Tuesday 24th January 2012

Time for tea? Crashing a Cobra at 130mph

Why you don't want to have something break on you at 130 mph

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Is this the most compelling ad for an engine ever? The chap selling his 426ci Ford V8 is doing so via a YouTube clip explaining exactly why he no longer needs his 7.0 litres of stroked Windsor V8 and Tremec five-speed gearbox.

The reason is fairly obvious once you’ve watched his jaw-dropping crash at Willow Springs Raceway in California.

“On the front straight doing 130mph, something breaks,” says the vendor. “The Cobra veers hard right and off track. The car leaves a 6O-foot gash in the asphalt as it veered before leaving the track and continued for an additional 500 feet off track to its resting point. I received only minor injuries to my left knee and bruised ribs.”

Blimey. Quite a testament to the quality of the Cobra’s rollover hoop (not to mention the tenacity of the GoPro camera doing the recording).

The chap in the video (who we must presume to be called Pete Tryce) also asks how many spins, rolls and cartwheels he manages. We lost count, but the answer must be ‘a lot’...

 

[Fullmeister]

Christ ! 8 lives left.

[Streetrod]

So lucky not to have broken his neck in that one

[traffman]

Holy st , a testament to roll hoops if ever i saw one.

[Soovy]

Jesus T1tty F cking CHRIST.

[herebebeasties]

Cue a bunch of people going "yikes".

May I steer the thread in a different direction? What would you put the engine in?

[E30Addict]

traffman said:

Holy st , a testament to roll hoops if ever i saw one.

[AyBee]

herebebeasties said:

Cue a bunch of people going "yikes".

May I steer the thread in a different direction? What would you put the engine in?

A Cobra rep?

P.S.

[Mr Gear]

E30Addict said:

traffman said:

Holy st , a testament to roll hoops if ever i saw one.

Quite frankly, I think it was pure luck he wasn't injured. A roll-hoop would surely just sink in a gravel trap...?

[Twincam16]

Started out as an ad for a car, ended up as a bloody good ad for a camera!

[Devil2575]

herebebeasties said:

Cue a bunch of people going "yikes".

May I steer the thread in a different direction? What would you put the engine in?

My 2003 Focus estate

[soad]

Ouch, that looks painful

[Kong]

herebebeasties said:

Cue a bunch of people going "yikes".

This is Pistonheads. Cue a bunch of people telling us how they would have controlled it

[islander]

Looks like the drivers side door card may have been an important safety feature as it was still in place after the door had gone!

[McSam]

He looks pretty lucky to have escaped with his arms, the amount they were flailing around.

Brutal crash, that.

[Garlick]

T Cut?

[BelperJim]

Crikey. A cobra is not the place I'd want to be for any crash let alone a 130mph roll over.

[VolvoT5]

Kong said:

This is Pistonheads. Cue a bunch of people telling us how they would have controlled it

Clearly just needed a dab of oppo to correct the skid before it got out of control*

• on a serious note, at 19sec he said something doesn't 'feel right' - wouldn't most people lift off a bit then? - although I doubt that would have made much difference to the end result.

Lucky, lucky man.

[Fartgalen]

Kong said:

herebebeasties said:

Cue a bunch of people going "yikes".

This is Pistonheads. Cue a bunch of people telling us how they would have controlled it

This is Pistonheads. I was gonna say we're bound to get *T-cut*. And we have

[Garlick]

Fartgalen said:

This is Pistonheads. I was gonna say we're bound to get *T-cut*. And we have

One has to keep up appearances

[wackojacko]

Lucky guy to be alive.