[94cobra69ss396]

My intake gaskets came today so I got the lower intake put on tonight. I'll try to finish it up tomorrow if I have time.

[Shaolin Crane]

[94cobra69ss396]

WOW! What a difference! I finished installing the intake, distributor, etc. and then took it for a test drive. Nothing clanked or rattled which I was concerned about with how close things were. Now for how it feels. It definitely brakes much better than before the TA. Before when I would brake hard the front tires would chatter with the ABS and the back end would rise limiting the effectiveness of the rear tires. Now the back barely raises and the rear tires chatter with the ABS.

On acceleration it no longer spins in 3rd gear. It still spins in 2nd gear but it bites more. Before the TA if I rolled into the throttle in 2nd it would just blow the tires and not move as quickly. It also doesn't step out as uncontrollably as it did before when accelerating in 2nd on a left hand turn. It seems slower and more controlled.

As for rolling in corners I didn't really think it felt that bad but I'm also used to my Explorer that leans like crazy. Still, I only took one corner at a decent pace and that was a right hand sweeper on a freeway on ramp. Again, it didn't feel like it was rolling all that much to me and felt very planted.

[Vettezuki]

My strongest memory of being in the car with you at Adams, other than impending death, was a feeling of under steer. How about that? Maybe you won't know until you're really pushing towards its limits. How bout from a hard dig? Better, worse (because of limited weight transfer?), neutral?

[94cobra69ss396]

Everyone says that understeer will be worse because the back has so much more traction but I won't know until I get it to Adam's. Like you said, you don't feel that until you're pushing it which I can't do on the street.

I can't test it from a hard dig because it just blows the tires off in first. The only way to test that compared to before is to put my slicks on which I did do once so I at least know what it felt like before. With the 347 it would spin the slicks through 1st and most of 2nd on the slicks. I'll have to test that one day.

[Vettezuki]

What kind of tire you running up front and what's the limit in width? Without checking I think the new Z28 track car is running like 305s all around or something nutty like that. If it understeers and you have tire to gain, you could always go wider, stickier and with a different camber setup I guess.

[94cobra69ss396]

I have three sets of rim for the Cobra. One set are 98 Cobra rims which came on the car when I bought it. They are 8.5x17 front and rear. The second set original Steeda Ultralites which are 9.5x17 front and 10.5x17 rear. The last set are stock SN95 GT rims (2) that I have my M/T slicks mounted to. I used to run the Steeda rims with street tires and had 245/45/17 NT01 mounted on the Cobra rims for the track. That's the tire I had when you and I went to Adam's. However, I'm now running a 255/45/17 on the Cobra rims for the street. I still need to buy some NT01 for the track that will be mounted on the Steeda rims and I'll be going to a 275/40/17 on the front and a 315/35/17 in the rear.

Right now my Camber is set at -2 degrees which I run all the time. I've been told that the car will work best with somewhere between -2.5 - 3.0 but I haven't tried that yet. I do plan on going over to Crest Chevrolet one day with Phil and using their alignment rack to set the camber up at -2.5 and -3 so that I can mark my caster/camber plates so for all three so I can easily change it at the track to test. That way I can change it back to the -2 I run on the street.

[Shaolin Crane]

You can accommodate the understeer by tuning the swaybars a bit. I have all the MM alignment goodies, we can measure the bumpsteer and c/c and find out were the issues are and find a cost effective alternative to doing what I did. I know MM likes to run the sway bars softer, with more spring pressure and minimal rebound but it rides like shit when you aren't pushing it to its limits.

[94cobra69ss396]

I'll be taking you up on that offer. I spoke to Gonzalo at GTR who called MM yesterday to discuss what my car has now and what they recommend. They said the front springs I have now have a spring rate of 680 - 780 and that their TA spring 42TA5 would be a perfect match for them. However, my current rear shocks won't control them so I need to get rear shocks first and then upgrade the springs. I can't afford to do both at the same time so I'm going to get the shocks first and then do the springs later. Gonzalo is going to get me a price on Koni SA shocks to match the struts I have in the front.