Griff 500 Power etc

Griff 500 Power etc

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si easter

Original Poster:

219 posts

213 months

Thursday 29th November 2018
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So we all know that the 340 bhp quoted by TVR was exaggerated , but what about the 0 to 60 time of 4.2 seconds and the top speed of 167mph ?
My Griff is very quick of the mark but not sure its that quick , and as for 167MPH I think it would take off !

neutral 3

6,427 posts

170 months

Sunday 2nd December 2018
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I too would be very interested to see what top end a factory std Griff 500 would pull. I highly doubt it would pull a genuine 160mph.
A Griff @ 140 feels Very unstable / not at all confidence inspiring.
As for 0-60, my own “ tweaked” car feels shatteringly quick to 60 and i ride SuperBikes.

Any one tried a rear spoiler in conjunction with the OE front spoiler ?

steve-V8s

2,901 posts

248 months

Thursday 20th December 2018
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Found mine to be less than stable when changing direction around 100 or so on a particular piece of track. Felt it was the rear causing the problem so altered the exhaust exit so the pipes come straight back rather than the original arrangement which looks to be rather poor for air flow .

Also fitted a boot lip spoiler which was modelled on an Audi TT but slightly re profiled. Those changes made a very noticeable improvement, to the point where the front felt floaty. Fitting a substantial splitter at the front sorted that but it is probably larger than you would want on a polishing car.

More recently after having a grassy moment I made a rear diffuser which was the biggest improvement of all making it feel altogether more stable in high speed corners.

Not convinced that the original front splitter does a lot.

griffdude

1,823 posts

248 months

Friday 21st December 2018
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I found at Bruntingthorpe a few years (2003???) ago having the roof off made about 12mph difference to the top speed- it would only do 148 topless & 160 with it on using a road angel (also took quite a ‘spirited’ entry onto the main straight). But then again mine isn’t a 5.0L.

neutral 3

6,427 posts

170 months

Friday 28th December 2018
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One of the original 1961 E Type racers insisted on racing with the hood on his roadster down. It took him ages to realise why his competitors kept their hoods up or had hard tops !

Equus

16,828 posts

101 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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neutral 3 said:
I too would be very interested to see what top end a factory std Griff 500 would pull. I highly doubt it would pull a genuine 160mph.
I saw 163mph on GPS once, with mine. It didn't feel especially unstable, and it didn't take all that long to wind up to that speed.

Classic Chim

12,424 posts

149 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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I managed 150 mph down an airstrip easily enough, I was coming onto it at about 70 mph so not a standing start, and I later found my air intake pipe crushed so more to come. I’ve gone onto Mbe ign/ fuelling since and it’s clearly a bit faster again so i’d be confident it will make 160mph, the car felt stable if light on its front wheels and not anything like as bad as some people say. Maybe my alignment was spot on as it had been geo’d only weeks before and I retain the front splitter which imho works especially over 100 mph.
A Chim so probably more aero efficient,,,,,,, hehe

phazed

21,844 posts

204 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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Classic Chim said:
A Chim so probably more aero efficient,,,,,,, hehe
I was told that only a few days ago, not in jest!


Hi Alun, catch up soon.

RichB

51,505 posts

284 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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I think most contemporary road tests managed a 0-60 of around 4.2 secs. As others have said many people have reached 160mph

Classic Chim

12,424 posts

149 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
quotequote all
phazed said:
I was told that only a few days ago, not in jest!


Hi Alun, catch up soon.
Hi Peter, yes I don’t bell you for a few weeks and next thing I know your looking at Cerbs,,,, wink

I do like the idea of the roll cage, mainly for the extra chassis strength it’s likely to add for more consistent handling at speed.
Catch up soon smile

Olivera

7,108 posts

239 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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RichB said:
I think most contemporary road tests managed a 0-60 of around 4.2 secs. As others have said many people have reached 160mph
A contemporary TVR road test needs taken with a large pinch of salt when the factory were providing the cars...

RichB

51,505 posts

284 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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Olivera said:
RichB said:
I think most contemporary road tests managed a 0-60 of around 4.2 secs. As others have said many people have reached 160mph
A contemporary TVR road test needs taken with a large pinch of salt when the factory were providing the cars...
Really? I was around back then and they all seemed to reach similar conclusions. As did most people on Pistonheads who timed their cars... Why do you feel otherwise?

Olivera

7,108 posts

239 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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RichB said:
Really? I was around back then and they all seemed to reach similar conclusions. As did most people on Pistonheads who timed their cars... Why do you feel otherwise?
Many reasons.

TVR were already fabricating power official power figures.

This has been stated on PH before with regards to press Griffiths:

"That Griff at least was untypical for production cars, allegedly being one of less than a dozen very early examples with a 234 cam (among some other top end 'refinements' probably). It kind of backfired on them as Autocar reported it was a pain to drive slowly as well as being a twitchy b*gg*r to drive in comparison with the 430 they drove a year prior to it."

Then there is the top gear cerbera drag race debacle.

spitfire4v8

3,991 posts

181 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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What debacle?

Olivera

7,108 posts

239 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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spitfire4v8 said:
What debacle?
Strong rumours that the engine was fettled with, or a 4.5 Tuscan Challenge race engine.

spitfire4v8

3,991 posts

181 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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I thought it was well understood that autocar rolling roaded it within a couple of hp of the quoted 360.

RichB

51,505 posts

284 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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Olivera said:
RichB said:
Really? I was around back then and they all seemed to reach similar conclusions. As did most people on Pistonheads who timed their cars... Why do you feel otherwise?
Many reasons.

TVR were already fabricating power official power figures.

This has been stated on PH before with regards to press Griffiths:

"That Griff at least was untypical for production cars, allegedly being one of less than a dozen very early examples with a 234 cam (among some other top end 'refinements' probably). It kind of backfired on them as Autocar reported it was a pain to drive slowly as well as being a twitchy b*gg*r to drive in comparison with the 430 they drove a year prior to it."

Then there is the top gear cerbera drag race debacle.
We are not talking about the Cerbera. That TVR exaggerated power claims is not in dispute. The fact is that most owners of Griff 500s 20 years ago, self included, managed 0-60 times of around 4.2/4.3 seconds. You are confusing TVR power claims with real life performance which doesn't illustrate your point. Do you have anything other than anecdotes about the Cerbera?

anonymous-user

54 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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IMO.

I’d say my Griff is sub 5 second 60 car. It’s got a 5.2 JE engine and a fairly soft cam, putting out a genuine 300+HP. I’d say it’s nowhere near 4 seconds, ever.

Classic Chim

12,424 posts

149 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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yonex said:
IMO.

I’d say my Griff is sub 5 second 60 car. It’s got a 5.2 JE engine and a fairly soft cam, putting out a genuine 300+HP. I’d say it’s nowhere near 4 seconds, ever.
Have you tested this theory with a proper timing device with a proper race start.
If I can manage 110 mph within 1/4 mile in 12.60 seconds 0-60 in 4 seconds is very feasible with the right conditions and aggressive race start, we are talking 5000 revs and dump the clutch here, it’s not for the faint hearted but it’s absolutely possible, I did 12,7 1/4 on road tyres,,,,,, usually about 13.5 seconds with Catted exhaust.
I did lots of runs, consistently about 13 seconds so it’s not made up or some bragging rights it’s just fact.
If a JE 5.2 can’t do it something’s amiss or your not trying hard enough as mines a 450 rebuilt by Dom with no real tuning mods just good compression dyno’d to about 295bhp but over 340 ft torque which is where the speed comes from. I regularly got beat by more tuned Tvr with higher bhp figures but that’s to be expected as mines not even ported, standard heads the lot!?!?

anonymous-user

54 months

Saturday 29th December 2018
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The Atom is around 3.5, it feels monumentally faster. Just my ass dyno. I like the 5.2 for the way it delivers a flat torque curve, it’s no race car smile