Drag Racing a SN95 Cobra

[NXGHOST]

I thought I would take the time to write a little documentary on my experiences drag racing a SN95 Cobra. I read several posts here daily about drag racing, time slips etc etc etc and I can relate to the frustrations members are having and I can also relate to the goals you guys are after. I wanted a cool looking sounding car for the street but wanted it to be decently quick at the strip (sound familiar?) Here is a little blurb about what I did, how it worked and what I learned.

I purchased the 96 Cobra BONE STOCK with 80K on it. With the stock tires, stock air filter, and 3.27 gears I ran the car several times at an 1/8 mile track in Tennessee. With the 3.27 gears it was tricky because you either bogged or blew the tires off like nuts, it was hard to find a happy medium. With blazing 2.1-2.2 60’ times the car went 9.20@78MPH in the 1/8. I was going through the traps in second gear!

With that baseline GOAL IS NOW 8.90’s at 80MPH

Did a lot of reading and decided 4.30’s were the answer.

Installed some 4.30’s and went back. The car wheel hopped so bad I aborted the runs worried I would kill my torque boxes. At this time getting rid of wheel hop was priority. Lucky for my a new company called X2C motorsports just started manufacturing the worst Control arms known to man so I bough some, hey they were cheap…….

Went back to the track and the rear pinion angle was off, the car barely tracked right and wheel hop was even worse.

Lesson learned= Buy cheap and you will pay!

Purchased Maximum Motorsports Solid Lowers and Steeda Heavy Duty Uppers. Wheel hop was totally gone 110%

Went back to the 1/8th mile and ran 8.80@81MPH. 60’ was 1.9

Moved back home where we have a ¼ track and the above setup went 13.70@104MPH

NEW GOAL 13.50’s

Bought a set of ARE Steel Wheel with 8” Mickey Thompson slicks bolted to the rear. This is when I learned the secret of drag racing…TRACTION.

With just the addition of the 8” slicks the car went 13.50 alright. 13.10@106 to be exact! 1.62 60’

NEW GAOL..12’s

So far so good but this is when things go backwards. You see when you start changing a good thing or make too many changes at once you really suffer. I really wanted 12’s but didn’t want to find every last HP, lose weight on the car etc etc so over the winter I made a few changes.

1. Added a 50 shot of Nitrous express
2. Changed to H&R Super Sport Springs

3. Added strange adjustables.

4. Went to 315/35/17 BFG Drag Radials
5. Full exhaust including longtubes

I figured I can lose a bit of tire and step down to the drag radial because I have more power and a better suspension. I wanted the wheels to match also cause you gota look cool at the strip.

With the nitrous armed and the new suspension/tire setup the car went 13.10@109MPH, 1.80 60’ times great…

Back to the drawing board. I want my wheels to match at the strip but I want the traction back so a full set of Draglites were the ticket with the new M/T Drag radial on the back.

Went back to the strip and ran 12.70@110MPH but I still wasn’t satisfied with the way the car was launching. It seemed the car would spin off the line and hook 10 feet out and when I tried to adjust the strange adjustable it would hook for the first 10 feet then break loose. I tried everything and after watching some videos of the car I saw it had zero weight transfer.

Looking at the spring rates of the H&R supersports it shows they are waaaayyy to stiff. I searched the market for lowering springs with as close to stock rates as possible but still wanted to have LOWING SPRINGS, you HAVE to look cool at the drag strip. The springs I went for are Ford B springs (same as Eibach Pro). I also decided against the M/T Drag Radials and went to Hoosier Quick Time Pro Bias Ply tires.

Best pass, 12.60@110MPH 1.65 60’ time.. Watching the car launch it was popping the front up high but then it was coming down just as quick and unloading the tires. I knew then I need a drag shock, something that pops up easy but comes down stiff. I just don’t have the power to pop the front suspension up and keep it up for a decent period. I went to Lakewood 70/30’s up front and 50/50 in the back.

First pass 12.40@111mph. 1.55 60’ time! Ran the car off the bottle 12.90@107MPH!

You will notice now that my quicker ET's are directly related to my 60’ times.

The nitrous got a little old. I hated filling the bottle, waiting for the bottle to heat up and especially hated not having the power all the time. I removed the nitrous and installed a Paxton Novi 1000 at 7-8 PSI. With a mild tune and the same suspension the Cobra went 11.90@116MPH! on a 1.59 60’ time. I can likely pull off an 11.70 with a bit of practice which will come next spring.

So to recap, recipe for a solid 12.90 driver with full interior and stock T45..

96 Cobra (Stock Longblock with no intake work)
BBK Longtubes, BBK Catted H-Pipe, MAC Exhaust
Ford B Springs
Lakewood 70/30's and 50/50's.
26X10X15ET Slicks
4.30 Gears

Throw on a 50 shot and go 12.40@111MPH

Ditch the juice for a blower 11.90@116MPH

Hoping this post expresses the need for traction and its relation to et’s. I have said this many times do not go to the strip and expect decent times with regular radials. I ran my Cobra after the 11 second pass on my 315 street tires and knocked off a 12.80@114MPH while almost losing the car into the wall in 1st-3rd gear!

Lastly drive the car like you don’t like it. Many do not realize that taking it easy on the shifts to avoid any breakage will greatly reduce your ET. I do not powershift but I shift so hard and fast that I do miss gears often, I ram that shifter so hard that when it doesn’t go in I hit the rev limiter and grind the gears like a tractor.

Hope my experiences help at least one person understand that traction is the key to these cars, not power!

 

[Shangsta]

I fully agree with your post. Traction makes such a huge difference in these cars.You dont need all these boltons until you sort the suspension out.

 

[acmsheva7]

great post!! seems like i need some suspension mods but i just dont know where to start :shrug:

 

[albino96]

Great post. I agree that the H&R SS have no weight transfer whatsoever. They just look so good though! Can you set up coil-overs to be low, but still with great weight transfer.

 

[RippinSVT]

Great post. Add it to my Track Tips sticky.

 

[brucesvt]

Great post. very informative

 

[uofipilot]

I wish I had money coming out of every orifice!!! Nice work though, and good info. I switched out the stock shocks and lcas at the same time with MM LCAs and Lakewood 50/50s. Night and day on the street...can't imagine the difference it would make at the track.

 

[SpittingCobra]

Great post! I'm starting down this same path...just in a little different order... let's just say I won't post my times here till I fix the suspension/traction issues you spoke of because I would most likely be open to extreme ridicule...:nonono:

 

[Animalmutha97]

great post. Very informative

+1

 

[69mach03]

Good times, btw -- nice writeup. But.. frustration with adjusting the 10-way Strange struts / shocks made you go with Lakewood 70/30 and 50/50s? And this took the car from a 1.65 to a 1.55? Shew

 

[NXGHOST]

Good times, btw -- nice writeup. But.. frustration with adjusting the 10-way Strange struts / shocks made you go with Lakewood 70/30 and 50/50s? And this took the car from a 1.65 to a 1.55? Shew

It wasnt frustration, it just wasnt working for my car.

If the front shocks were adjusted too stiff the front end would take too long to rise. It would blow the tires away then start hooking 10-15 feet out as the front finally rose.

When I tried slightly loosening the front up it would hook off the line and pop the nose but about 10-15 feet out the nose would come down fairls quick unloading the raer tires and they would start spinning.

I am sure if I had more lower the loose setup would have worked, the 1-2 shift would also make the nose bounce on the loose setting. Ideally you want the car to come up easily to get some weight transfer and hopefully stay up there past the point where you need traction most. The 70/30's and 50/50's did just this and gained me consistent 1.5X 60' times.

 

[98 N/A 4V]

Throw the 70/30's in the trash and put back on the adjustables. You can dial in the front on what you want it to do rather than just have 1 setting (70/30's).

But it sounds to me that you either have too much weight on the nose or not enough power to keep the nose up.

-Mark

 

[95PGTTech]

I agree with what a lot you have written, but I will add:

1. You are lucky to be getting away with stock axles. 99% of cars will break on your setup. I would suggest for a budget an Explorer center differential and Moser 31 spline axles.

2. Most people don't run a full slick, they run a drag radial. That being said, they can't clutch dump from the redline like you can. They have to feather it and slip the clutch. Which means they are going to need a good clutch, and IMRC deletes. You don't need the intake work because the RPM you're launching at the car never drops below the IMRC opening/closing point. When someone on a drag radial or street tire is trying to feather the clutch and the IMRCs are opening and closing, it's going to play hell on a new driver.


Other than that, I directly agree with what you've said. For drag racing a SN95 Cobra...gears...big&littles...suspension...add power as necessary.

 

[NXGHOST]

Throw the 70/30's in the trash and put back on the adjustables. You can dial in the front on what you want it to do rather than just have 1 setting (70/30's).

But it sounds to me that you either have too much weight on the nose or not enough power to keep the nose up.

-Mark

I likely have enough power now for the strange adjustables but likely didn't on the motor.

However, the car runs consistent 1.55 60' times, would you be changing anything? LOL

 

[NXGHOST]

I agree with what a lot you have written, but I will add:

1. You are lucky to be getting away with stock axles. 99% of cars will break on your setup. I would suggest for a budget an Explorer center differential and Moser 31 spline axles.

2. Most people don't run a full slick, they run a drag radial. That being said, they can't clutch dump from the redline like you can. They have to feather it and slip the clutch. Which means they are going to need a good clutch, and IMRC deletes. You don't need the intake work because the RPM you're launching at the car never drops below the IMRC opening/closing point. When someone on a drag radial or street tire is trying to feather the clutch and the IMRCs are opening and closing, it's going to play hell on a new driver.


Other than that, I directly agree with what you've said. For drag racing a SN95 Cobra...gears...big&littles...suspension...add power as necessary.

My Car now does have a FMS 31 Spline carrier and Moser axles. I also do not clutch dump with my setup. I slowly raise the pedal until I feel it just engauge and stage there, when its time to go I slip it out.

 

[98 N/A 4V]

I likely have enough power now for the strange adjustables but likely didn't on the motor.

However, the car runs consistent 1.55 60' times, would you be changing anything? LOL

I pull mid 1.5's w/ only 325rwhp. How much you put down? With a blower you should be in the mid 1.4's with a proper suspension setup.

 

[NXGHOST]

I pull mid 1.5's w/ only 325rwhp. How much you put down? With a blower you should be in the mid 1.4's with a proper suspension setup.

On my N/A 12 second run I went mid 1.5's with 295 RWHP. More power does not mean lower 60', it gets tougher to hook it up at 400RWHP. I realize I am not the 60' record holder. Not trying to turn my experience into a contest.

 

[PSUCOBRA96]

slicks to me and the right gear and suspension setup can go a long way, my next investment is gonna be slicks, what do you recommend for a rim and tire combo that will clear the breaks and not hit anything on the suspension or body, are your fenders rolled/

 

[69mach03]

slicks to me and the right gear and suspension setup can go a long way, my next investment is gonna be slicks, what do you recommend for a rim and tire combo that will clear the breaks and not hit anything on the suspension or body, are your fenders rolled/

I'll chime in first and share my setup before everyone else comes in and says otherwise :dw: --

I run 15x8 Weld Pro Stars with 4.5" bs. 26x10 Hoosier Slicks @ 14.5 lbs
I launch at 5,000 and do a full clutch drop. (stock clutch, p/p, & trans)
Consistent 1.67-1.70 60 fts.

Here are my passes from just this past weekend at the track (Sunday, 10/5)

1.684 12.942 @ 105.39
1.692 12.965 @ 105.07
1.698 12.967 @ 104.79 (lifted - should have ran 12.95x)
1.697 12.949 @ 103.59 (lost tail wind, issues with the chip)
1.687 12.954 @ 98.80 (on the brakes - should have ran 12.93x)
1.690 12.955 @ 105.47

(You can see that the 60 ft varied from 1.684 to 1.698 or 14 thousandths all day)

5.5" bs may be more cosmetically pleasing for your car, but I've found 4.5" works well on the SN95 style (94-98) and 5.5" works well on the New Edge style (99-04). I had to do some grinding on the calipers themselves to fit the 15s on, but they went on easily after some work. Remember that you'll need extended wheel studs and the long shank lug nuts to work with the wheels you choose.

**NOTE** I will bet you a hundred people will post after me and say 15x10s for the rear. I disagree. An 8" inch wide wheel is all you'll ever need, IMO. The purpose of bigs and littles are for TRACTION and WEIGHT. Why run 2 inch wider wheels if you don't need to? More weight. oke:

 

[NXGHOST]

I'll chime in first and share my setup before everyone else comes in and says otherwise :dw: --

I run 15x8 Weld Pro Stars with 4.5" bs. 26x10 Hoosier Slicks @ 14.5 lbs
I launch at 5,000 and do a full clutch drop. (stock clutch, p/p, & trans)
Consistent 1.67-1.70 60 fts.

Here are my passes from just this past weekend at the track (Sunday, 10/5)

1.684 12.942 @ 105.39
1.692 12.965 @ 105.07
1.698 12.967 @ 104.79 (lifted - should have ran 12.95x)
1.697 12.949 @ 103.59 (lost tail wind, issues with the chip)
1.687 12.954 @ 98.80 (on the brakes - should have ran 12.93x)
1.690 12.955 @ 105.47

(You can see that the 60 ft varied from 1.684 to 1.698 or 14 thousandths all day)

5.5" bs may be more cosmetically pleasing for your car, but I've found 4.5" works well on the SN95 style (94-98) and 5.5" works well on the New Edge style (99-04). I had to do some grinding on the calipers themselves to fit the 15s on, but they went on easily after some work. Remember that you'll need extended wheel studs and the long shank lug nuts to work with the wheels you choose.

**NOTE** I will bet you a hundred people will post after me and say 15x10s for the rear. I disagree. An 8" inch wide wheel is all you'll ever need, IMO. The purpose of bigs and littles are for TRACTION and WEIGHT. Why run 2 inch wider wheels if you don't need to? More weight. oke:

I used to run 8" wheels in the rear (Steel ARE wheels) and now run a 10" wheel. They both hooked the same. If the suspension is decent it will hook. I have seen cars go 1.3 60' on a 8" Slick.