Did a little off-roadin in the Cobra.

[fx-man]

My first ever lap session at Nelson Ledges and it's cold and raining. I'm coming out of oak tree under SLIGHT throttle and the pavement changes at the end of the turn, the car hits this point and the rear kicks just enough to drop first one rear into the grass at which point I ran out of talent, the entire rear came around, I locked the brakes and rode it out as the car did a very graceful 270 degree spin (as I watched chunks of turf flying up all around the car, I brought enough divots back to make a golf green) slid across 60 yards of grass and mud and contacted the tire wall rear first ending up halfway through it and sitting on a couple of tires.
Here's a frame from a later sessions videoy showing my addition to the landscaping with a red x where the car came to a rest.

I wish I would have had the camera running during the off course excursion but I was thinking it's just gonna be a boring slow wet run so why bother taping.
Sunday I got some dry track finally, one thing I can say is compared to BeaveRun this track is very easy on the brakes, there's only one spot on the course where I was doing more than a tap to settle the car. Here's a couple of laps for anyone who'se interested.
Please excuse the camera shake. For some reason my chase cam did not want to work so I attached the camcorder to the chasecam mount which I don't think was designed to take that kind of weight. Plus I did not allow for the added height from the camera so the rear view mirror is a bit low in the frame.

[somethingclever]

Yikes!!


I'm running Mid-Ohio next weekend....i hope the weather works out.

[BOOSTED98GT]

Ouch, did you hurt the car?

[fx-man]

As far as I can tell I slightly bent one exhaust tip, broke off the little bolt that holds the e-brake cable to the lower control arm, and put a scuff down the drivers side that looks like it'll buff out. Compared to an 05 GT and an SVT focus that also met the tire wall and had to be trailered home I really lucked out. From now on if it's a wet track I think I'll just sit out and watch everyone else slide around.

[u1arunit]

Wow, glad that you are okay Jim and that the car wasn't that badly damaged! Could have been a lot worse.

[InTheTurns]

Hi guys. I just re-registered and am glad to see a couple posts in the road racing section. I am hooked. I have not driven Nelson but heard it can be a difficult track. Glad to hear no major damage to your cobra. How often do you get to the track and what organizations do you run with?

[fx-man]

Hi guys. I just re-registered and am glad to see a couple posts in the road racing section. I am hooked. I have not driven Nelson but heard it can be a difficult track. Glad to hear no major damage to your cobra. How often do you get to the track and what organizations do you run with?

Mostly so far it's been SVTOA events, open track days, and the odd time trial. Maybe 10-12 track days this year so far. I read your post in the other thread where you talk about NASA, I havn't had an opportunity to try one of their events yet.

[InTheTurns]

You can find out a lot of information at their website(www.nasaproracing.com). You would be in the HPDE class. HPDE stands for high performance driving event. Nasa is not as strict as SCCA and makes it much easier to get on track. PM me if you have any questions. I am in the Ohio/Indiana region. We did 4 events at MidOh last year. It is also cool to see the American Iron series run. what modifications have you made so far? I have only done suspension. Next will be a diet if I continue to track this car.

[fx-man]

Yeah That's what I would be interested in, HPDE or time trials. The Cobra is my daily summer driver also so I don't want to be wheel to wheel racing in it. Current mods are Whipple supercharger@13lbs boost, chip, Mafxtender, air filter, MM full length subs, poly/delrin bushings, koni sa struts/shocks, CC plates, 03 coupe springs (and I need something stiffer), Differential brace, autopower 4 pt rollbar, magnaflow catback, Hawk HP Plus pads, SS brake lines. Putting the car on a diet would entail stripping the interior amongst other things which isn't gonna happen to this car so I'll run with the weight disadvantage although I haven't had too much of a problem with the scoobys and evos I've run with as the power difference more than makes up for the weight difference.

[somethingclever]

Putting the car on a diet would entail stripping the interior amongst other things which isn't gonna happen to this car so I'll run with the weight disadvantage although I haven't had too much of a problem with the scoobys and evos I've run with as the power difference more than makes up for the weight difference.

That's what i'm hoping for...i'm racing with the NORPCA (porsche club) this weekend....i'm hoping to pass a few 911's on the straights...LOL...but forget the turns!

[BoneCrusher]

Damn Jim glad you and the car are OK man. I love watching your vids.

[InTheTurns]

FX,
Would love to see you at the track. that Whipple would be fun to see. I left the engine stock except for Bassani aft-cat and K&N filtercharger. I also had a custom dyno tune at Pauls Automotive Engineering in Cincy. I am only putting about 390-400 down at the wheels. Power helps at the track but I learned real fast tires and suspension gets you around the track faster. I have a MM IRS grip box and coil over steup with their Bilstein race-valved shocks/struts. The car is way better than stock in the handling department.

[JETHRO]

ive heard about that turn. i didnt get to go this year but id like to next year. i have a budy that takes his camaro out there and he almost did the same thing

[fx-man]

FX,
Would love to see you at the track. that Whipple would be fun to see. I left the engine stock except for Bassani aft-cat and K&N filtercharger. I also had a custom dyno tune at Pauls Automotive Engineering in Cincy. I am only putting about 390-400 down at the wheels. Power helps at the track but I learned real fast tires and suspension gets you around the track faster. I have a MM IRS grip box and coil over steup with their Bilstein race-valved shocks/struts. The car is way better than stock in the handling department.

Yep tires are the single best improvement in grip, followed by shocks, springs, bushings. I have about the whole IRS grip box on only bought seperately, I have considered going to a coilover setup but right now the springs and konis have got the car behaving so well that I'm scared to mess with it.:D

[Viper_ed]

Have you tried the Nitto NT-1 tire?

[fx-man]

Not yet. Currently I'm running Kumho V700's which probably have another 3-4 track days left in them so I'll look at the Nittos and others when I decide on my next pair of track tires.

[Viper_ed]

Not yet. Currently I'm running Kumho V700's which probably have another 3-4 track days left in them so I'll look at the Nittos and others when I decide on my next pair of track tires.

I hear they are a awsome tire for grip. Only bad thing I've heard is that they don't last long. Then again, what racing tire does?

[fx-man]

I hear they are a awsome tire for grip. Only bad thing I've heard is that they don't last long. Then again, what racing tire does?

Tires, brakes, rotors, clutches, dey be called consumables for a reeson. And I be a consumin dem.:D

[Killercanary]

Cool video! I too am glad to hear that the damages were minimal. Where is this track at?