. Attract People who need to equate the car with personal freedom and the right to have assault/military weapons.
6. Attract People who supersize everything. (If even this is in their imagination and not their wives opinion.)
7. Attract People who believe 50hp is as dangerous in a 2350lbs car as 500 hp.
8. Sorry, the list is too big already

I wish that I had the time to review all of the posts to make this a true analysis of the demographics involved, but I just do not have the patience/fortitude needed to continue. (And I certainly do not have the desire)

My original point was just this:

The platform that we all are dealing with has a HP and Torque number that works from a dynamic standpoint.

It has nothing to do with street racing, death rates, testosterone, Big block, small block, impressing the public, or the length of your unit.

It is all about an engineering exercise to produce a vehicle that works. For everyone.

Of course there is the always the 99th percentile who can deal outside of the parameters of the rest of us are bound to.

Jeze, I wish I was one them.

[KobraKarl]

[Excaliber]

Who would have thunk such a simple analysis of h.p. to weight ratio would become SO complicated and controversial.

,,,,seemed pretty simple to me what Richard was saying anyway.

Ernie

[REAL 1]

Whats wrong with people who ride dirt bikes and street bikes???

I think this all comes down to this. Excessive speed and reckless behavior and racing on the street is just plain stupid, dangerous and bad for everyone and bad for the hobby.

There is a difference between spirited driving and racing.

Mucho Mucho hp tends to entice reckless driving on the street. Common sense is needed to overcome that poor judgment.

[CSX 4039]

Originally posted by REAL 1




Mucho Mucho hp tends to entice reckless driving on the street. Common sense is needed to overcome that poor judgment.

[/b]

"Mucho Mucho hp tends to entice reckless driving on the street."
I'm not so sure it is cause and effect. Perhaps young reckless people tend to want to drive fast AND buy big HP.

"Common sense is needed to overcome that poor judgment."
This is a contradiction. Poor judgement is an absence of common sense, no?

[REAL 1]

I think the reason a majority of guys want BIG hp is so they can prove or say their car is faster than yours. No? Why else would they want more and more and more hp? Thus if you have it I believe it tends to entice you into proving your car is faster and it has the BIG hp you claim it does.

There was no contradiction. If poor judgement is the absence of common sense then you need common sense applied to overcome the poor judgement. No?

[wilf leek]

Sorry guys - what exactly does this debate over semantics add to what I thought was a promising thread started by Richard about engineering?

I notice that no-one has chimed in on my point about LSD exacerbating the worst characteristics of a short wheelbase car??

Maybe I am not in the real world, expecting a thread to stay on-topic. LOL.

[bmalone]

Evan, I have agreed with what you have said up to this point. I think you are making a leap of faith if you say guys want more HP to prove their car is faster. Not necessarily true, and certainly not in all cases.

When was the last time you saw two older guys in Cobras racing on the street?

[750hp]

Originally posted by wilf leek


I notice that no-one has chimed in on my point about LSD exacerbating the worst characteristics of a short wheelbase car??

Wilf - I made the decision to go exactly the other way than that which you mentioned. I was worried that an open centre differential would be too unpredictable. On left hand corners, you could never tell with any degree of certainty whether one or both tyres would break loose once traction is lost. This means that EITHER - you'll continue around the corner with one tyre smoking - OR - you'll be all out of shape if both tyres suddenly started spinning.

I went one step further and chose a full spool (fully locked - zero differential action) rather than a LSD centre. With my power level, there was every chance that the LSD clutches would burn quickly, allowing drive to either one or both wheels. Whatever happens, I always know that 50% of power will be transferred to each of the tyres. All day, every day.

[Excaliber]

I have pretty well damaged by LSD, it only works in a straight line now and even then will sometimes spin one wheel. The car is much "safer" on accellerating in or out of corners on the street now. The rear end would get loose with throttle over steer when the LSD was working.

Safe on the street??? Well on the racetack the damaged LSD is a nightmare! I HAVE to get it fixed for the track and learn to "live with it" on the street.

I been thinking about a spool......big fat sticky tires are pretty hard on the clutches.

Ernie

[KobraKarl]

Wilf,

Lets see , we drive......$40.000 - $140.000 for an uncomfortable,4 mpg, earbleeding loud, mechanically unstable,no bumpers, no spare tire, over heating, foot roasting, steering wheel in your lap, gearshift under your elbow,rightknee jammed under the dash, door hinge in the left thigh, go-cart suspension, cant drive it in heavy traffic, cant drive it in the rain,cant drive it more than two hundred miles without pissing blood, 500 hp on a fifties suspension roller skate...........and now we are supposed to start making sense ??

KK

[coyled]

Meats point about the originals giving you more warning before they go away is a good one. The original cobras had a softer suspension, 15 inch(tall) tires that were not very wide. A taller narrower tire will roll more and slide some if its bias ply, add these factors to a softer rolling suspension and you had a better shot at seeing the edge before you got there. Replicas, with stiffer frames and stiff spring rates, 17 or 18 inch wheels and 10 inch wide radial, tend to have more ultimate grip, slide less and have a knife for an edge. This is the main reason that I run bias ply's, I get a chance to catch it before the landscaping begins. Scott

[Excaliber]

My Austin Healey gives me "plenty of warning" on the old bias ply tires too.

Is that a "good thing"? Not, what it means to me is:

The Healey on bias tires slides around like crazy. Oh yeah, you got all kinds of "warning", it don't stick for squat. Nice "drifter" though.

Ernie

[coyled]

Ernie, when I can drive as well as you, I will get some radials since bias's have no stick according to you. scott

[wilf leek]

KK

[rdorman]

The cars are inherently dangerious. You could build one to be as safe as a Windstar but what would it look like? Not original for sure. Might be able to do it and keep an original look with a fixed hardtop. Of course, forget the seats. I look at mine as a four wheel motorcycle, no safer.

Why huge horsepower? Because we are guys. Genetically engineered to compete on every level. We always want more!! Generality, sure. My car intimidates me at times with 400 horsepower but do I want more, you bet!

Wilf, I didn't respond to "LSD exacerbating the worst characteristics of a short wheelbase car" because, well, I was thinking of something else! And yes, that probably would be the effect Providing I ever remembered to even start the car before I drove it

Street racing, always a bad idea. Not saying I have or have not, just always a bad idea Personally I am less tempted than say with my 300ZX because: A) I know who is going to win B) I am driving a four wheel motorcylce and if I kill myself (or worse yet) then I can't drive it anymore!

KK, that did make sense!

Coyled, generally, the higher the ultimate grip of a tire the narrower the range of slip angles it will tolerate at maximum grip. Although the bias plys certainly seem to be more forgiving for some reason. LOVE my TDs.

Richard, it certainly works for me! Thanks for the help on the brake by the way. My car is going from trying to rig an anchor to come from the trunk when I depress the stop peddle to feeling like the old Formula Ford we used to run.

THE BEST PIECE OF SAFTETY EQUIPMENT IS BETWEEN YOUR EARS. The rest just helps when your, or some one elses, brain is not functioning! If I can have it without sacrificing the experience to much, I'll take it!

36 days and counting!

Rick

[REAL 1]

These cars are not inherently dangerous. Guns, dynamite etc.. are "inherently" dangerous.

I do agree that the best peice of safety equipment is between the ears. Use it and keep any racing confined to closed course conditons/race tracks.