Why Do Cobra Owners Sell So Fast?

[lippy]

I met a guy today that had his Kirkham Cobra at the Palo Alto Concours. He said it's 7 years old and he drives it to work. The car has more than 100k miles. He is selling it, but only because he has a number of cars and is running out of room. Since I'm building a Cobra but haven't spent much time in one, this was a good data point that these cars are useable - especially in NorCal where you rarely if ever need to worry about unpredictable weather.

[decooney]

Originally Posted by lippy

I met a guy today that had his Kirkham Cobra at the Palo Alto Concours. He said it's 7 years old and he drives it to work. The car has more than 100k miles. He is selling it, but only because he has a number of cars and is running out of room. Since I'm building a Cobra but haven't spent much time in one, this was a good data point that these cars are useable - especially in NorCal where you rarely if ever need to worry about unpredictable weather.

Just finished dinner and It's 6:30pm on this June 30th summer evening in NorCal, and a predictable 104 degrees right now. Darn, gonna have to pass on the after-dinner drive this evening. Ugh.

[Jaydee]

It was shown on Myth busters once, that if you drive fast enough in the rain, you won't get wet. has anyone experienced this in their Cobra?
JD

[SunDude]

Originally Posted by Jaydee

It was shown on Myth busters once, that if you drive fast enough in the rain, you won't get wet. has anyone experienced this in their Cobra? JD

This works in my Miata which is far more aerodynamic than my Cobra.

But in the Cobra you just get wet.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by Jaydee

It was shown on Myth busters once, that if you drive fast enough in the rain, you won't get wet. has anyone experienced this in their Cobra?
JD

Well, I'll answer from experience. It is true to a degree that the windshield, especially with the help of the top and side visors will provide significant reduction in what rain comes into the car.

The doors are another question. Rain comes around the bottom of the windshield and gets into the channel and drips on your lap or feet.

Some rain also comes down the inside of the windshield so carry a rag. That same rain will also cause fog on the inside. I had a defroster in mine that helped but wasn't a total solution.

Around here, such rain is also accompanied by hail. Keep your tonneau cover in the front seat with you so you can stop and duck under it.

Moving will NOT keep rain splashed up by cars on your left or right sides from getting you wet. It comes from the side so you will get splashed some by passing cars (or when passing cars).

And when you slow down or stop at a stop light be prepared.

I kept some towels behind the seat for such emergencies. I never deliberately took the Cobra for a drive in the rain but around here storms can develop in a matter of minutes, drop buckets for 10 or 15 minutes and clear up.

Also be careful with what tires... Hydroplaning is possible with some. I had Goodyears which were pretty good.

[dcdoug]

Originally Posted by Jaydee

It was shown on Myth busters once, that if you drive fast enough in the rain, you won't get wet. has anyone experienced this in their Cobra?
JD

I have found that in a standard rain storm with normal size drops, rain will blow right over the top of the cobra if you are moving faster than about 40mph. Not a myth.

HOWEVER, some exceptions:

- Deluge-style thunderstorms with huge drops don't all blow over

- Water will land on the back of the car and roll back down into the cockpit. Doesn't get you wet, but gets carpet wet

- Lay the visor horizontal or rain hits it and drops on the dash

- Water will come up from the front wheels and in around the door seals (which aren't great, at least on my car - if it was a regular occurrence, I'd probably play with better weather stripping)

- Some water will come around the windshield and drip onto your leg

- You better hope there aren't any lights or stop signs....

- The look on people's faces when you go by in a rainstorm in a cobra with no top is priceless.

I also carry a car cover and a tonneau (not one you can drive with) if I'll be out and might want to cover the car during a rain storm

[DonC]

On average I probably drive my car a bit more than most. Have driven through my share of wet and can back up those that talk about "as long as you're moving at something above about 40 mph you should stay "pretty dry".
I've driven in rain and hail mix and hail hurts. Rain will also hurt in free fall but those are speeds that you usually won't see in a Cobra.
Water will find it's way onto your left knee from the door channel and your left shoulder will probably get a little damp from spray around the wind wings. If the rain lasts more than a about 15 minutes you'll probably get some blow-by on the inside of your windshield. I carry an 8" squeegee behind the passenger seat that I can get to for those times.
As with anything else "your mileage may differ" but overall I don't worry about it excessively. I always carry my soft top and side curtains in the trunk and if I see it coming and there's an opportunity to do so I'll put the top on. Takes about 5 minutes and does a good job.
Keep in mind these cars are based on a British design and by law they have to leak. Putting some drain holes in the floor isn't a bad idea. Put removable rubber plugs in them for normal driving and just pull them out and let them drain if the floor ever gets excessively wet.
X2 about the loss of traction on wet pavement and hydroplaning but, again, try not to get too wrapped around the axle about it. You KNOW it's a factor so adjust your driving accordingly. If you're driving on reasonably regular treaded tires you should be o.k., if you're street driving on something akin to drag slicks, not so much.
While I generally don't take the car out when I know it's going to rain I don't worry about it overly much if I get caught in it.
DonC

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by DonC

X2 about the loss of traction on wet pavement and hydroplaning but, again, try not to get too wrapped around the axle about it. You KNOW it's a factor so adjust your driving accordingly.

Far easier said than done when needing to merge into 70MPH traffic streams.