Suspension ride comparison

[Buzz]

There's been some interesting discussion about suspension setups for Cobras over the years. Theres a general consensus that the replicas with independent rear suspensions have a better basic combination of ride and handling than the live-axle cars, but beyond that, theres lots of debate.

In my experience with a Jag IRS car - which most of our IRS Cobras use or are based on - I bought it with an MGB-based front suspension and while it rode nicely enough, the steering was just not up to par with the speed and acceleration capabilities.

I upgraded to a custom coil-over front suspension that included a front sway bar and the improvement was like night and day. The ride was supple and comfortable with great balance and cornering grip and my only concern was that there was a small bit of body roll in hard cornering that allowed my rear tires to rub the inner fenders at the lower ride height settings.

The next logical step therefore was to look into adding a rear sway bar and possibly stiffer springs. I'd seen photos posted here of other members' Cobras jacked up near the front and lifting both the front and rear tires clear off the garage floor. That seemed odd to me - what happens in a hard, uneven corner if the front wheel lifts? Does the rear tire lose contact as well because theres no flexibility and drop in such a super-stiff setup?

To shorten a long story, research led me to the conclusion that a predominantly street-driven sports car with an independent rear suspension needs a bit flexibility built in to allow the IRS to do its thing and provide a comfortable ride while keeping the rear tires planted and in contact with the road during spirited driving. Making the rear suspension too stiff cancels out the advantages gained by having independently articulating rear axles.

So in the end, I left out the rear sway bar, added adjustable rear coil-over shocks and a custom rear trailing arm setup and adjusted the ride height just enough to eliminate the tire-rubbing in all but the most extreme cornering. While I lost a bit of the really low stance that was more appealing to my eye, I ended up with an amazingly comfortable car that really stuck to the road both while turning in and hammering out of corners. During hard acceleration, the rear squatted slightly but traction was as good as could be expected of a 90 inch wheelbase Cobra and I had no problems with wheel hop.

For a track-focused car with raw handling and traction taking priority over ride comfort, the setup would be completely different and there are some legitimate experts here who can articulate the details and particulars.