How hard are you on your Terminator?

[2011 gtcs]

I'm sure this has been covered before but since I'm kinda new to the terminator section I figured I would see how hard you guys are on your cars with stock engines. My car has just over 55k on it and I know the previous owner was very hard on her with a ported eaton. But overall the car seems to be running pretty healthy. Now that I'm over 600whp I have been taking it easy on her. Just figured it would be a good topic to talk about.

 

[RI-SVT]

I don't do burnouts not my thing, but I open her nicely on the highway here and there, I don't ever beat on my cars.

 

[01yellercobra]

Mine usually sees boost a couple times each drive. That can be cruising with friends or going to work. I don't do standing burn outs, but the tires do tend to spin when hitting boost.

However, I keep up on the maintenance, check fluids before heading out, etc. And I usually pop the hood once I get home and look everything over before heading into the house.

 

[2011 gtcs]

Yeah since I have bought the car I have changed every fluid and I do my oil changes every 300 miles, I also changed out a lot of little things, and when I did the blower I cleaned everything up and replaced everything I could. The clutch is getting replaced also this month.

 

[03cobra#694]

Mine barely ran the other morning, so not hard enough. I did lay into it pretty good the other day. I have a post about it in what did you do to your car today. Stupid garage queen, lol.

 

[Bdubbs]

I drive my car 1-3 times a week for about an hour at most each time. I usually go into boost every time I take it out. But I'm not doing a 40-135 pull that often. Sometimes it's just one gear close to redline. It's hard not too lol. I always check under hood before I leave and also once I get home. I clean up the belt dust after each drive and also have a fan on the motor cooling it down. I've never once done a burnout either.

Most people think I never "beat" on it. I guess I don't, because that's not what I'd call it. I take care of the car and respect it. I feel she likes to be opened up once in awhile!

 

[BlksvtCobra01]

I've had mine since 2013 and never done a burnout in it. Well at least a standing one. I can lay into it and it will break the tires loose.

Hell I haven't been over 115mph in it. But every time I do take it out it does see boost. It's hard not too lol. Love the instant torque, the scream of the eaton. Which will someday be replaced with a TVS. It's a very fun car. People can do what they please with there cars I guess since I'm paying for it and it's a clean car I'm a little anal and easy on it.


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[2011 gtcs]

Yeah you guys are definitely more like me, I almost feel bad beating on her all the time. Since the TVS has been done I have made 2 WOT pulls from 40 to 100

 

[Beavis281]

I never beat on mine. I will break tires loose every once in a while. Spin it up to hear the scream. I know what it can do. I don't need to show it off.

I'm 37yrs old. I really don't need a reckless op on my record.

 

[roy_1031]

Guess I'll be the first one to say I'm hard on the car. My car see's 23 pounds every time it goes out. I race it at the track and do many line lock burnouts then in street form, I cruise the car with other Cobras and we're always making pulls between each other and what not or hit the canyons. And being in SoCal, it never gets put away for winter. I'm always on top of maintenance and use good quality fluids. I have aeroforce gauges to monitor everything and I never bounce the rev limiter. Car only has 37k miles and gets driven hard on a drag radial every time it's out. Car runs like a clock too. Guess a lot has to do with the tune also. OP, I wouldn't be afraid to open up the car and let her rip. Have fun with it, it's what it was designed for.


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[P49Y-CY]

i'd say on a scale of 1-10, i usually drive them at about a 7.

 

[TheFleshRocket]

These cars are designed to handle some spirited driving. Driving a car hard isn't beating on it.

Pulling out of your driveway on a cold motor and putting the pedal to the metal is beating on it. (Always get the oil up to temp, first.) No-lift shifting is beating on it.

Running it up through the gears a few times each drive isn't beating on it. Hell, burnouts aren't even beating on it.

 

[nxhappy]

These cars are designed to handle some spirited driving. Driving a car hard isn't beating on it.

Pulling out of your driveway on a cold motor and putting the pedal to the metal is beating on it. (Always get the oil up to temp, first.) No-lift shifting is beating on it.

Running it up through the gears a few times each drive isn't beating on it. Hell, burnouts aren't even beating on it.

I would agree.

 

[MG0h3]

do you really mean 300 miles on an oil change?!?

Longer I have my car the harder I run it it seems. Bought it at 78k now at 88k. I dont hold the rpms high for extended periods, drop the clutch or power shift, but I dont hesitate to run it to 5-5500 several times when I take it out.

 

[oxford03cobra]

I guess I drive mine pretty hard when I take it out I have done countless stand still burnouts , some dig runs , rolls from 40-150 or 160 and shift it at 6700-6800rpm but I do maintain it well its still on the stock longblock making a little over 700 on e85 and its at 67k miles and ive owned it since 07

 

[2011 gtcs]

do you really mean 300 miles on an oil change?!?

Longer I have my car the harder I run it it seems. Bought it at 78k now at 88k. I dont hold the rpms high for extended periods, drop the clutch or power shift, but I dont hesitate to run it to 5-5500 several times when I take it out.

I work for a shop so I get Mobil 1 fully synthetic 5w20 for basically free and oil filters are cheap, so yeah I do my oil changes extremely often lol. but good to see your cobra has some miles and still runs hard

I guess I drive mine pretty hard when I take it out I have done countless stand still burnouts , some dig runs , rolls from 40-150 or 160 and shift it at 6700-6800rpm but I do maintain it well its still on the stock longblock making a little over 700 on e85 and its at 67k miles and ive owned it since 07

That's awesome to hear, I'm sure at 700whp that thing is a monster.

 

[Huachipato]

I drive mine most days to work and back. A good 10 mile drive each way in city traffic. I get about 12MPG - lot of starting and stopping.

I did one burn out in this car - in a parking lot with crappy, worn street tires. That was fun - and I guess that is considered by some to beat on it. First and only time I had ever done a burnout.

I hit the rev limiter probably 4 times in the almost 13 years of ownership. All that with the stock tune - so I can't imagine I can really do much harm to this car.

I did manage to somehow bust the Transmission output shaft 4 years ago goosing it at low speed in second. Had the transmission rebuilt *just to work* and then a year ago *fixed properly*. New clutch was put in at that point too.

I like to think I open her up once in a while when the road ahead clears up. Just a second or third gear pull but rarely over 5K RPMs. Most of the driving otherwise is kept below 3.5K RPMs. I am somewhat aggressive driver all in all.

I do have the Aeroforce gauges. I've caught the intercooler pump dying and a battery dying by keeping an eye on things.

Also - FWIW - I keep her in a garage at home and in covered parking at work. She rarely sits out in the sun for extended amounts of time. If I know she will be parked at home for more than 3 days - I'll open up the hood and put a float charger on the battery. I do otherwise open the hood a least twice a month to check that everything looks good.

As for maintenance - the oil gets change at about every 4-5K miles (full synthetic oil) and rest of the stuff as needed or recommended.

 

[c6zhombre]

I take my car out about once a week...but I don't do any standing burnouts, no lift shifts or clutch drops...its just not necessary because I can break the tires loose in the first three gears regardless just throttling the gas pedal. I always warm the car up with easy first few miles....mainly to get the engine oil and driveline up to temp. It's actually even more difficult to do this because the car on ethanol runs VERY cool. It's amazing how much longer it take to see the coolant go to 177 on ethanol versus gasoline....several more minutes in comparable weather.

But honestly, I've had this car for over 6 years and to me it gets STRONGER with each passing year. I have no data to back up that claim other than seat of the pants and how quickly it will fry the tires on a rolling hit.... I did dyno it in 2014, and it made very nice numbers....but it feels better now in 2017 than it did in 2014. 25,600 miles on the clock now. I bought it with 19,000 in 2011. I have no fear of this motor letting go. It's an absolute animal on E85....but yet idles as smoothly as a honda

 

[hotcobra03]

I feel I m easy on mine..it's an everyday driver..and has to be reliable. .

I seen a dude last week in a silver cobra..dude was beating the he'll out of his in my book..

I'm also older now but still have moments where I do run car harder..

I to feel car hasn't lost its power feel after many miles

 

[04dreamcobra]

04 with 56K miles. It gets parked during the winter and only sees daylight when the weather is perfect. It isn't tracked or driven hard. On occasion I will open it up on the highway but it is rare. I have no concern of it holding the power. Just my driving preferences. I think I would feel just as comfortable driving it harder than I do.