What's faster, a 350i or 400SE?

[toltec]

Answer - the 350i

Tested with 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th gear roll-ons.

Going to check the timing and 'Tune resistor' asap.

[silverback mike]

Awaiting arrival of 400se chaps....

[badredwedge]

suppose it depends on which 350 and which 400
I have had both a 350 and a 400 the 400 is much quicker. Cant comment on anyone elses but I am sure alot of other 400 owners will.

[pwd95]

I went from 350 to a 400 also and my 400 is on a different planet to the 350. At this age it's entirely dependant on how they've been kept or upgraded.

[rev-erend]

Or what a previous owner has changed..

the 350i had 190 bhp

and the 400 SE had 240 bhp..

So - the 400 SE should be much quicker..

[JR]

rev-erend said:

The 350i had 190 bhp

for the early mk1s with the cast iron manifolds. Most had 197.

rev-erend said:

and the 400 SE had 240 bhp..

268

rev-erend said:

So - the 400 SE should be much quicker..

with 71TVRBHP extra, yes.

Edited by JR on Tuesday 1st August 18:34

[l33]

My 350i's pretty quick.
Could have something to do with the 4.5 engine though...

[rev-erend]

JR said:

rev-erend said:

The 350i had 190 bhp

for the early mk1s with the cast iron manifolds. Most had 197.

rev-erend said:

and the 400 SE had 240 bhp..

268

rev-erend said:

So - the 400 SE should be much quicker..

with 71TVRBHP extra, yes.

Edited by JR on Tuesday 1st August 18:34

Yes you are right - brain fade..

was thinking of 240 bhp for the 4.0 Chim & Griff engine..

[gun metal]

rev-erend said:

Or what a previous owner has changed..

the 350i had 190 bhp

and the 400 SE had 240 bhp..

So - the 400 SE should be much quicker..

By the book the 400 had 275 bhp.

[350zwelgje]

Depends on how worn the cam is? It could be that a fresh 350i with a good cam, produces what it says on the box, and a 400 with worn/no lobes, ehhhh.... less than that? Not thinking of all the sensors and ECU that can go tits up.

Rob

[350matt]

Might be a 350SE in which case the same engine as the 400's and 240TVR BHP so about 220 real BHP and possibly a slightly lighter car than the 400 and a lower diff ratio which would defintely help.


It was only the 390 SE's and some early 400's which made 275Bhp


Or you never know it could have been my old girl which was a real 270Bhp

Matt

Edited by 350matt on Tuesday 1st August 21:37

[silverback mike]

Does that mean my 390se has 275bhp? I didn't know that....

[barrington]

the only 350 i now that is faster than 400 is pistolas one that he sold but that did have a 5.0 grith engine with lots of mods it was also bloody loud

[wedg1e]

silverback mike said:

Does that mean my 390se has 275bhp? I didn't know that....

Only since BHP was abolished in favour of 'bullshits per square kilowatt-hour'.

ALLEGEDLY the ORIGINAL race-spec engine, built for the factory by SD1 racer Andy Rouse, made 275bhp. However it used every trick in the tuning book to get there and used as much oil as it did petrol. By the time NCK 'productionised' the 3905cc engine, the actual output was somewhat reduced (I think it was Mark Adams who told me that 220-240 bhp was more like it), however TVR decided to ignore that fact and play on the connection with Rouse.
There is thus hardly any difference at all between a 390SE and a 400SE; what the 390 does with porting, high-lift cam and twiddled fuelling, the 400 equals in cc, hotwire injection and fuel mapping.
Allegedly (again) the 390 had a lightened flywheel and larger valves, but if it did to start with, they must have forgotten about them when they got to my car...

Further: if fitting uprated injectors to 400SEs is common practice now, that suggests that insufficient fuel can be forced through the standard injectors. In which case you'd expect the 390SE to have uprated injectors as well, to keep up with all that extra power being created. Er, no. The 390 uses the same injectors (and airflow meter) as a 350. How so, if it makes 35 bhp more than a 400SE?

Also, you'd expect a 275 bhp car to more or less keep up with a 280 bhp one, wouldn't you? Wonder why my mate's 280 bhp Impreza leaves me for dead, then... well not exactly for dead, but the sort of difference you might expect if the 390 made, say 220-240...

[gwood]

sounds like some drag racing needs to be done!! i have a 350i and the last owner said it had been played with and had 220 ish bhp.

[combine]

275 bhp at flywheel if your lucky , 220 bhp at wheels - real figure , and its best to check on a rolling road as they are all different as we know . Starting to find the 390 a fraction slower than other newer makes but can't beat that noise / crackle , pop , having recently driven a 911 / 996 round bruntingthorpe - boring but faster and blo.dy expensive .

[toltec]

The 350i is a standard (I think) '89 series II and is not exceptionally quick - my Impreza feels quicker though they have not been run side by side. The 400 was not miles behind but the 350i definitely pulled ahead in every gear. The 400 has a hotwire injection system btw.

I think maybe a trip to Austec for a rolling road tune up would be a good idea.

[dinkel]

Check with the same driver behind the wheel . . .

"Have used a G-Tech pro acceleromter, 0-60 achieved in 6.0 seconds, quarter mile was 14.9 @ 97mph (1/4 mile approx? - can't remember exact figures)These figures are 2 way runs, cool weather, warm tires on good pavement. Fuel economy - poor, but that is more the fault of not being willing to drive it gently. "

"With a 3.8 L tuned Rover V8 giving 285 HP this small car weighing just 1040 kg was a real Porsche killer; 0-60 MPH took only 5.1 seconds. Principally it was a keeper; the GRP body won't corrode and the Rover technology safe-guarded availability of reasonably priced reserve parts. The biggest problem was the availability of right size tyres matching the small BBS wheels. I took it once to the Autobahn in Germany and open air driving at 230 km/h was a pleasure. The absolutely best feature of this model is the sound! The exhaust pipe (with a diameter close to 80mm) delivered the most masculine roar ever available in the auto market. However, it brought problems too; I did not dare to start the TVR 400 SE in the mornings because of the neighbors!"

[toltec]

dinkel said:

Check with the same driver behind the wheel . . .

All runs repeated after a driver swap - same result the 350 pulls away. There is another chap with a 400 at our local meet so I will persuade him to give us a comparison test.

[toltec]

Are injectors colour coded? I ask because the ones on the 400 are pretty new looking and have a bright green strip on them. I am wondering if these are higher flow than standard as the car does seem to run a bit rich and produces the odd bang and pop which I thought hotwires were not meant to do.