Okay, you get the rocket into third and all is well, and the next thing you notice is, who turned on the after burners. Every time you shift you load the engine, stepping up the boost and accelerate the engine and subsequent car. No converter that dampens the power boost; just raw feedback that translates into “what was I thinking when we built this?” The lateral Gs and acceleration is not something that I ever experienced even in a mid-seven-second naturally aspirated car. In that type of package the thrill is usually the first 100 feet, then the acceleration seems to plane off.
This thing seems to wake up when you stick it in third and it just keeps pushing you back in the seat. When you get used to it the best way to describe the feeling is “YEE HA”, as opposed to the first time being “OH SHIT”. Fourth and fifth gears come what seems much later in the run, heck you have at least 1.5 seconds between gear changes, but the acceleration doesn’t seem to dissipate.
After you cross the 1320 more fun begins with the deceleration. Dropping two parachutes in a 2650-lb car at over 220 mph is awakening to say the least. The first time I did it I thought the rear end came out of the car. The chutes hit so hard that I felt like I was going to go through the windshield. My next sensation was “Are the slicks off the ground?” When the thing finally settled down and all I heard was the whine of the turbos decelerating, my next thought was I wonder what it ran, let’s get this thing back in the pits, cool it down and do it again. The addiction to speed is a terrible thing.
Oh yeah … in eliminations the driver’s win light is your best friend, and the speed and experience is secondary, if you can believe that.
Pertinent Data
Make: Ford 2007 Shelby Mustang Cobra (built by Larson Race Car)
Cost as tested: $150,000+
Best Speed and ET: 222/6.47
Engine: Ford 5.4 DOHC built by VT Engines and Bret Clow
Engine options: turbo-charged and Fuel injected
Horsepower rating: dyno-tested to 2,000+
Weight: 2450-2680lbs
Steve boils the hides during a Pacific Street Car Association race at Las Vegas
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