Ford Racing Mustang Cobra Jet concept revealed at SEMA Show: Wins hottest car award
Ford Racing has showcased their new Mustang Cobra Jet Concept at the ongoing SEMA Show 2012, where it can be seen in striking colors of…
Earlier Cobra Jet Dragsters were fitted with 5.0 liter V8 engines that were naturally aspirated or a 2.9 liter Whipple Supercharger. Now with turbochargers this ensures more power and faster trap time. No horsepower or torque figures have yet been revealed for the new twin turbo V-8 but sources state that the new Jet Cobra weighs around 3000 pounds while speeds are expected to be above 150 mph. However, all these figures apart it is to be seen whether the new Cobra Jet Concept actually makes it to production or remains just in concept form.
“When a new generation of Cobra Jets arrived four decades later, they immediately began winning with a modern, fuel-injected 5.4-liter V8 topped with a belt-driven supercharger,” recalls Jesse Kershaw, Ford drag racing competition manager. “Over the past four years, the Cobra Jet has gone on to become both a fan and competitor favorite, the most successful late-model vehicle in drag racing.”
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Other Mustangs at the 2012 SEMA Show
Ford Mustang Cobra Jet Concept Goes Twin-Turbo
Auto News Release
HOTTEST CAR, SPORT COMPACT, TRUCK AND 4×4-SUV ANNOUNCED AT THE 2012 SEMA SHOW
– Ford Mustang, Scion FR-S, Ford F-Series and Jeep Wrangler Named 2012 SEMA Award Winners –
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Oct. 30, 2012) - This year’s SEMA Award for the top trending vehicle models in four categories were announced today at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The Ford Mustang was named Hottest Car, the Scion FR-S took the Hottest Sport Compact honors, the Ford F-Series won Hottest Truck and the Jeep Wrangler received the Hottest 4×4-SUV award.
“The SEMA Show has always been about innovative products and trends,” said Chris Kersting, SEMA president and CEO. “The SEMA Award amplifies the industry’s special ability to identify and set trends that consumers follow.”
The SEMA Award recognizes vehicle models that specialty-equipment manufacturers believe are the best platforms for accessorization and that showcase the year’s coolest products. It also underscores the cooperative relationship between the automakers and SEMA-member companies.
“The SEMA Award helps guide consumers toward the hottest-trending and most accessory friendly vehicles on the market,” added Kersting. “Our SEMA Show exhibitors are industry visionaries who determine the winners of the SEMA Award based on the vehicles they showcase in their booths. Each booth vehicle represents a ‘vote’ and the most prominent models in each category are the winners.”
The 2012 SEMA Show features more than 2,000 exhibiting companies that manufacture thousands of products designed to improve performance, safety and convenience, as well as those that enhance appearance and comfort. While products are available for every make and model, exhibitors are investing more in the Ford Mustang, Scion FR-S, Ford F-Series, and Jeep Wrangler than any other vehicles. Consumers, therefore, can expect to find great specialty products for accessorizing these vehicles.
To learn more about the SEMA Award winners and the products that are available for them, visit www.sema.org/semaaward.
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 30, 2012 – The Ford Racing Mustang Cobra Jet concept revealed today at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show proves there is indeed a replacement for displacement.
In the perpetual quest to stay ahead of the competition, for the first time ever Ford Racing has equipped its factory-built turnkey drag racer with a turbocharged engine, adopting the same award-winning technology found on road-going EcoBoost® engines.
Winning heritage
When the original Mustang Cobra Jet drag racers rolled out of the Mustang factory in 1968, they relied on 7.0-liter V8 engines with massive four-barrel carburetors to propel them down the strip.
“When a new generation of Cobra Jets arrived four decades later, they immediately began winning with a modern, fuel-injected 5.4-liter V8 topped with a belt-driven supercharger,” recalls Jesse Kershaw, Ford drag racing competition manager. “Over the past four years, the Cobra Jet has gone on to become both a fan and competitor favorite, the most successful late-model vehicle in drag racing.”
“Racing predates Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford himself raced the 999 and won in 1901 to generate interest for the new company,” said Jamie Allison, director of Ford Racing Technologies. “We haven’t stopped since.
“We’ve competed in almost every category of auto racing, from deserts to road courses to ovals and drag strips over the past 111 years, often with cars and trucks based on our production models, including the Mustang,” Allison added.
In 2011, the Mustang GT’s all-new 5.0-liter V8 found a home in the Cobra Jet, both with and without a supercharger.
“Despite its smaller displacement, the improved breathing of the 5.0-liter with its twin independent variable camshaft timing and Boss 302 cylinder heads provided comparable performance while showcasing the high technology available in street Mustangs today,” said Rob Deneweth, Cobra Jet powertrain development engineer.
“Ever since relaunching the Cobra Jet in 2008, we’ve continuously evolved the engine to be more optimized for drag racing and to produce more power for its NHRA class,” he added.
While superchargers provide instant on-demand power, they can also sap a lot of power, especially at high boost levels. The 2.9-liter blower employed on the 2013 Cobra Jet uses as much as 100 horsepower to drive the supercharger. That’s power no longer available for acceleration.
Two turbochargers, no waiting
Fortunately, every internal combustion engine has a plentiful source of energy that normally goes to waste right out the exhaust pipe. Turbochargers harness the thermal and kinetic energy in the exhaust gases to drive turbines and compressors that force more air into the engine for a big increase in power without most of the parasitic losses of a supercharger.
“Ford has embraced turbocharging technology and a lot of our production engineers are working with the technology on a daily basis, so we have a lot of knowledge,” said Deneweth. “We decided to apply that knowledge to the Mustang Cobra Jet to showcase what our engineers and suppliers know how to do.”
Turbocharger design and release engineer Dave Born joined the Cobra Jet team after working on the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 for the F-150 to help make this concept a reality. “When done right, turbocharging is just as good as or better than supercharging,” Born confirms.
“To overcome the biggest perceived drawback of turbocharging – the lag – we’ve selected the smallest possible turbos that will give us the airflow we need,” he adds. “We’ve also got some other enhancements to help improve the responsiveness; we have very low inertia and very low internal friction.”
NHRA competition rules for the stock classes Cobra Jet races in require parts like turbochargers to be derived from production components. Borg-Warner™ has supplied smaller, more efficient turbochargers based on the units used in the Focus ST for the Cobra Jet concept. Smaller than those found in most other drag racing applications, the turbine wheels are made from titanium aluminide that reduces the rotational inertia by 50 percent. Along with a shaft riding on low-friction ball bearings, the compressors can spin up to 150,000 rpm almost instantly.
The same integrated, electronically controlled wastegates used on production EcoBoost engines enable the turbos to keep spinning and generating the boost pressure needed for low elapsed times and high trap speeds at the strip.
One of the top reasons for a car company to go racing is the rapid learning curve it provides and the lessons that can be fed back into the vehicles customers drive every day.
“We’re already using ball bearings in the turbocharger of the 6.7-liter Power Stroke® diesel V8 in Super Duty trucks,” says Born. “We’re also evaluating materials like titanium aluminide for the turbine, and it could find its way into future production programs as the costs come down.”
New global Ford Racing livery
The Cobra Jet project car features its own unique take on the new global Ford Racing livery that is also highlighted at SEMA. The white body is accented with an asymmetric black and blue stripe running over the top of the car from bumper to bumper. The Cobra Jet’s flanks blend an upward sweeping version of the stripe with the traditional striking cobra head executed in black with blue accents.
Following the SEMA show, Ford Racing engineers including Deneweth and Born will continue to develop both the performance and durability of the twin-turbo Cobra Jet.
“For every Cobra Jet model we release, every powertrain goes through hundreds of hours of dyno testing and a minimum of 50 runs on the drag strip before we’ll sign off on the durability and capability of that engine and car,” says Kershaw. “Like Ford vehicles for the street, we want to provide our racing customers with cars that are best-in-class, affordable and reliable.”
About SEMA and the SEMA Show
The SEMA Show is a trade show produced by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), a nonprofit trade association founded in 1963. Since the first SEMA Show debuted in 1967, the annual event has served as the leading venue bringing together manufacturers and buyers within the automotive specialty equipment industry. Products featured at the SEMA Show include those that enhance the styling, functionality, comfort, convenience and safety of cars and trucks. Additional details are available at www.SEMAShow.com or www.sema.org, 909/396-0289.
