Horse Sense: For Eric's 24-psi dyno blitz, he wisely sought 109-octane unleaded race fuel.
The Vidmar family of Clovis, California, is typical of many living the laid-back, West Coast lifestyle. Cars are an important part of that Pacific scene, and we doubt it's unusual for California kids to be genetically implanted with speed lust. Still, we can't help but wonder how many of those offspring inherit the velocity virus from their mothers. Eric Vidmar's mom is a grandmother eight times over, but that was not enough to keep the family from buying her a new Terminator ragtop in 2003. By way of explanation, Eric points out that she is "not your typical grandmother; she has a need for speed-or just a lead foot, we're not sure." It sounds as though Mom loved her present and hot-footed it around the countryside with gusto until the S197 debuted, at which time the family decided she needed to have something new. This opened the door for her son, Eric, to acquire her well-broken-in Cobra, for which he had big plans.
"My goal," says Eric, "was to create a Cobra with a sleek, clean race look and enough horsepower to back it up." How much horsepower? Be patient, we'll get to that. First off, we guess Eric had been absorbing what we at 5.0&SF have observed time and time again: Substituting a screw blower for the Terminator's factory Roots-style can yield impressive results. So he got on the horn to Kenne Bell and ordered a 2.2L Blowzilla, along with a full supporting cast that includes a KB cold-air kit, Boost-a-Pump, Mototron 60-lb/hr injectors, Accufab throttle body, SCT Big-Air MAF, Motoblue heat exchanger, and a Metco crank pulley with a 6-pound boost ring and an auxiliary idler. He trundled this cornucopia of automotive vitamins to Richard Ruiz at PPC Customs for installation, all of which went without a hitch.
In anticipation of the hoped-for power and in view of the Cobra's topless state, Eric contracted Jimmy Leider and Custom Auto Tech to fabricate a frame-stiffening structure and one-off four-point rollcage, the upper reaches of which had to look similar to a style bar and fit around the Saleen Speedster tonneau. Mission accomplished. With the chassis bracing in place, it was time to fit the ceramic-coated long-tube headers, a cat-equipped crossover pipe, and a Loud Mouth after-cat system, all stainless and all from SLP.
With the guts looked after, the glory came next, and the job of applying multiple coats of Glasurit black paint and 14-inch-wide platinum stripes went to Pete Ramirez at Excellence Body & Paint. Pete striped the bumpers, wing, and Speedster top to complement the two-tone factory seats so prominently displayed with the top down-in California, we suspect that's most of the time. Now the search began for the perfect wheels to tie it all together. It ended with Racing Hart C4s, 19x10.5s out back and 19x8.5s in front, wrapped in 295/30ZR19 and 255/35ZR19 Michelin PS rubber, respectively. Oddly, it was after mounting this eye-popping rolling stock that Eric realized the stock Cobra springs left a lot to be desired, altitude-wise. Eibach springs and an SPC Performance handling kit solved that problem with a 2-inch drop and improved response.
But Eric was not done yet. "After a few passes on the street, I invested in a Centerforce Stage II pressure plate and disc, as well as a Kenny Brown IRS stabilizer kit." Both good choices, we'd have to think, especially after heading to SoCal Diablo for a day of tuning and dyno abuse, and ending up with 567 rwhp on 18 pounds of boost and 606 hp and 588 lb-ft of torque at a frightening 24 psi. The stock Cobra short-block is stout, Eric, but we might be tempted to dial the blower back just a bit.
Oh, and his mom? Her '05 GT ragtop is now armed for lead-foot duty with 415 rwhp, again thanks to PPC Customs and Kenne Bell. As Eric says, "Little old lady from Pasadena? I think they meant Clovis!".