Cobra Build - medium to longer term options
Discussion
Dr_Rick said:
I know finance is kind of flexible on this but I have a question.
Over the same period of time with the same driving, is there more sense going for old N/A engine on a vintage plate and paying fuel and maintenance vs new plate new engine and less maintenance?
Get me?
Dr Rick
Not sure I'm understanding the question.Over the same period of time with the same driving, is there more sense going for old N/A engine on a vintage plate and paying fuel and maintenance vs new plate new engine and less maintenance?
Get me?
Dr Rick
Can you define what you think the costs are for each option?
Your use of 'vintage plate' and 'New plate' implies you thing there is some monetary difference.
Maintenance should be about the same for each option.
Steve
Don't quite get the question.
Fuel costs: You're considering buying a Cobra and you're thinking about some marginal difference in fuel costs?
Maintenance: Who is going to maintain the car?. If you pay someone to do it, it won't matter much if it's a new build or somewhat older. If you do it yourself; who cares about the cost?
Will you be doing a LOT of miles in this car?
In terms of ££ per mile, any 'toy' car will be mega money compared with a Golf.
Fuel costs: You're considering buying a Cobra and you're thinking about some marginal difference in fuel costs?
Maintenance: Who is going to maintain the car?. If you pay someone to do it, it won't matter much if it's a new build or somewhat older. If you do it yourself; who cares about the cost?
Will you be doing a LOT of miles in this car?
In terms of ££ per mile, any 'toy' car will be mega money compared with a Golf.
Dr_Rick said:
I know finance is kind of flexible on this but I have a question.
Over the same period of time with the same driving, is there more sense going for old N/A engine on a vintage plate and paying fuel and maintenance vs new plate new engine and less maintenance?
Get me?
Dr Rick
I run a Cobra with a "new" engine (by new I take it you mean realativly modern - Mines a Chevy LS1).Over the same period of time with the same driving, is there more sense going for old N/A engine on a vintage plate and paying fuel and maintenance vs new plate new engine and less maintenance?
Get me?
Dr Rick
Fuel - I get 26MPG on a long boring motorway run, probably 18MPG burbling round country lanes with point and squirt on the agenda and about 5MPG on the Track.
An equivalent (HP/Trq) old school N/A motor would probably see 18/12/4 MPG. I do about 3K miles per year - so there may be £300-£500 cost difference in Fuel.
Servicing - I do my own and it's exactly the same cost as old school (filter/oil etc), only difference would be if one of my sensors gave up the ghost it would be expensive to fix (Crank/Cam/MAP/MAF etc etc), in theory I could leave the service intervals much longer, in practice the type of use these toys get means that it's false economy leaving filters/oil in year after year.
In real terms there's probably little reason to go either way, for me I'd already done the Carb'd N/A route and fancied playing with something modern (I can tinker with the ECU whilst sat in the study on the PC :-))
Regards
Jim
I agree with Jim pretty much.
I've seen figures with a N/A engine acheive 24+ MPG on a run (383/6.3 Chevy circa 400hp).
many people quoting 15-18 mpg for regular running and sub 6mpg on track.
If you are thinking of the latest Chevy LS3 vs an old school (but freshly built)Chevy then you might want to consider how long it will take to recoup the additional costs of the modern fuel injection "Luxury".
LS3 is probably £4000 more than the old school motor with similar power. Even being generous on the LS3's economy advantage you are looking at 20+ years before it has paid for itself at 3000 miles per annum.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
I've seen figures with a N/A engine acheive 24+ MPG on a run (383/6.3 Chevy circa 400hp).
many people quoting 15-18 mpg for regular running and sub 6mpg on track.
If you are thinking of the latest Chevy LS3 vs an old school (but freshly built)Chevy then you might want to consider how long it will take to recoup the additional costs of the modern fuel injection "Luxury".
LS3 is probably £4000 more than the old school motor with similar power. Even being generous on the LS3's economy advantage you are looking at 20+ years before it has paid for itself at 3000 miles per annum.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Happy Jim said:
Dr_Rick said:
I know finance is kind of flexible on this but I have a question.
Over the same period of time with the same driving, is there more sense going for old N/A engine on a vintage plate and paying fuel and maintenance vs new plate new engine and less maintenance?
Get me?
Dr Rick
I run a Cobra with a "new" engine (by new I take it you mean realativly modern - Mines a Chevy LS1).Over the same period of time with the same driving, is there more sense going for old N/A engine on a vintage plate and paying fuel and maintenance vs new plate new engine and less maintenance?
Get me?
Dr Rick
Fuel - I get 26MPG on a long boring motorway run, probably 18MPG burbling round country lanes with point and squirt on the agenda and about 5MPG on the Track.
An equivalent (HP/Trq) old school N/A motor would probably see 18/12/4 MPG. I do about 3K miles per year - so there may be £300-£500 cost difference in Fuel.
Servicing - I do my own and it's exactly the same cost as old school (filter/oil etc), only difference would be if one of my sensors gave up the ghost it would be expensive to fix (Crank/Cam/MAP/MAF etc etc), in theory I could leave the service intervals much longer, in practice the type of use these toys get means that it's false economy leaving filters/oil in year after year.
In real terms there's probably little reason to go either way, for me I'd already done the Carb'd N/A route and fancied playing with something modern (I can tinker with the ECU whilst sat in the study on the PC :-))
Regards
Jim
Jim seems to be answering what I should have been asking.
I'm weighing up the options of installing a new driver train vs an old (but refreshed) drive train. The new one will result in a new licence plate and all associate VED weighting and servicing issues including MOT, specialist electronics and the like that may push more maintenance items out of my reach. The alternative is to use a refreshed Chevy and associated trans which (on balance) will result in an age related plate and all associated VED weighting. The servicing will include some like-for-like items but also include some items that cannot be considered in the modern FI option, like carbs. I don't profess to know much about servicing/balancing carbs but I'd get further than trying to track down issues with modern electronic FI.
Like Dave Dax Builder says, it may take many years to pay off the extra loading of modern kit. One other item to consider, I live in Scotland and the weather is, how do you put it, variable. I've seen hail stones in June before so I'd rather not leave myself completely open to tempramental power plants.
The car would be for high days and holidays, and probably not track work.
So, there's not really much in it. Fair enough, if that's the view then I can go either way really, just depends how much tinkering I want to do then.
Dr Rick
Dr_Rick said:
just depends how much tinkering I want to do then.
Can't personally see that there will be much tinkering to do with either option. There will be the normal servicing jobs such as oil and plug changes with either, but actual tinkering? Once the ECU is mapped there shouldn't be anything to do with the injection option, and once the jetting and timing is set, what is there to do with the old engine/carb option except maybe check the points gap if you are still using CB setup.Gassing Station | Kit Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff