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Ford's Mustang Super Cobra JET 1800 will attempt to better the Cobra Jet 1400's quarter mile NHRA record
FORD'S MUSTANG SUPER COBRA JET 1800 WILL ATTEMPT TO BETTER THE COBRA JET 1400'S QUARTER MILE NHRA RECORD
Ford Performance is making big waves in the electric-powered motorsports world, and the company is seemingly the only one to concentrate on electric vehicles in drag racing. A couple of years back the Mustang Super Cobra Jet 1400 was introduced and it proved many of the naysayers wrong when it was tested on the quarter mile and posted a very impressive pass of 8.1228 seconds with an exit speed of 276.758 km/h. This cemented the new-generation Mustang as the fastest EV drag car in the world. Incidentally, while it is the fastest purpose-built drag car in the EV space, it’s still not the fastest to cross the quarter mile. That title is held by the diminutive McMurtry Speirling electric fan-assisted car that claimed the World Record at the hands of Carwow’s Mat Watson when he posted a ridiculous 7.97-second run during the testing for his channel. That’s a mere 0.15-second difference between the two, and with the latest incarnation of the electric Mustang having 1 800 hp instead of the 1 400 hp it had when it set the record, the car has a good chance of reclaiming the EV title. If the McMurtry guys actually set up their car for quarter-mile passes, the dragster may just have an uphill battle on its hands. The Speirling posted the World Record in the same spec that it uses for tracks like the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it also holds the record.
Bob Tasca III drove the Cobra Jet 1400 to its reigning time in Norwalk, Ohio in June 2021. The vehicle was a collaborative effort between Ford Performance, MLe Racecars, AEM-EV, Cascadia Motion, and Watson Engineering. After this historic achievement, the Ford Performance team went back to the drawing board and upped their effort into revisions and upgrades to the chassis, powertrain, and control systems. Ford Performance brought back the famous Super Cobra Jet name, first offered on 1969 model year Mustangs as an improvement to the standard Cobra Jet package. “We’re always looking to push ourselves in every corner of the motorsport world,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports. “Drag racing remains a key proving ground for our products and technology, and we’re excited to not only try to best our own record in the quarter-mile but to further showcase ongoing development we continue to make across the entire electric vehicle landscape.” The Super Cobra Jet 1800 is powered by the same four PN-250-DZR inverters coupled to two double-stacked DS-250-115 motor pairings as before, but the setup is now mated to a bespoke new transmission from Liberty and is also powered by a reworked, lighter weight battery system designed by Ford Performance and MLe Racecars. The power is sent to an MLe Racecars-revised rear end featuring improved suspension geometry from PMR and larger Mickey Thompson drag radials to optimize launches. To make the Super Cobra Jet 1800 the best it can be, Ford Performance utilized proprietary control software running on AEM-EV hardware, with a new data acquisition system, dash, and power distribution system all designed in-house. “Our changes have made significant improvements to the car, including removing hundreds of pounds in weight and increasing horsepower to 1800,” explained Rushbrook. The Super Cobra Jet 1800 is not just going for a new full-bodied electric vehicle record, but it will also attempt to claim records for the fastest electric vehicle in the 0-60 mph category as well as the fastest 2-wheel drive electric vehicle 0-60 during an NHRA event later this season. MLe Racecar’s co-founder and official program test driver Pat McCue is planned to be in the driver’s seat. Again, quite the task because the McMurtry Speirling has completed the 0-60 dash in a mere 1.4 seconds.
Take a look at the YouTube video from a good two years back that shows off the electrifying (see what I did there) performance of the first Mustang Cobra Jet 1400, and while it was stupidly fast, the updated Cobra Jet 1800 should indeed do better and will hopefully set a new NHRA record for electric vehicles, I mean it's all in the name. Have a look at what you can do with something that plugs into a wall socket: All-Electric Action Hero | Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 | Ford Performance
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