Discussion
The chap who sold me the V8S said dont thrash it all the time, for obvious reasons. For "normal every day driving" whats a perfectly healthy rev count at which to shift up? As in 95% of the time.
The car had an engine rebuild. Does this have any implications of any kind regarding the life of the engine?
Id like to take care of the car as best I can
The car had an engine rebuild. Does this have any implications of any kind regarding the life of the engine?
Id like to take care of the car as best I can
TVRDAve said:
I have an S2 2.9 V6 for normal driving I shift anywhere from 3000 to 4000 RPM. When I want to have fun between 4000 and 6000 rpm. Your 8 would likely be the same. It's all how you feel that day. For normal city I shift 2500 to 3000. So you see it is all over the map just don't Redline it. Also make sure you have good 1000 miles of not to hard (under 4000 rpm) driving on the rebuilt motor before you drive it really hard. Dave
Would town shifting be lower for any reason? I found myself shifting at 2, worrying that shifting at 4 (if I formed a perpetual habbit) could be overly stressful for the engine, as the months rolled by.
Also, fuel economy - for 30 and 60 mph zones, is there a good gear or rpm to be in/at.
I found myself poodling along at 30 with 1k revs - (sometimes shift from second to 5th
) what impact does that have? I know underpowered cars shudder when pulling in too high a gear, not serious but what does this do to the engine? Not worried, just curious.Labouring the engine in too high a gear at low revs/road speed (20mph in 4th for example) is considered worse than higher revs. I'd keep below 5000rpm on a new/rebuilt engine for the first 1000 miles and use the following rule of thumb for gear changing. At 20 change to 2nd, at 30 change to 3rd, at 40 change to 4th and 50 into 5th.
>> Edited by kentishS2 on Thursday 15th July 09:41
>> Edited by kentishS2 on Thursday 15th July 09:41
I find with my V8S that the engine is happiest above something like 1800-2000 revs. This usually means third gear in town. 1500 revs and below and things are a bit lumpy.
Once on the open road it really depends on the conditions. If I'm pressing on I use most of the rev range (with the obvious fuel consumption side effects). Don't over rev though - unless you're V8Smith and have something out of the ordinary under the bonnet(?)!
Observe the red line at 6000. I think the limiter is just above this anyway. To be honest, with all that torque there is no real need to rev it round to the red line every time! I usually change around 4-5000 when pushing on and around 3-3500 when a little more relaxed.
Once on the open road it really depends on the conditions. If I'm pressing on I use most of the rev range (with the obvious fuel consumption side effects). Don't over rev though - unless you're V8Smith and have something out of the ordinary under the bonnet(?)!
Observe the red line at 6000. I think the limiter is just above this anyway. To be honest, with all that torque there is no real need to rev it round to the red line every time! I usually change around 4-5000 when pushing on and around 3-3500 when a little more relaxed.
Whilst newly rebuilt engines shouldn't be caned, for obvious reasons, neither should they be over protected and driven at bu99er all revs. This can cause overpolishing of the machined surfaces which can result in a poor seal between, say, cylinder bore and rings which will lead to excessive oil consumption with time.
Ideally when running in, just drive the car normally and avoid labouring the engine at low revs or screaming it at high revs.
When run in, suggest changing gear just after the V8 hits that wonderful resonant note.
Ideally when running in, just drive the car normally and avoid labouring the engine at low revs or screaming it at high revs.
When run in, suggest changing gear just after the V8 hits that wonderful resonant note
.pstruck said:
Once on the open road it really depends on the conditions. If I'm pressing on I use most of the rev range (with the obvious fuel consumption side effects). Don't over rev though - unless you're V8Smith and have something out of the ordinary under the bonnet(?)!
Dont know whats different about mine but it does seem to rev higher than over V8 Tivs
Like the guys have said just take it easy and feel the car, all TVR's are different, as Pstruck pointed out, but normally the rev limiter is around 6000rpm. I dont recommend testing that out often, best left for the track or getting rid of tailgating numpties on the motorway
Enjoy
Mike
Most of the V8S dyno graphs I have seen show peak power at ca. 5500 rpm and fairly flat torque between 2000 and 5500 rpm, for this reason I can see little point in shifting up above this point. I find that in lower gears the engine increases rpm so quickly that to be on the safe side I would not bother with much above 5000 in first, or second. The box is not the quickest in the world, so getting into a slightly higher gear early on smooths things out (at least with my driving style)
Z
Z
V8Smith said:
Dont know whats different about mine but it does seem to rev higher than over V8 Tivs
....
If it happily revs and pulls beyond the normal 5K5 out of breath RV8 feeling, particularly if the revs really acccelerate above 4K, then it deffo is not standard
. 
As it was used for sprinting and the previous owner MAY have entered it into the standard class you may never find out . Possibily head work, gas flowed and or a decent cam IMHO will make a lot of difference to the motor
. harry
BTW Just my opinion, no slight of the previous owner meant above.........
HarryW said:
Dont know whats different about mine but it does seem to rev higher than over V8 Tivs
....
If it happily revs and pulls beyond the normal 5K5 out of breath RV8 feeling, particularly if the revs really acccelerate above 4K, then it deffo is not standard
Possibily head work, gas flowed and or a decent cam IMHO will make a lot of difference to the motor
harry
BTW Just my opinion, no slight of the previous owner
meant above.........
I reckon Mikes needle must be bent...
I sat alongside him on the driver day and it definately went past the, almost nearly 6 1/2 k-ish reading on the dial
Either engine Mods or a Clubbed foot...
He didn't have a limp....
shnozz said:
He didn't have a limp....
that was probably due to the excitement from tracking the car for the first time
Possibly, possibly, but I have had the car on the track before, when I filmed for the TV programme!
As for the engine mods, as far as I know there arent any!! And I prefer to keep it that way, as if I know I will have to declare it to my insurance company! I am just happy in the knowledge my cars a quick one, as my mate who has a Chim 450 found out last Sunday
I will be going the Mark Adams chip and rolling road at Austec route later in the summer, maybe that will shed some light on power etc...? My mini supercharger arrives soon will let you know if I feel any difference, you never know Harry it could cure the warm air problem, thats the main reason I bought it! its worth a try!
Mike
z_chromozone said:
Most of the V8S dyno graphs I have seen show peak power at ca. 5500 rpm and fairly flat torque between 2000 and 5500 rpm, for this reason I can see little point in shifting up above this point. I find that in lower gears the engine increases rpm so quickly that to be on the safe side I would not bother with much above 5000 in first, or second. The box is not the quickest in the world, so getting into a slightly higher gear early on smooths things out (at least with my driving style)
Z
I agree, after 5k its mostly noise.
sotonS2 said:
Sorry, Rob - misinterpreted the thread. Thought the engine had only just been rebuilt.
No excuses not to give a good blat then, eh ?
For sure
but at the moment, most grannies take corners faster than I do. Still reeling mentally from the time (I'd only had the car 15 minutes) when I kept the pedal on the mat for a good 2.5 seconds. Im more concerned (in a pathetic newbie wipe-your-shoes-on-the-grass-before-you-get-in-kinda-way) about whats the best, safest max revs to always go up to, for the 50'000 gear changes that lie ahead over the years to come. If chaging up at 2500 is half as hard on the engine than shifting at 3500 every time I notch up, Id rather do that. But I get the impression that shifting at 3500 every single time should be perfectly ok?
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