What route to take for few mods...
What route to take for few mods...
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Discussion

dnb

Original Poster:

3,330 posts

271 months

Wednesday 22nd September 2004
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Following on from my mad ramblings here

We have a standard engined Griff 500, with a fair few miles on it I'd like to get a feel for what is the easiest and most sensible way to achieve a few things. (Kind of like an Imcremental Acquisition Plan - for those of us working in the defence industry )

The car is used as a daily driver and this will continue for the forseeable future, so there is no intent to go for the first plenum equipped 400 bhp car... (even if it's tempting)

What's right:

Beano500 (the previous owner) has had the suspension set up very nicely. "Making progress" with the car is a wonderful feeling, even on our mediocre local roads.
The brakes are fine too for the moment.

What needs to improve:

The dipped beam headlamps!! It's not the best experience driving the thing around at night (putting it mildly) I know about the TVR bodyshop options here, but want to keep the car looking as standard as possible. I believe TVR got it right. What are my options after rewiring the lamps with sensible wire? Where's a good place to look for headlamp components?

My first engine goal is to smooth out the low end of the rev range so it's a bit more comfortable in traffic. But I don't want this to impact the high end performance.

I don't believe the standard setup is very efficient at lower RPM/low load. What's the cause - I have heard that the standard injectors aren't much good at fuel atomisation on low duty cycles... Is this true?
What else is easy to tinker with to start with?
Or do I just bite the bullet and go for a fully remappable speed-density based fuel and timing ECU and associated electronics from the start?

Any torque improvement or fuel economy gain will be appreciated - they just can't be allowed to get any worse or there's no point in playing.

Budget and manpower:

There's never enough money left at the end of the month, so the cheap things will get done first...

I'm happy enough to experiment and play - I find it's the best way to learn something new. I also prefer to do as much work as I can myself, as learning is never a waste of time! (You never know when knowing how to map ECUs will come in useful...)

This has turned into another ramble so I'll shut up and go to bed now. Any thoughts and observations are greatly appreciated. Yes, I already know I'm quite mad. I don't need to be reminded too often.

anonymous-user

83 months

Thursday 23rd September 2004
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For all those little bits you shouldn't be without, like brighter lights, contact David at mod-wise. Be patient though as I believe he gets rather busy!

Nano2nd

3,426 posts

285 months

Thursday 23rd September 2004
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David, honestly i thing you will be lucky to get any real answers to your questions. One thing i have noticed with the rv8 and tuning is that most people in the know like to keep there secrets to themselfs

beano500

20,854 posts

304 months

Thursday 23rd September 2004
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"WHAT ROUTE TO TAKE FOR FEW MODS..."

A23 - to Brighton?



More serious point - don't forget a Ride Drive course! Fully transferable from car to car, and you'll see the benefits from day one

dnb

Original Poster:

3,330 posts

271 months

Thursday 23rd September 2004
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I was concerned that it would be the case that no-one would want to share any knowledge... It was a similar deal a couple of years back with EJ20 engine tuning. Oh well, looks like I'll have to work it out from 1st principles.

The Ride Drive type things are on the list... In fact we're playing on a skid pan this weekend

LOL @ the A23.

Apache

39,731 posts

313 months

Thursday 23rd September 2004
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We had similar low speed issues and it's not uncommon Check out my profile for the route we chose to take regarding this. One of the benefits is you remove all of the problematical stuff and can trade it in against the mods.

griffdude

1,917 posts

277 months

Thursday 23rd September 2004
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Re the lights, try powerbulbs.co.uk, I recently bought some Osram 50% brighter H1s for main+dipped & they have transformed the night driving experience.

>> Edited by griffdude on Thursday 23 September 13:17