Weak Pistons....
 

Lots of people have said that the stock pistons in a Cobra are not strong enough to sustain supercharging.

Here are some interesting articals on Cobra pistons:
http://www.alternativeauto.com/water...rcooler_update http://www.alternativeauto.com/water...m.html#autopsy
www.alternativeauto.com


750 hp, 26 lbs of boost, and 8500 RPMs... That's pretty freakin strong. Its especially interesting that the over-revving lead to the final demise..

I saw Lidio run that car in St. Louis. He's right- the pistons can handle boost, just not detonation. Hell of a tuning job he did.

------------------
Virtual Speed

Moderator, Tealnet

I think the lesson is run on the rich side, don't get too excited with timing, screw the dyno numbers, you can always add more boost later.

Every one always breaks pistons first, so you never hear of it, but those rods seem pretty darn strong. Its pretty hard to rip a rod out of the back end of a piston.

Well, considering they were running high 9's with the green notch, that would put them somewhere in the neighborhood of 600hp. The stock block and rods handled it pretty well until the rpm's went too high. I don't think a stock 302 could manage that. This DOHC 4.6L really is a better engine than the pushrod V8. It's going to take a few more years for the aftermarket to catch up with it. When they do, look out.

------------------
Virtual Speed

Moderator, Tealnet