[TR] MGA

[Rye Livingston]

One correction, James Dean died in a 550 Porsche Spyder, one of only 90 produced, not a Speedster.  It had a 1.5 liter engine, but it was a Carrera engine with twin overhead cams, two separate ignition manifolds and two ignition coils.  It was also a mid engine design like the 914 and the current Boxter and Cayman.  So this car isn't comparable to a Triumph or MGA of that era.

Rye
1960 TR3A
1963 356
1968 912
1988 911 Carrera



On July 16, 2019 at 4:48 PM, TERRY SMITH <terryrs at comcast.net> wrote:

Hmmm.  So looking quickly other street cars of the time, a 1959 Porsche 356 A had a 1.6 liter engine; I don't know about the Porsche "speedster" or even if it was different, other than James Dean died in one.  The 1959 MGA had a 1.6 liter.  The Jaguar XK 150 had a 3.8 liter engine.  Karmann Ghia had between a 1.1 and 1.3 liter engine.  As far as I can tell the Fiat 850 started in 1964, with an engine a single strong man could seemingly lift.  The Sunbeam Alpine was a 1.5 liter.  The Austin Martin DB4 was 3.7 liters.  Couldn't quickly find the big Healeys four and six cylinder engines.  The Bugeye Sprite was a 0.948 liter; my sister called it her putt-putt.  Triumphs and Morgans, of course, ran the same 2 liter engine.

All this said, and certainly subject to any corrections you might have, I remain unsure how Triumphs stacked up in races against these.  Anybody?

Terry
On July 16, 2019 at 5:40 PM Randall <tr3driver at ca.rr.com> wrote: 

110 mph in 4th OD is only 4500 rpm.  Not what I call “crank shattering rpm”.  A stock TR3 won’t usually run that fast of course, but 87mm liners were actually cheaper than 83s, back in the 70s.  (I actually found a set that had been returned to Warshawski’s in Chicago, better known as JC Whitney, for even less than the usual price.)
 
And I’ve run 4500 for literally hours without a problem.  (Speed enforcement in the desert tends to be lax 😊 )
 
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
 
From: TERRY SMITH
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2019 1:47 PM
To: Randall
Cc: Triumphs
Subject: Re: [TR] MGA
 
That reminds me.  When I say my TR3 "keeps up with traffic," I'm referencing traffic on the freeway here (tollway, rather) that clips along between 70 and 80 mph.  I've been curious about the various cruising speeds and power performances of TR3's and their competition back in the day, cruising that is without winding up to crank shattering rpm's.  Anybody familiar with that? 

 
** triumphs at autox.team.net ** 

Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html 
Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/triumphs http://www.team.net/archive 

Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/triumphs/terryrs@comcast.net 

 
** triumphs at autox.team.net **

Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/triumphs http://www.team.net/archive

Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/triumphs/ryel@mac.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://autox.team.net/pipermail/triumphs/attachments/20190717/e34ca332/attachment.html>