Braking
Brake testing ABS-equipped cars is fairly easy stuff-just stand on the pedal until the final lurch to a stop. Much depends on the ABS, just as it does in the real world, and here the Cobra experienced difficulties. "Something isn't right with a 134-foot stop from 60 mph," Chris said, "especially with the KDW tires. Could it be the ABS expects less grippy tires and can't cope?" Perhaps, although there was no lock-up, ABS warning light, or other adverse signs. The 100-mph stop was also huge at 369 feet. If it were our car, we might try rebedding the brake pads or deglazing the discs.
Even stranger, the Mach 1-fresh out of the press fleet and with less than 1,200 miles on the odometer-was also in trouble. "We'll have to say you get one good one and then all bets are off," Chris said. "The second and third attempts locked up both front wheels! We shut the car off, restarted, and the ABS mysteriously rebooted. No warning light, no warning at all-just a plume of smoke and two skid marks." The 123-foot and 357-foot stops are par for late-model Mustangs-which is to say they're not world-class thanks to the nose-dragging, tail-high chassis dynamics-but that's what we've seen from other 13-inch PBR-braked Mustangs using street pads and tires.
Once again the Bullitt outshone its more illustrious cousins. Stopping from 60 mph in just 118 feet and from 100 mph in 338 feet-that's two-and-half car lengths less than the Cobra-the Bullitt also earned nice praise from Chris. "This 118-foot stop from 60 mph backs up our previous 119-footer from Motor Trend's '01 Bullitt test, but the 338-foot [stop] from 100 is way better than a 361-foot stop a year ago. It took three stops before distance began to increase."
Clearly, with all three cars sharing the same brake package and two on the same tires, we'd expect them to stop more closely to each other than this. The Bullitt exhibits the stopping power we'd expect from any of these cars with a properly functioning brake system. Some attention to disc and pad maintenance (and the ABS in the Mach) ought to do the job.
On the Street
It's all about feel on the street, not numbers, so to get that feel Miles and I paired up and "street raced" from 25-mph rolls beginning in Second gear. Using handheld radios to count down the start, we began with the Mach 1 and the Cobra. The Mach jumped to a one-plus car lead and pulled ever so slightly on the Cobra. I was in the Cobra and couldn't even begin to even things up with the Mach. Interestingly, the Mach went through Second gear, then shifted into Third and maintained its distance on the Cobra. It seemed as though Miles short-shifted the two-three slightly, but he was working with a lower redline too. I stayed in Second in the Cobra, and just as I was nearing redline in that gear, I began to pull a tad on the Bullitt. But by then the test was over. After all, if a street car can't do the job in two blocks, it's not going to, and we have quarter-mile numbers if you want to know how a proper drag race would turn out.
Then we turned around and went again. This time the start was more even, and the two Four-Valve cars pulled evenly. We both stayed in Second gear, and there was no change in position. Still, the Mach got the initial jump of about a quarter car length and stayed there. The Cobra could do nothing about it.
Miles and I concluded the first start had been jumped by him, or late by me. Still, the cars seemed dead even, so anyone street racing these things better be an ace on the start, because he's certainly not going to chase down the other car with it.