Hi, I am Tom.....no....really I am

[TomSimpsonAZ]

I'm 24.....engaged......work a job I hate that doesn't pay all that well and own a house I bought while I was in college. I live with the SO and still have 2 other roommates.

Ya, not exactly a grown up yet. I do have a rental property though that pays for itself and will eventually be an asset to me if I ever sell it or pay it off. I have no other investments since my house and the rental property have kept me broke until this point and I have so many deductions that I never have to pay any income taxes due to the fact that I don't make that much money. Right now I'm putting extra money into the houses to gain more equity, but should probably diversify at some point.

Oh, and I'm in Phoenix


I am slowly becoming a cheap ass and am selling the last of my financial burdens in life, my 2003 cobra......sad to see her go, but I've already got the fiance, so the panty dropper can go.



Thats about it......this is a great forum

 

[haha]

I am slowly becoming a cheap ass and am selling the last of my financial burdens in life, my 2003 cobra......sad to see her go, but I've already got the fiance, so the panty dropper can go.

Spoken like a man without many married friends.

Ha

 

[justin]

I am slowly becoming a cheap ass and am selling the last of my financial burdens in life, my 2003 cobra......sad to see her go, but I've already got the fiance, so the panty dropper can go.

I'm confused. How does this work?

"Hey baby, wanna see my cobra?" If she says yes, then Score! If she says bug off loser, you say "my car, my car!"?

 

[TomSimpsonAZ]

I'm confused.  How does this work? 

"Hey baby, wanna see my cobra?"  If she says yes, then Score!  If she says bug off loser, you say "my car, my car!"?   

The car is just the bait, my wit and charm are the true keepers

 

[Chase]

I hope thats not how you met your fiance...lol.

 

[TomSimpsonAZ]

I hope thats not how you met your fiance...lol. 

lol no, but she does love the damn thing

 

[omni550]

lol no, but she does love the damn thing

I'm confused...which one does she love, the cobra or the Cobra?

 

[Nords]

I'm confused...which one does she love, the cobra or the Cobra?

Yeah, I'm confused too. Is being really really fast considered good or bad?

 

[TomSimpsonAZ]

http://tinyurl.com/bxppm

cmon guys, show some respect to my little girl, i hope she goes to a good home

EDIT: Shortened what may be the worlds longest URL

 

[REWahoo]

Tom,

Since most of us don't have a 32 inch monitor like (), please do us all a favor and use http://tinyurl.com/ or some other means to shorten URL's that are longer than a typical page width.

Everyone on the forum except () will thank you.

REW

 

[TomSimpsonAZ]

Tom,

Since most of us don't have a 32 inch monitor like (), please do us all a favor and use http://tinyurl.com/ or some other means to shorten URL's that are longer than a typical page width.

Everyone on the forum except () will thank you.

REW

Sweet! Thanks!

 

[justin]

I read the car description. What does "chipped" mean? I know for my car, it is where idiots have dinged my door 7575139 times. Is "chipped" a good thing on Cobras?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Chipped means to swap out the engine computer. They used to just be a read-only memory ROM chip. Now they are more sophisticated.

Factory settings on engines are set for low emissions and for engine longevity. By swapping in another engine computer the settings can be set much more agressively for much much better performance. This just may be the cheapest way to add horsepower to a car.

 

[TomSimpsonAZ]

Chipped means to swap out the engine computer. They used to just be a ROM chip. Now they are more sophisticated.

Factory settings on engines are set for low emissions and for engine longevity. By swapping in another engine computer the settings can be set much more agressively for much much better performance.

To run 500 hp on the nitrous you need a different "tune", to run 400 hp without the nitrous you need a different "tune", so i have a flip chip that lets you switch back and forth

 

[justin]

To run 500 hp on the nitrous you need a different "tune", to run 400 hp without the nitrous you need a different "tune", so i have a flip chip that lets you switch back and forth

Chip? Does not compute. Is 400 hp not a sufficient level of power to accelerate your car to a sufficient cruising speed in a reasonable time period? Why is 500 hp and nitrous necessary? Doesn't this cause excessive wear on your engine components and increase your per-mile operating costs?



(this is sarcasm).

 

[MasterBlaster]

Is 400 hp not a sufficient level of power to accelerate your car to a sufficient cruising speed in a reasonable time period?  Why is 500 hp and nitrous necessary?  Doesn't this cause excessive wear on your engine components and increase your per-mile operating costs?

I'll answer your question(s) from the perspective of some of my motorhead friends

1) Is 400 hp not a sufficient level of power to accelerate your car to a sufficient cruising speed in a reasonable time period? NO

2) Why is 500 hp and nitrous necessary? To accelerate faster - see #1) above

3) Doesn't this cause excessive wear on your engine components and increase your per-mile operating costs? Yes but who cares - see #1) above

 

[justin]

Different <engine> strokes for different folks I guess.

 

[73ss454]

I'll answer your question(s) from the perspective of some of my motorhead friends

1) Is 400 hp not a sufficient level of power to accelerate your car to a sufficient cruising speed in a reasonable time period? NO

2) Why is 500 hp and nitrous necessary? To accelerate faster - see #1) above


Guys who are not car guys use the nitrous for other reasons.

You can never have enough HP.

3) Doesn't this cause excessive wear on your engine components and increase your per-mile operating costs? Yes but who cares - see #1) above

 

[justin]

So I guess quoting the fuel efficiency and low lifetime repair costs of my little 1.6 liter 4-cyl honda civic would be inappropriate when conversing with "motorheads"? I mean, if I could give up a few horsepower to make the car cheaper and more efficient, I surely would.



(this is sarcasm).

 

[TomSimpsonAZ]

If the tune is correct it takes a lot of horsepower to destroy an engine. Every engine has its maximum hp output before it starts wearing down quickly. The 4.6 that is in the 03-04 cobra is good to about 800 hp. Running it at 400 hp with a good tune that supplies it plenty of fuel is not going to hurt it. Most cars are made to run lean which causes detonation, which kills motors.

The extra tunes are to retard the timing to prevent detonation when giving the motor a little extra boost and cooling effect from the nitrous, a blower runs hot, so the nitrous cools the intake charge and actually makes the environment much more stable for the vehicle......

now a 250hp shot....thats different, i'm only running 75 hp jets


No, the car is not efficient by any stretch of the imagination. Luckily, for 8 years I had an 8mpg when romped on car habit that you folks helped subsidize through our federal government.....THANKS!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Funny how your life changes. I drove zoomy cars most of my life. Was out in the Expedition the other day and it occurred to me that I hadnt pushed the gas pedal more than 1/4 of the way down since I could remember. Floored it. I think I surprised the motor because nothing happened for a second or two. Nice cloud of carbon right after that. Then all was well. Nice "What the heck was THAT?!?" look on gabes face from the back seat...

 

[TomSimpsonAZ]

Funny how your life changes.  I drove zoomy cars most of my life. Was out in the Expedition the other day and it occurred to me that I hadnt pushed the gas pedal more than 1/4 of the way down since I could remember.  Floored it.  I think I surprised the motor because nothing happened for a second or two.  Nice cloud of carbon right after that.  Then all was well.  Nice "What the heck was THAT?!?" look on gabes face from the back seat...

lol, I bought a Scion XB.....I'd floor it, but I'm afraid the hamster might have a heart attack.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

How do you like that car? I actually like the goofy styling and I was thinking of looking at one to replace our Rav4 when it gets old in the tooth. Although the new larger Rav looks good. We use that car as the DogMobile, the rav is perfect since the rear seats come out completely and leave a nice flat floor.

 

[TomSimpsonAZ]

How do you like that car?  I actually like the goofy styling and I was thinking of looking at one to replace our Rav4 when it gets old in the tooth.  Although the new larger Rav looks good.  We use that car as the DogMobile, the rav is perfect since the rear seats come out completely and leave a nice flat floor.

It is perfect, go test drive one if you can find a lot with one and you'll buy one too. Half the people who think they are ugly get in and go "WOW I WANT ONE!".....the people who kinda like the way they look on the outside, one test drive and they have one. Seen it a bunch of times.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Theres a ton of them new on the lot around here. Saw a 2004 sitting on a pontiac dealers used lot as well. Unfortunately, I need to wring about 3-5 more years out of the existing cars. Unless the Expedition self immolates, which is a plausible outcome.

I guess I could take it to the 'bad part of town', which ironically is situated right next to the police station and courthouse, and leave it with the door hanging open and the keys in it for a few hours...