Thinking about a Custom Cobra Build, have questions

[Tom Kirkham]

The SRT-4 engine has a lot of potential. Jorgen (RaceDeck) told me his 32 Roadster was making over 1,000 HP. http://www.racedeckracing.com/cars.html

[MChat]

Originally Posted by Tom Kirkham

The SRT-4 engine has a lot of potential. Jorgen (RaceDeck) told me his 32 Roadster was making over 1,000 HP. http://www.racedeckracing.com/cars.html

Yep. Darrell Cox Racing (DCR) built the engines for both of the cars on that page. My engine is built using DCR's parts and is pretty much the same as the engines in those cars. I originally built the engine to handle 850+ wheel horse power (~1000 crank). The actual power output is more dependent upon which turbo I use and nitrous (if any) added into the mix.

In the last car I was using an AGP HP66 turbo, which was capable of pushing close to 750hp @ 40psi boost, and I had a 170shot direct port nitrous system w/ a progressive controller. Along with a standalone EMS, 4-coil ignition system, 1600cc fuel injectors, etc... Between all of that & the automatic, the car just became "un-fun" to drive around town. And the combination of the standalone and the auto made it a pain to tune, so I couldn't even run it like I wanted to at the track, making it "un-fun" to drive at the track too.

The car was alot more fun before I went crazy. It had a GT3076R turbo (maxes out around 520whp), stock engine (oilpan to valvecover), bolt on upgrades (mostly fuel & ignition stuff), a 3" turboback exhaust, a manual trans with a twindisc "race" clutch. I could drive it to the track, bolt on a set of slicks and run mid 11's all day long (best time was 11.3@126.9). And around town, after getting used to the "on/off" race clutch it was still fun to drive (only stop and go traffic was tiresome).

I tried to sell the car outright, but who wants a $30k Neon, even if it does have $45k in parts and the capability (with more tuning) of running mid 9's. So I'm putting the car back to a more sane level (with a stock engine, but upgraded turbo), where hopefully it will still run (high) 11's (on pumpgas), and be fun to drive again. Then I'll sell it, and use the cash for the Cobra build, having learned my lession from the Neon, I'm reducing the size of the turbo (the GT3582R should "max out" around 650whp) so it spools up at a decent RPM (full boost @ 3600-3800) and using stock electronics with "piggy back" tuners for fuel and ignition control. That should keep the "fun" factor while still having a very quick car.

Another trick up my sleeve, to keep the car streetable (and fun to drive on the street): I can keep the power under control in the lower gears by using an AVC-R Electronic Boost Controller. This controller allows me to dial in a different boost for each gear. In the Neon when I used this controller I dialled the boost down to 12psi (~300whp, as low as it would go) in 1st, 17psi (~350whp) in 2nd and 23psi in 3rd, 4th & 5th (~420whp). Other than 1st gear the car hooked up wonderfully on the street. And that's a 3000lb FWD car with 245 series tires; I imagine it'll be a bit better with a 2000lb RWD car with 315 series tires .