Raced an MR2 a Z28 and drove a Cobra

[MrSwede]

MR2
I could tell immediately that this car was a modded turbo MR2 by his huge shiny muffler. At the stop light we slowly roll away when I floor it, he quicly follows my example. As soon as he gets on it I know that I am in trouble, his car sounds like a fighter jet without a muffler and quickly begins to pull. I gain some ground everytime he shift (bad shifter?) but this car is pulling way too hard. I roll down my window and tell him "fast car!"....like he did not know. We both turn on an empty highway, he is right behind me. He switches to the other lane and I get on it like never before. He begins to pull again. I never race this fast, but I guess I was caught up in the moment. Up to about 80-90 he is slowly pulling on me, but after that we are equal. I could not tell very well, but I might have been pulling on him after about 100? Finally I shut down at about 120, which comes awfully fast when you absorbed in your own stupidity. It was a fun race, but I will never do that again.

Z28
I do not have many mods (Stromung/Tanabe turboback, Unichip-TXS II, KN) so I was always worried about the V8's. So I hit this stop light with a red Z28 (2000-2002?) with sideskirts, tinted windows and such, and did not plan on racing. We both take off driving normal but he keep revving and driving beside me. Finally we hit another light together, and i am PUMPED. I start revving and slip/drop at about 5K (which I have never done before...not a big racer) and I take off like a rocket, by the time I am in 2nd gear he is almost two car lengths behing, in third I am still pulling slowly. I was sruprised that I was still pulling in third as I thought this is when he would get me? Shut down. I rolled down my window and could barely see that there were two guys in the other car because I wanted to talk to them, but they do not roll down the window. Lo and behold, we come to another red light. I am sitting in a bad lane, one of those lanes with tar build-up, but I am still too pumped to care. Well, it was pretty much a replay of the frst race, though he gave up pretty early this time. To say the least, I was pretty excited to spank a V8 with my mods.

Cobra
Just for kick I went to a dealership and test drove a 99 Cobra. The car was red and looked beautiful. The sound of the engine was great, but that is where my praise ends. This car had only 16K on it, which is what I have on my WRX, but what a piece of JUNK! The car felt like driving the Titanic on four wheels, a great big spunge made out of steel...absolutely no road-feel. Straight line felt and sounded pretty good (love the torque) but almost scary in corners and under braking. I thought my squeeky seat was annoying, but this car sounded like half of the interior was about to fall off! Got back in my beloved Subie and felt pretty good about not owning a Ford.

[JRod]

Originally posted by MrSwede
. The sound of the engine was great, but that is where my praise ends. This car had only 16K on it, which is what I have on my WRX, but what a piece of JUNK!

I think you would feel different if you drove a '02-'03 Cobra, totally different beasts. I'm sure '03 Cobra will chime in any time now.

[Mr. Arizona]

Mrswede, where did u drive this at? i just drove one in NE Ohio. it had 16K on it also. i found it to b a fun car, laid about a 40 foot squiggly patch with it. Fishtailed around some corners. but i still think it is sooo heavy and bulky feeling, and ill say it time and time again, i cant stand a car with the SAME interior since 1994!!! we r goin on 10 years people!

[is2scooby]

I got to sit in an '03 Cobra - it felt exactly like my '94 Mustang GT did. Leather interior, but nothing new. They seriously haven't paid any attention to the ergonomics of the interior.

That's not all bad, as I liked the interior of my '94 - but if you're looking for modern ergonomic bliss you've gone to the wrong place.

From what I've seen at the local dragstrip they certainly have paid attention to the powertrain though! Wow. Just plain nuts!

[WRXin']

My friend has this crazy MR2, and he's about to get an Apex turbo kit for it. Being that those things are so light, I'm sure he'll be able to hand my ass to me

Here's a pic of his car...

[CustomS10]

Originally posted by is2scooby
They seriously haven't paid any attention to the ergonomics of the interior.

the reason for that is they needed extra seat bracket support on the 03 cobra cuz when u romp on it the seats goes back regardless

[swipe112]

Hmm.....you know? I honestly don't think you could have been pulling on the MR2 past 100mph. The topend is our car's weakest trait. If you ever see a graph of our cars acceleration with seconds on the y axis, you see a huge steep slope after 100mph (meaning its the slowest in that range). True, maybe you were pulling, but I personally have had my ass handed over by cars w/ less hp going over 100 mph.

[CustomS10]

Originally posted by swipe112
Hmm.....you know? I honestly don't think you could have been pulling on the MR2 past 100mph. The topend is our car's weakest trait. If you ever see a graph of our cars acceleration with seconds on the y axis, you see a huge steep slope after 100mph (meaning its the slowest in that range). True, maybe you were pulling, but I personally have had my ass handed over by cars w/ less hp going over 100 mph.

ya i read ur other thread wrx vs my cousins moped!

good thing the race was downhill from 80-120 hehe

but the top end is terrible but if u have mods it gets a lot better. not 03 cobra better but better