Years ago I did this school (http://racingadventures.com/) specifically because I was very interested in a Cobra replica and that's what you drive when you go to one of their schools.

Like others have said, it's not a finesse car but that is not to say it is not a fun. It is a fun car, a really fun car. However it is very cramped, very uncomfortable, very loud and even more impractical.

 

All the people thinking a Cobra with monster horsepower would be awesome have missed the point of the car.

Yes, yes, big engines are manly, but the car isn't about being macho or scary handling. It was a lightweight roadster with a lightweight V8 engine, intended to win autocross and road races. A more powerful engine doesn't make the car any better or any faster, it just makes it harder to control. Historically, the originals had a 260 or 289 ci Ford V8. This wasn't because nobody knew where to get a bigger engine. The big 427 and 428 motor'd cars were far less successful at racing than the originals, and required re-engineering the car for the added weight and torque. While the big block cars could win races, they were not nearly as dominant on track as the small block cars.

It seems everyone wants a big block Cobra with tons of power, but that's not the car that made the AC/Shelby relationship world famous. The small block cars dominated racing and put the AC Cobra on the front page. The big block cars were a financial failure for the Ford/AC/Shelby partnership - the big block motor destroyed what made the Cobra so successful on the race track. Other than for drag racing, I don't understand why anyone would want one of the inferior big block cars.

I would like a Cobra replica with either a carbed 289 or at most a DOHC 4.6 for ~300 hp. I'd prefer a 289/302 Daytona coupe, however. The last thing I'd want is 400+ hp from a blower or big block in a car like that. It just doesn't make sense to me.

 

The ideal cobra would be one with an LSx.

 

Good info.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head.

I drove one a long time ago and while it takes a lot to scare me and make me feel uncomfortable in a car, the cobra rep did the trick. Too much horses on that type of car would make the car very difficult to drive. I have yet to see one of these cars driven "fast" at an autox event.

 

What does having more power have to do with cornering? The chassis is still the same, the rear suspension design is the same. The only difference is 100-200 more horsepower and torque. I'd understand if you gave it a boot full in a corner with 200 more horses, the car would handle like shit, but if you knew how to handle those extra horses, why would the car be that much worse at handling?

 

I think it is the combination of the added weight in the front and how finicky the car becomes with that increase in torque that make it more than a handful around the turns. 100-200 HP on a car that light is insane when the car is not designed for it. Hell, my STI was a completely different car going from ~270 WHP stock to the 354 WHP I had when I sold it, I can only imagine if I bumped it by more than that and it didn't have AWD or the extra weight to help keep that power under control. Basically, with ~300 HP and that weight, plus being so basic in the setup, the car would be hard to drive but controllable. Bump it to 400-500 HP and it gets to the point where it doesn't matter how good a driver you are.

 

^ pretty much this.

The AC Ace was designed for a 2-2.5 liter straight six putting out perhaps 125 hp, and that much torque.

On top of issues with big block torque easily over-powering the tires from just off idle or simply upsetting the chassis, the big block cars were re-engineered under the hood to fit the huge 427 big block. I repeat, the car was "fixed" to fit the engine, not to improve handling. After the engine was fitted, handling was dealt with.

I think it's relevant to point out that the adaptions required to fit the original Ford 260 V8 were upgrading the rear diff and moving the steering shaft outward to accomodate the wider OHV V8 vs. the straight six. The FE 427 would not fit between the shock towers of most cars today, much less something designed for a straight six in the 50's, so the amount of work was extensive.

The Ford 427 was designed solely for racing, and the success of the Cobra in racing made Ford executives flex their muscle to get this new racing motor under its hood. The 427 was an incredible racing motor, but it wasn't a good fit for either the Cobra or the GT40, both of which carried the motor via a Ford executive shoehorn. It really needed a car designed around it, a la NASCAR, rather than a car be modified to take it.

In fairness, Ford subsidized the work to fit the new motor and the alterations to the chassis to make it workable. They were looking to win races, and they did. I think the AC Cobra Mk. II was probably the end of the line for the roadster and the Daytona coupe was it's obvious successor, given the ground the Corvettes were starting to win back. But the Daytona coupe was a race car without a road car version to sell - an economic dead end. The MK. III big block cars would probably be a solid improvement over the earlier 289 cars, if you replaced the big block motor with a 289.