ERA upgrade parts.

[RICK LAKE]

Kevin2 Alot has to do with alignment and tires. I started with BFG 15" wheels and the steering was ok. Good for the street which I did little and slow on auto cross. Tires where poor all the way around. Poor grip, wear hard, and slip and slide on tracks. Great for smoking burn outs. I went to GT qualifers of Dunlop and the car handled alot better. Changed the caster for the alignment and the car was quicker to respond and feed back was better. After 20 minutes of track time, had no arms left. Called ERA and they installed and setup, an Appleton /sweet rack. The car handles like a slot car with excellent feedback and quicker than me responce. Upped the caster and camber numbers. Car got better. Went to 17" Pilot tires from Mich and the car pulls almost a "g" in turns, .89 with g meter. Had to upper the springs rates 30% in the front and change the compression in the rear end of the shocks. Car keeps improving. Spax shocks are limited with adjustments. Went to QA1 double adjustment shocks. Mich tires are 200 wear and getting harder. over 260 with gauge for testing hardness. Got a set of Nitto 05 with a 200 wear, heated them up and pulled a .98g. Drivers door popped open on the test. I can drive the car hard for 20 minutes and till have some arms left. I think if you check, you will see there are alot of guys running power steering. It's not just autocross and road racing. It's normal street cars.
Does a cobra need powersteering, maybe not but until you have drivin one with you don't know what you are missing. ERA builds a great car, I just wanted it a little better and got it. Rick L.

[Detroit Bill]

Rick I am interested in your experiences with Tires. I am definitely thinking I want 17" rims so I can get modern tires. It is hard to follow your post, it sounds like you are on the track and or auto cross the car a lot.

How did you find the Pilot sports and Nitto's on the street? How long do they last?

[RICK LAKE]

Detroit Bill Bill you will have to check and make sure your cobra has the clearance. My old car is serial# 428 and had to get some rear body work to clear the 335, 35 r 17" Pilot tires where great for a couple of years. Car handled like on rails. Had to up the springs to a higher # 450 and changed the shocks to QA1's. Once this was done, no rubbing on the body of the car. I used these tires for 7 years, kept them covered in the dark and used VHT to keep soft. After so many heat cycles of the tires, they get hard and loss some of the grip. I do 95% track running and 5% street. My area has potholes that tanks disappear into and not return. Also have high sewer covers. Good thing is they don't pickup alot of crap off the road. For street would get again if you can still get this size.
Nitto 05. great tire once it is warned up. Only down side is picking up every piece of carp on the track or road. Have a 200 wear and is still soft after 6 autocross and 2 track cruises. They come in a 315 size. They are street legal but wouldn't want to get caught in the rain or wet roads.
Side note for either tire, to pervent flat spots I keep the car off the ground. Have jack stands under the "A" arms front and rear. This saves driving on square tires until they warn up and have to rebalance them after racing. Make sure you have full lock to lock with steering and not rub the body of the car front or rear areas. I have about 1.5" of travel up and down and 2.0" in the rearend. Softer setting in rearend of car to get better traction. Also have sway bars front and back from ERA with solid bushing of hard plastic donuts from PST suspension. Have hard plastic on all bushing in the suspension arms. I did modify them with adding grease holes in the arms and grooves in the bushing to lube. Running the same bushing for 15+ years and suspension is still tight. Good luck with your car. Rick L.