What gets new owners into trouble

[ENTDOC]

I think it would be seeing that young honey admiring your car and asking for a ride,then forgetting you are over 40 and married and coming around some corner at a high rate of speed and spotting your wife with a real gun aimed at you. chuck

[DonC]

MN:
Probably the biggest thing with these cars when you’re new to them – Respect, respect, respect. In general you’ve got a machine that people haven’t seen the likes of in about 35 years. The weight to horsepower ratio, as a rule, has seldom been seen outside of the exotics. At about 5.5 pounds per horsepower the only thing that equates to it is in the high power motorcycle area. In these days of low displacement high revving cars the Cobra is a throwback to the earlier true muscle cars.
As ScottJ mentioned you need to put your ego in a box and put it on a shelf somewhere for at least a month after you get the car. Ego will get you into trouble faster than an unexpected oil slick on the road. An adage that was common to helicopter pilots when they transitioned from relatively docile UH-1’s to the Cobra gun ships was that, if you didn’t pay attention it would turn around and bite you in the butt. The Cobras were faster and more agile. Same difference with transitioning from your daily driver into the Cobra. Pay attention to what you’re doing until you develop a new set of automatic driving habits. Negative habit transfer can get you if you relax too much during the wear in period.
One of the best places to get to know the car, if you can find one, is a big empty parking lot. With nothing to run into you can practice launches and find out what the car feels like when the back end breaks loose. The objective here is to get to know what the car is going to do on a hard launch and be able to counteract it and keep it pointing straight ahead. Just driving around in circles while slowly increasing your speed will cause it to break loose and you’ll get to know what it feels like at the critical point just before it happens.
Get in the habit of planning ahead. Don’t just base your actions on the car in front of you, base them on the car two, three or four in front of you.
Local autocrosses will provide you with an opportunity to take the car to it’s handling limits and are irreplaceable in getting to know the car.
A high performance driving school if there is one in your area would be one of the best investments you could make.
Spend as much time as possible in the car and get to know where everything is. You don’t want to have to look down to find anything while your busy trying to keep it pointed in the right direction.
Above all, have fun with the car. Respect its capabilities but don’t be afraid to let it out as you get used to it.
DonC

[Edley Rondinone]

DO NOT accelerate quickly while going around a 90 degree corner, such as the ones found at intersections a block from your house.

Drive CAREFULLY for the first couple of weeks, and get to know the car.

The pedals are off-set WAY over to the left. Where you would normally find the brake pedal on your family car, THAT is the GAS PEDAL!

While out driving on a road, AWAY from traffic, practice moving your foot from the gas to the brake and stopping QUICKLY.

Ever ride a motorcycle, and you could SWEAR every car driver out there was trying to kill you on your motorcycle? Ride defensively, and drive the Cobra the same way.

Driving schools are a GOOD idea!

Keep your ego at home. You dont need to "show off' for ANYBODY!

Find that big, open parking lot and follow those other guys' instructions. Get a feel for what your Cobra will do.

[cobrabuilderI]

I was so scared (and still are) every time I take my baby out- scared of what could happen- getting a speeding ticket to hurting the front on a concrete bumper ( GREAT CALL @@#@#@!!!) Just cuz I did it the FIRST FREAKING TIME OUT. TO someone carjacking me. But I tell you there is no greater feeling knowing that I built it all myself. Paint and all- All my friends are so jealous. But if I can give one piece of advice for a new user- keep the speed down- enjoy the shot to the speed limit then that's it--so long as it's not crazy. Funny thing is EVERY time just about that I talk to someone about the baby they ask "how fast will it go?" I tell them fast enough or that speed kills.

[Turk]

When you find that empty parking lot or a untravelled road, try panic braking when it is safe to do so. Find out just how much pressure is necessary to stop that thing.
Don't let the first instance of HAVING to apply full brakes be the first time in real panic situation.
Some take a lot of pressure, like standing on the pedal..

What did the car do when you slammed the brakes?
Did you have to slamm them?
Did it stop in a straight line?
Did you swap ends?

Also check some of the critical nuts and bolts for tightness. Especially the ones on the steering shaft.

TURK

[Edley Rondinone]

'ASSRIGHT!!! We dont want any loose nuts behind the wheel!!lol!!

[G.R.]

All the comments so far have been good advice


Mine is ...DON'T BE STUPID.... think about it, you have alot to lose if you let your balls get in the way of your brain...it is amazing that a car like these seem to wipe out many peoples thoughts of responsibility as soon as the engine ticks over. You aren't a teenager, your reaction times, health, eyesight, perception are not the same.
Do yourself a big favor come May, sign up for a driving school, for you and your wife if she is going to drive the car at any time, preferably one that will allow you some track time in your car at the end of the course.

And to paraphrase the SGT on "Hill Street Blues"......."BE CAREFUL OUT THERE"