Oppo Question: How much do you trust yourself?

"GhostZ" (GhostZ)
10/06/2014 at 19:16 • Filed to: None

Simple question here. Simple answer. You are given, for free, a twin supercharged 800HP 5-speed manual AC Cobra Super Snake. All costs are covered. Maybe it's an original, maybe it's a clone. Doesn't matter, the only requirement is that you have to drive it every day for at least half an hour, after sundown, on public roads with traffic. Would you take it?

Seems simple, right? Take the goddamn Cobra, be a driving God! Men and Women will throw themselves at your feet, and F1 drivers will pay tribute to your massive balls.

There's no penalty if you break it. You just have to repair it, and keep driving it. No modifying beyond its current state, no upgrading the tires. Except life doesn't work like that, or we'd all be running around in twin turbo 240Zs.

You have to drive it on regular all-season tires. At night. Every day of the year. Regardless of weather. With traffic. Are you as good as a driver as your comments claim?

Look at that car. Now look a these pictures:

How much do you trust yourself and your driving abilities?

DISCUSSION (56)

For Sweden > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:17

I only trust myself as far as I can throw myself.

GhostZ > For Sweden
10/06/2014 at 19:18

I'm pretty sure if you crashed it without wearing a seatbelt, you could throw yourself pretty far!

For Sweden > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:20

That's the car, not me, doing the throwing.

Osiris - I can haz Euro spec? > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:22

No question about it. Hell yes. I have no problems with my driving abilities and if someone bumps me, it's paid for. Plus, I get my dream car.

Dusty Ventures > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:23

I'm game. I know I can resist the urge to speed etc, so I don't need to worry about my own driving. As long as I can avoid the texting moms I'll be fine.

That said, I do need clarification. If I go out to drive it in January, drive for 20 seconds, get stuck, and spend the next 29 minutes and 40 seconds shoveling the car out, does that count as 30 minutes of driving? Because otherwise there will inevitably be some days where I could spend a full 24 hours with the car and not get the requisite 30 minutes in. #MassachusettsLife

NonDriftingS13 > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:24

If it's on the same roads I drive now (low traffic, relatively straight) I like to think I could do it. In reality though I'd probably wrap it around a tree fairly quickly...

Blondude > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:24

Oh he dead.

And no, I probably wouldn't drive a twin-turbo Cobra. The turbo lag would be the death of me. But if were talking an original Cobra Super Snake with twin Paxton superchargers and a 3-speed auto, probably.

Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:24

I'd trust myself for the commuting portion but when the weekend shenanigans come around, well I'm not too sure.

505Turbeaux > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:24

nah, I trust myself just fine, but it really is just another Cobra, one of the cars I dislike incredibly. Give me something of equal value and power and we can talk.

BTW what happened in the bottom pics, who died?

CAR_IS_MI > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:24

I trust myself a lot. It's these other assholes I don't trust... Also, Summer, winter, no big deal, I live in the desert so sign me up.

GhostZ > Osiris - I can haz Euro spec?
10/06/2014 at 19:25

It's about risk, I figure. you might be fine 99% of the time, but that 1% of the time when there's an icy highway and you're listening to the radio, you're dead. It's basically a question of whether or not you can maintain the 100% focus it takes to drive this thing in adverse conditions day in and day out without destroying it. Getting bumped by someone else isn't the concern. It's whether or not you would risk your life for an experience that, normally, is prohibitively expensive.

GhostZ > CAR_IS_MI
10/06/2014 at 19:26

I figured a lot of people who live in the southwest wouldn't find issue with it as much as those in the northeast.

Hahayoustupidludditeshutupandgohandcrankyourmodeltalready > For Sweden
10/06/2014 at 19:26

No, that's the momentum of the car that is/was operated and therefore allowed to achieve such momentum by you, that is doing the throwing.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:26

Gotta be honest, 800hp is too much in that car. I'd never get any use out of it, and it would become a really nice looking thing in my garage. Now if it's a 289 Cobra, totally different conversation...the perfect Cobra for the street.

So I guess to answer the question, I'd take it for a few weeks until I ultimately decide one night I'd rather just stay in.

GhostZ > 505Turbeaux
10/06/2014 at 19:27

No idea about the bottom pics. But you might be able to find some info with a reverse search. I did find that it's a replica.

How about this then:

Kinja'd!!!

A RUF CTR yellowbird. Not as much power, but the engine is in the wrong place. Assume this one is making a bit more power than the stock 469, somewhere closer to 600 to make it fair.

Sir Halffast > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:30

Nope. Nope. Nope. It's awesome, but no thank you. I'm reminded of this -

(I'm pretty sure that's the right clip, I'm in class and so volume is muted...)

T5Killer > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:30

I could trust myself. Hell 18 year old me had a '95 Cobra that I didn't wreck. Plus here in NM our rain and snow are limited to a few hours of downpour/snow and it melting. I daily drove my Mustang for a little over 10 years no matter what the weather.

Jonathan Harper > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:30

I could do that. Easy.

I once idled drove a Shelby 1000 literally dozens of blocks without wrecking it.

GhostZ > Jonathan Harper
10/06/2014 at 19:32

I wonder how the Shelby 1000 compares? It's a lot heavier and has traction control, doesn't it?

These are the great questions we ask ourselves.

GhostZ > Sir Halffast
10/06/2014 at 19:33

It is, and it was what I was thinking of too. I thought "What's the most dangerous damn street car in the world to drive in snow and rain?"

GhostZ > T5Killer
10/06/2014 at 19:34

I would say there's a pretty huge difference between a '95 Cobra and a 800HP Super Snake, but being in NM gives you a distinct advantage.

Jonathan Harper > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:35

Definitely very different, but I was just trying to think of the highest horsepower car I've driven.

Also, traction control can still only do so much, and if it's anything like the TCS in the 420-hp 2012 RTR Mustang I spent a lot of time driving, the traction control is utterly worthless.

Gamecat235 > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:36

Lives in environment where snow occurs every few years. Check

Lives in environment where we see 350 days of sun per year. Check

Trusts self with 800 HP anything that isn't a 918 or modified AMG 65. Nope.

No, really. Slow car fast. Every time.

Agrajag > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:36

The Cobra, in any iteration, is one of my favorite cars of all time. No.

71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:37

Hell yeah I'd take it. It would reduce my over all lifespan, but it would make the days I was alive worth living. I think I could safely drive that and enjoy myself a bit*

*I am an 18 year old male, and as such, am indestructible. That which doesn't kill me only makes me stronger**

**probably

GhostZ > Jonathan Harper
10/06/2014 at 19:37

Shelby should market that as a technology, TCI-NO.

Traction Control In Name Only

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:37

I thought the Super Snake was twin-supercharged?

Gamecat235 > Jonathan Harper
10/06/2014 at 19:37

You were one of the few exceptions I could think of here who I would be like... nope, JBH can handle that. His pocketbook? (sadtrombone.wav)

T5Killer > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:38

True its a HUGE gulf of performance, but being 18 should be a recipe for a totaled car but 15 years later its still in one piece. I could baby the throttle no problem and just cruise in traffic.

Crocket Bernet > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:38

This I would do. I wouldn't drive the Cobra in the winter, it snows and is like 0 degrees for like 3 months.

GhostZ > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut
10/06/2014 at 19:39

It is. Why would you think any differently?

*ninja edit*

GhostZ > 71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors
10/06/2014 at 19:41

The comments on this article are the oppo equivalent of a line of high school football players comparing jockstrap sizes in the men's locker room while they try to compare sex stories.

"Yeah, I'm only 18 but I've been with like, 20 girls, I could totally bang Stacy if I wanted to."

qbeezy > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:42

Part of being a "good driver" is knowing not only your skills, but your flaws as well. I trust myself and my driving abilities. I do not trust them in an ice storm in my RWD for one example.

GhostZ > Gamecat235
10/06/2014 at 19:43

The only places where this makes sense is in rural Texas, AZ, or NM, really, where more than a tenth of an inch of rain is a celebration. And that's ASSUMING you can still maintain the focus to keep it straight in the dry .

Gamecat235 > Dusty Ventures
10/06/2014 at 19:43

You were the other person who actually came to mind who I would say could handle it (the other was jbh). My only 'concern' with you belonging to this challenge would be the inevitable, "can I please modify it to rally" questions. =)

Gamecat235 > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:44

Or NV or Southern Inland CA. But yes. Exactly.

GhostZ > qbeezy
10/06/2014 at 19:44

I'm good in an ice storm with RWD, but not with 800HP. I probably would draw the limit at around a p/w ratio of 9lbs/HP to still feel comfortable in snow and ice on all-seasons.

Dusty Ventures > Blondude
10/06/2014 at 19:48

I know I'd be ok in the car because I'd never get the RPM's high enough to spool the turbos in the first place ;)

Blondude > Dusty Ventures
10/06/2014 at 19:49

This is actually a good point.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:51

*nonchalant whistle*

Dusty Ventures > Gamecat235
10/06/2014 at 19:51

Rally America would never give it a pass at inspection :(

I'd see driving the Cobra the same way I see driving the rally car around: "I am currently the most conspicuous man in the world. Therefore I must now be on my best behavior. It's not like I can convince the police it was the other Cobra/other Subaru with peanuts all over it."

Gamecat235 > Dusty Ventures
10/06/2014 at 19:55

Fair enough. Hoon away... or don't. As it is, I have had enough excitement with a ~430HP Camaro with all of the electronic nannies. Give me something with FWD or AWD and a nice comfy performance margin. LOL.

(and ignore 20-something Gamecat, that guy doesn't know what he is talking about, he never did those things.)

Dusty Ventures > Gamecat235
10/06/2014 at 19:58

Yeah, I mean I'd never actually buy a car with that much power and that little comfort because I know I'd never have use for it. But hey, if it's free...

webmonkees > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 19:59

Kinja'd!!!

Good point. A modern chassis would protect better, so clone it is.

Kinja'd!!!

Um, I said clone.. oh well. maybe there's a traditional option.

I trust myself to not have that financial income-spare-moneys, anyway.

Gamecat235 > Dusty Ventures
10/06/2014 at 20:02

Yeah, my dream insane cars are, with the exception of the idea of a Cayman GT4 (please exist, and then please let me win the lottery) or owning an Exige (no really, this would be awesome), are all mostly still in the realm of, I can probably realistically drive that as a DD.

Then again, I'm the weird guy who really really wants a FWD Lotus (Elan M100).

Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 20:06

I live in Texas, what traffic are you talking about?

*nyooom*

ihm96 > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 20:12

Can my 30 minutes of driving just be snowy donuts in an abandoned parking lot? Because when it snows where I live there's no way in hell that would work on regular roads, especially if I can't at least put winter tires on

McLarry > For Sweden
10/06/2014 at 20:13

I bet I could throw myself into the car...

That settles it, I'll take it!

qbeezy > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 20:18

I know. Light on the pedal, traction control won't matter in ice storm lol.

SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O) > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 20:21

I trust myself. That doesn't mean I won't wind up dead.

I drove my dad's Cobra (kit) a bunch, including in the rain a couple of times (the stupid cloth "roof" is the biggest joke known to man. Ask me how I know. My shirt still isn't dry and that was over a year ago). Now, it didn't have anywhere close to 800hp, but... fuck it. If I'm going to die while driving it had better be in something cool.

71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 21:05

Kinja'd!!!

I wasn't really very good at football

GhostZ > 71MGBGT Likes Subarus of Unusual Colors
10/06/2014 at 21:13

We're talking about cars on an anonymous online forum. None of us were probably good at football.

unpredictable_swerve > GhostZ
10/06/2014 at 23:59

I will die a happy man. Or be a happy vegetable. Either way, happy. I give myself a week.

Osiris - I can haz Euro spec? > GhostZ
10/07/2014 at 10:49

I'd still have to say "Why the hell not?". Based on the fact that I live in Alaska currently and grew up in the Tahoe area of California. I'm fairly certain I know how to drive in ice and snow. But I see your point. It would probably be a much more thought out decision for those who grew up/live in more of the hot and humid climates.

thebigbossyboss > GhostZ
10/07/2014 at 17:57

I would I don't go fast. Unlikely to die hitting a curb at 20 km/h in the snow.

GhostZ > thebigbossyboss
10/07/2014 at 19:45

Well, there's also the problem of an SUV hitting you at 20km/h, which might be enough to total the vehicle and hurt you pretty badly.