Cobra Safety and HP

[REAL 1]

I totally agree with Mr. Hudgins.

While my car does put out in excess of 300hp (502hp to be exact) NONE of us need such prodigous power for the street. I wanted my engine to put out power in the same range as the original Comp and S/C's which was in the 475hp to 485 hp range. I guess the extra few ponys came from the balancing and blue printing and the high performance parts used such as roller rockers.

Anyway, I don't "need" 502 hp. I can never use the full potential of that power because (1) I don't have the talent to do so (2) such driving has NO place on the street. I don't "race" my car on the track for several reasons the first being I have absolutely no interest in doing so right now.

Despite the prodigous power my car has I drive it like a normal car. I NEVER race on the street. There are times where there may be "spirited" driving but nothing that breaks the speed limits or motor vehicle laws. As such, I admit I never tap the full perfomance potential of my car nor will I.

All those guys who want 600hp 650hp or more , which far exceeds the power the original Cobras ever had for street use or racing use, IMHO are doing it for nothing more than hot rod bragging rights as to hp. Thats fine if thats what your into. But such power can never be used to its potential on the street nor should anyone ever try to. (example Glassnake)

But there are a very small percentage of guys that can ever hope to handle the full potential of that kind of power more less 400hp and up even on the track. You need the talent and the proper chasis set up and tuning for it.

Who here can claim to have the same driving ability as Ken Miles, Bob Bondurant, Phil Hill, Dave McDonald, Hal Keck, J. Nerspach or the other Shelby team drivers. etc.. Well??? Who??? Speak up. Those guys had to wrestle with Cobras putting out between 350hp and 500hp. Ken Miles even lost it with the first 427 prototype CSX 2166 earning him the nick name "teddy tree banger".

My point. Anyone one who really thinks they can drive these cars to the edge of the envelope and their full performance potential with more than 350hp are probably playing with themselves assuming their chasis is even up to the task. Maybe there is a VERY small percentage that can. The rest are just fooling themselves and probably have no idea.

While there are a "some" that like to make fun of the "f'n waxers" and congregate into their own group for support in knocking and name calling others who have no interest in "pretend racing" which "they" view as the only "worthwhile" way to enjoy a Cobra replica I do agree with their position that any "racing" ,if thats what you want to call it, be done on the track and NOT on the street.

While the Cobra or Cobra replica are not as safe as modern production cars from a crash worthiness standpoint they are just as safe for street use from the standpoint of accident avoidance if common sense is used regardless of horsepower.