Collated Upgrades and Dyno Run Results

[Matthew Poxon]

I have had the Griff for 7 years now, I have completed a number of upgrades so I thought it might be interesting to collate all the upgrades with the dyno run results. Engine is a standard TVR 500 unit, original (not rebuilt).

TVR Power dyno reads in wheel BHP so I have converted to flywheel using the below site
http://www.mk5cortinaestate.co.uk/calculator4.php

2010
Standard Car
North London Dyno

262.5BHP 300ftlb



2011
ACT Plenum to AFM hose (TI001)
ACT AFM to air filter hose + Heat Sleave (TI003)
Magnecor Ignition Lead Set 8mm electrosport (IG004)
OEM Dizzy cap
OEM rotor arm
V8 Enhancements Y-Piece (Clive Ford)
ACT Replica S/S manifold for TVR Griffith/ Chimaera (MS03)

North London Dyno

275.6BHP 320ftlb



2012
ACT 44m Carbon Fibre Trumpet set (TI021)
ACT Thermal Gasket - inlet manifold to trumpet base 5.0ltr (T1081A)
14CUX Tornado Software EPROM (X36-SXW-50)

North London Dyno

277.3BHP 330ftlb




2013
3 bar fuel regulator (0 280 160 291)
Bosch AFM (0 280 218 010)
Bosch Fuel Injectors (0 280 155 931)
MA Tornado Chip Remap

North London Dyno

281.8BHP 332ftlb



2014
K&N Panel filter TVR Griffith (TI012)
ACT Twin plenum kit without trumpet base (T1031A)
MA Tornado Chip Remap

TVR Power

286BHP 327ftlb



2016
TVR Power 885 camshaft

TVR Power

324BHP 348ftlb

[billynobrakes]

Looking good Mat

got to meet up on a track day soon

[carsy]

Very interesting Matthew.

I suspect that engine is bob on now making good power yet still being nice and user friendly at low rpm. You`ve probably gone as far as you can now keeping it nice and driveable. Maybe just a little more left when you get your MBE.

[seaside]

That seems like a significant uplift in power for the 885 cam.
How does it drive?

[Matthew Poxon]

billynobrakes said:

Looking good Mat
got to meet up on a track day soon

Thanks Gary, yes looking forward to getting out on track this year. Let me know if you book any.

carsy said:

Very interesting Matthew.
I suspect that engine is bob on now making good power yet still being nice and user friendly at low rpm. You`ve probably gone as far as you can now keeping it nice and driveable. Maybe just a little more left when you get your MBE.

I think you are spot on, all the easy gains have now been made, any further will require serious cash in engine mods and may compromise drivability. Interesting to see how far you can go with a 500 without engine mods. MBE should add some mid range torque and maybe some BHPs with the addition of mapped ignition. As you can see fueling on the 14CUX is pretty bang on.

seaside said:

That seems like a significant uplift in power for the 885 cam.
How does it drive?

Old cam was badly worn so I suspect as i was adding BHP with mods the cam was wearing down and taking BHP away, hence what appears to be a big increase right at the end. It drives spot on with 885, smoother than the old 435. You can see it is a very tame cam by all the low down torque so very well mannered with no shunting. I can pull away in 3rd cleanly and sit happily 30MPH in 5th, not that make a habit of doing that but just as an example.

old cam wear:

[PeteGriff]

Matt, all looking really good, you are becoming our tuning specialist, albeit making good changes, by renowned experts and then publishing results. At some time I would like to strip off the top end of my 430 to check up on the cam! Probably wait till I take the plunge with the new RT chassis and when the engine/transmission is out give it a good assessment. Keep the info coming Matt! All the best, Pete

[billynobrakes]

Matt

I will let you know about track day, I left my job and starting new one in a week or so I will have to start that first before I can book any track days

Drive Espana was great you would like the Guadix circuit nice and technical

[BJWoods]

That looks really good (latest - 324BHP 348ftlb), the aim to keep it "driveable", vs optimised for track?

I've had my car forever now, and my approach is currently when bits go wrong, to replace anything with upgraded parts. (biggest expense was Ohlins, not at todays prices though)

I'm very interested what a modern engine management system can offer, anybody else also have any experience with the options available.
Mine is totally standard would a new EMU offer any benefits for standard engine, or be best in conjunction with some upgrades above?

Looking for (hoping) better mpg, smoother low revs (not bad now), bit more power/torque?

couple of Griff Growl rolling rode graphs,

Standard 2008 (Bob Young, had near identical figures the next day, standard Griff 6 months newer)



Standard 2011, found a few BHP from somewhere. (different, day, year, diff conditions)



How long do cams last generally on average (mileage, how you use it?), because when I need to replace, it tempted to go for an upgrade like the above

Edited by BJWoods on Sunday 24th April 20:55

Edited by BJWoods on Sunday 24th April 20:56

Edited by BJWoods on Sunday 24th April 21:01

[Matthew Poxon]

Hello Barry,

I remember speaking to you about your Ohlins, brilliant choice and I would love them on mine at some point. I wish I had bitten the bullet when TVR Centre were offering this as an upgrade package. Like you say prices have gone up a bit since then!

I am hopefully going to be going for an ECU winter this year so I will let you know my experiences with it.

To be perfectly honest your numbers look really healthy as they are, unless you are like me and get enjoyment out of fettling I would recommend that you save your money, keep it standard and enjoy it. There is clearly nothing wrong with yours and if it drives nicely then leave it alone.

From what I understand about cams some have been known to go on 100k+ and be fine, some around 50k like mine and some even lower. I don't think there is any science behind it, at 280BHP standard I would hazard a guess your cam is fine. Stick it on the RR again this year and see what the numbers look like.

[BJWoods]

Matthew Poxon said:

Hello Barry,

I remember speaking to you about your Ohlins, brilliant choice and I would love them on mine at some point. I wish I had bitten the bullet when TVR Centre were offering this as an upgrade package. Like you say prices have gone up a bit since then!

I am hopefully going to be going for an ECU winter this year so I will let you know my experiences with it.

To be perfectly honest your numbers look really healthy as they are, unless you are like me and get enjoyment out of fettling I would recommend that you save your money, keep it standard and enjoy it. There is clearly nothing wrong with yours and if it drives nicely then leave it alone.

From what I understand about cams some have been known to go on 100k+ and be fine, some around 50k like mine and some even lower. I don't think there is any science behind it, at 280BHP standard I would hazard a guess your cam is fine. Stick it on the RR again this year and see what the numbers look like.

I'm probably going to keep it as standard as possible, but should the 17 year old Engine Management Unit ever fail, I would be inclined to get a more modern one, (even if no "improvement" BHP/torque wise, getting rid of stepper motor , etc) just wondering what impact that alone would have, maybe with some of the simpler ACT bits and pieces if that would complement it better. spending wise new dash (pete special) and split roof are top of the wish list - just got a dash, now need to fit it. The ohlins were ten years old, and just had them rebuilt (~£550) - new was £1640 - I hear they are about £3.5 - 4k now !!

Edited by BJWoods on Monday 25th April 13:39

Edited by BJWoods on Monday 25th April 13:41

[Richieboy3008]

Dancing with tears in my eyes!!!