Superformance Cobras Light Up SEMA 2017 with Tire Smoke
It’s the Superformance MKIII Cobra dawn chorus at SEMA 2017.
SEMA is an event of extremes: in a crowd of hundreds of the worlds most modified cars, it takes a lot to stand out. Fortunately, when most of the competition is static, sitting in an indoor expo center, all you have to do is think outside the box. Or, in this, drive outside the box, which is exactly Superformance did for SEMA 2017.
If you’re not familiar with Superformance, it’s time to get learned. The brand is famous for their Shelby Cobra replicas. These are the only replicas officially licensed and endorsed by Shelby. In fact, ol’ Shel himself signed off on Superformance before his passing.
Superformance didn’t just park their cars at a booth. No, the brand took their cars outside and put on a commendable demonstration of tire-torturing smoky antics with three of their cars.
Three MKIII Cobras, three very different cars.
It was immediately clear watching the Cobras in acrtion that they were all very different builds. The handling characteristics, sound and power difference was noticeable. No one was having a bad day at work, clearly, but one of these cars was obviously better set up to do this. So, I reached out to Doug Campbell who handles PR for Hillbank Motor Sports, the U.S. distributor of Superformance, and he was able to give my the breakdown on these cars.
Let’s start with the red Cobra, as it’s the least insane of the bunch. It was picked right off the showroom floor, in Doug’s own words it is a “totally stock” Superformance MKIII. It features a carbureted Ford Racing 427 Windsor making 535 horsepower. That 427 cubic-inch mill is backed by a Tremec TKO600 5-speed manual transmission.
Next up, and best looking of the bunch in my opinion, is the “American Flag” MKIII. It’s a case of similar, yet different between this second Cobra and the first. Like the first car, it’s relatively tame as far as the build sheet is concerned. The biggest difference between the cars (besides the awesome livery) lies under the hood. This All-American sports car features a Ford Racing Aluminator Coyote V8. It’s no ordinary Mustang crate motor though, because this Coyote is making 500 horsepower. Extra cool points go the Borla 8-stack throttle body and fuel injection setup. It looks so cool in the engine bay. The powerplant is tuned with an AEM Infinity ECU, seemingly the new standard in standalone ECU technology. Also like the red car, it features a Tremec TKO600 5-speed transmission.
SEE ALSO: Forum member buys Superformance Shelby Cobra #1309!
Saved the best for last, this time. While the other two cars are largely standard builds, this last car, the black and gold “Drift Cobra” is a dedicated drift/motorsport car. Did you notice how much louder it was? Perhaps you noticed how much more angle it was holding in the corners. Well, you’re an astute viewer, because the Drift Cobra has a build to match the name.
Let’s start with the engine, because it is absolutely bonkers. It’s Ford Racing Aluminator Coyote V8 like the previous build, but it’s supercharged. It uses a 2.9L(!!!) Whipple supercharger making 22 psi of boost. That’s a big supercharger, and a ton of boost. In case that wasn’t enough, it’s setup with a 100 shot of nitrous to get it into the powerband even faster. It’s tuned via a MegaSquirt MS3Pro ECU and makes 920 RWHP. Yes, 920 wheel horsepower, in a Cobra.
Backing up that monster motor is a GSR G-Force transmission, a 4-speed dogbox made to take a lot of abuse. Inside the bellhousing resides a McLeod Racing Mag Force triple disc clutch. Out back is a custom Holden-sourced rear differential, mated to Driveshaft Shop custom axles. The car features a Detroit Speed power steering rack and a hydraulic handbrake for those high speed initiations.
All three cars had their powertrains installed by V’s Performance, whose insignia is worn on the sides of each car. Doug from Hillbank told me that V’s Performance plans on taking one of their prepared Cobras to run the Mojave Magnum 1.5 mile land speed event. Stay tuned for coverage of that, because it will be absolutely nutty, I’m sure.
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