Just pondering what the VERY high speed behaviour of a Griff is like? I've had over 160mph on the clock myself and the car felt as solid as a rock to be fair. I have read of Jaguar testing one in a wind tunnel and getting 0.32cd for drag which is pretty respectable but wondered at what speed the front end would lift and how you would achieve higher speeds of circa 180-190mph!!
From the previous Griffs and Chim I have owned I have learnt that a good set up is everything regarding high speed stability and the rake in particular plays an important part, but assuming the set up is at it's best,could very high speeds still be safely accomplished or have they been done already perhaps as there are quite a few griffs running enough BHP already?

Pondered this when i dropped the LS3 in! And after driving the car for the first 1000 miles i'm very pleased with stability!
I'm running larger wheel and tyres all round and have played with the rake, which as you stated has a big effect on top end stability.
The biggest change was noticed when i fitted the tuscan style splitter's which now feel like they pin the car to the road at anything over a Ton
I do believe the arse shape of the Griff does create lift at high speed, but a rear sc power diffuser was just one cosmetic step to far when
it comes to one of the best rear ends around, plus it would mean switching to single exit exhaust as seen on Andy Race is old Griff and a few other!
With the new motor i have seen silly speeds on the speedo [on private roads of course] and car has felt more stable than my 350c which is well sorted so well chuffed!
High end speed is not where its at for the Griff though as i can testify at silly speeds even with the roof on the assault on your senses is monumental! with massive levels of concentration needed.
As far as i know Brummie is the only one on here who could testify what a road going TVR feels like at over 200mph, from the in car footage it looks brutal.
On the other hand @ the risk of sounding like a flash git If you like top end speed i can highly recommend Mercs AMG CL55 derestricted, it drives @ 190 like your doing 90 whilst massaging your back behind double glazed windows! effortless. These cars can now be picked up for less than a 4lt chim, running cost's are a bit higher though unless its your chim Peter! I know you can't keep out the Griff forum!

Hi DonkeyApple,
Couple of questions if i may?
How does the Typhon feel at high speed, not just the handling but the bodywork and interior? Does it still feel TVR? I would of thought with it's design its solid as a brick?
Secondly and off topic how did your PH name come about? You'll have to excuse my inquisitive nature!
I see your london based, was it your Typhon being serviced in Jasons about 5/6 months back?
Always found your griff contributions informative!

A bit!

The engine is nothing short of brutal, the car just keeps pulling, no thats wrong because it does not feel like your being pulled down the road, more like thrust from behind.
I strengthened the chassis and added a roll-cage so chassis twist is not to bad! I'm having a few teething troubles with the FBW as mentioned in the LS3 thread but apart from that i love it! It spins the rears in any gear :]
If your ever in the Richmond area pop in & you can check it out! Especially if your out in the Typhon lol
I did look long and hard at the Grey one Jason had up for Sale, but just could not justify the outlay especially as i want to go TVR racing next year!

Hope you feel much better soonest!


Onno

That's why I mentioned revs and not the speed that was showing. Back in those days I had no way of displaying speed accurately.

The car was the Gerry Marshall Griff and the engine had been built to his spec with quite a high cam. Made it very revvy and the most amazing 'drivers' car. It had standard gear ratios so 80 in top was 3000.

It would rev well over 6000 and the speedo on that occasion was registering what must have been well into the 170 area.

I just don't know what speed it was really doing but I've always suspected that because the power band was so much higher up the rev range than a normal 500 that it could reach a higher top speed. It would certainly go off the clock which I think I recall as 160 as the last number?

I managed 6300 in my Chim also on stock gearing/wheel/tyre size

174 on the gps didn't feel to bad except the bonnet trying to fly open and then it did....... almost covered the seats in a brown liquid

I need to go Vmax to get this confirmed

My calculations confirm that 6300 does indeed equate to 174.5mph if using a 245x45x16 rear tyre and 0.80 fifth gear ratio with the earlier GKN diff ratio of 3.31:1
Quite honestly I'm amazed these cars can do that speed as although the gearing is there to do it I would have thought that more bhp would be needed to be honest?
How can you measure how much bhp is needed though? I've seen calculators to calculate this but the sticking point is surely that TVR's original real horsepower and true top speed are pretty difficult to establish.

Can't help on the gearing maths, it's a 225/45/16 tyre

Power? 310-350 not had it on the rollers, but managed a 12.48@112mph on road tyres

Cam comes on song at 4k-6500

Ran out of rpm not power at that speed, would of done another 5-10mph IMO

But I doubt the car would of help together any faster, it was dam noisy, windscreen rubber came off, bonnet flow open etc

I keep it below 160 now