Gentlemen,
I didn't see it mentioned, but I understood one of the main reasons for the
PI systems improved performance over carbs was the increased intake area due
to one intake per cylinder rather than the fact it was fuel injection
itself.
I also read that injection seems more responsive than carbs because with
injection, the fuel is immediately available to the engine whereas in a carb
it takes a bit more time for the airflow to increase. Dick T, can you
confirm this as I can't remember where I saw this.
:~$ ramble /on
I too would have to disagree with Shane. The Lucas PI system certainly has
"soul" or "character" (I can think of a few other descriptions also, but
this is a family show...). One of the things I love about lucas injected
cars is the bellow of the induction noise which is more pronounced in the
saloons than the TR (where most are listening to the exhaust note).
As a young driver I used to get a hard time from my friends about driving
"an old man's car" which is what the Triumph saloons were seen as by my jap
car driving peers. I used to love taking someone for their first ride in a
PI. I would drive like my grandad for a while to get them used to the
comfort of the car and then give it a bit of a stoke. The look on their
faces was always one of great surprise - riding along in a nice quiet
comfortable car - leather seats, wood dash yada yada yada only to be
surprised by a very loud deep roar and rapid acceleration more akin to a
sports car.
As far as asthetics go, I'm used to the PI setup so a carbed engine looks
too bare to me on the distributor side.
:~$ ramble /off
Finally, just because I was feeling pedantic, I set the tappets on my TR6
with a dial gauge rather than a feeler gauge. It took a lot longer to do but
boy what a difference in the engine - much happier and smoother
acceleration. I guess I'm not too flash using a feeler gauge as some of them
were rather a long way out... I'll do the PI next and see how it goes.
Cheers
Bernard Robbins
'71 2500 PI (with surplus induction noise)
'73 TR6 PI (nice tappity tappets)
'75 2500 TC (actually, it's the missus car, but I'm sometime allowed to ride
in it...)
Regards
Bernard Robbins
Business Solutions
NEC New Zealand Ltd
Phone: 04 381 6274
Mobile: 021 60 99 60
Fax: 04 381 1110
Email: Bernard.Robbins@nec.co.nz
http://www.nec.co.nz
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