Rook6

Given drivers of identical skill and dimensions, which car should corner better? Let's say, in an autoX for example. My car, with all the suspension mods, or a bone-stock (relative term) 1993 Cobra R?

Rook6

Heh, guess nobody likes me anymore lol

bmennen07

what "suspension mods"

LilRoush

Yeah, gotta give more info.
I'd bet the owner of an R will have more seat time than the owner of a V6...so I vote R.

Rook6

Nah, he hasn't got much more seat time than the average guy. i.e. he's never been on a road course. He's more of a collector. Though I know driver capability makes a huge difference when it comes to who can actually utilize all available grip. This is why, in my example, I cite two identical drivers. My mods are listed on the link in my sig.

For the lazy:

04 Cobra IRS w/3.55 gears, Tubular K-Member/A-Arms, K-Member Brace, BBK Strut Tower Bar, Bilsteins/Coilovers, Urethane/Aluminum bushings, Caster/Camber Plates, Bumpsteer, 42% UDP, Steeda TriAx, MAC Shorties, O/R X-pipe, 17x9" 04 Cobra Rims, Full-Length Subframe connectors, Custom Short Ram Intake, Diablosport Predator, Steeda Clutch Quadrant/Firewall adjuster, Max Motorsports Clutch pedal position adjuster,13" Cobra Brakes w/Powerslot Rotors.

w8less

they will both probably handle just the same but you will be on the short end of the horsepower area. very nice list though of suspension parts

LilRoush

Well, sorry to say but that 04 IRS is a weak point in your set up. Look at an 8.8 with a 5 link. I looked at the IRS awhile back when reworking my set up and found that most guys weren't having good luck with Ford's design on it and were going with Steeda 5 links or something similar from MM.

What tires are you running? What brake pads? Two BIG factors.

If you can drive and he can't, it's gonna be a close run. The R is a great car. Foxcars are great for handling with a tight suspension under them. The weight trim job SVT gave the R will help him out even more.

Rook6

Really? What kind of bad luck were people having with the IRS? I'd always heard it was the way to go. That and it moves the center of gravity back, too.

LilRoush

I looked into it at first with my set up when I wanted to get away from coil covers at all four corners. After talking to a lot of the open track racers, all have swapped to a solid 8.8" rear. The IRS in idea is good, but sadly Ford's sucks. The Steeda 5 link out performed the heavily modified IRS rears hands down. Even with just the "basics", my car will stick the back end better than modded Cobra IRS cars. Weight transfer and over all geometry is better maintained in extreme cornering conditions. The panhard bar helps a ton on corner carver set ups.

Rook6

Damn........dude, damn. Oh well, stuck with it now...or until I break it.

Oh, off topic, was the 4.2L swap more or less a plug-and-play swap or was there alot of modification needed?