• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

TR6 I drove the TR6/M3 last night!!! It's alive.

Share this page

milemarker60

milemarker60

Senior Member
Country flag
Offline
Well, I finally finished off all the cooling, electrical and brake system on my TR6/M3 creation yesterday and took it out for a couple of runs down the street. I still don't have any of the bodywork bolted on to the tub and I'm sure hoping it weighs several hundred pounds cause I'm going to need the weight.

Initial thoughts: didn't have any since my brain couldn't keep up with the car.

This trip proved that all systems and mods I made actually worked. The car is absolutely insanely fast and I can break the tires loose in third gear rolling the throttle agressively through 4k RPMS. The brakes I put on (Toyota front and Wilwood disc rear, Carbotech pads) are amazing. I put in a Wilwood lever proportioning valve that I can reach from the driver's seat for adjustment. I have it set 50% in this light weight form and I would have to say that it rivals my Wife's BMW 745. Every dang gauge, light, system, etc. WORKS. The CV Axles from Kevin had no issues either on this run.

All in all, the performance way exceeded my expectations and I am stunned that all mods and systems play well together in the same sandbox.

I now need to get it back to the body shop to have the panels installed then finish out the interior. I can't wait for Spring!

Santa is bringing my Wife a new Digital Camcorder for X-Mas so I'll get some footage and post on my photobucket site if the weather breaks over the continuing winter.
 
I'm so jealous...
Nice work. As others have said already, get that camera cranked up.
 
Had an M3 out for a couple test drives and it was an absolute blast and I can only imagine what that engine would be like in a 6. Gotta see the video! In the meantime, could you snap a couple shots of the install? Those engines are a work of art in themselves.

Tom
 
Dave,
Digital Camcorders are like cookie dough. It should be tested before being given to a loved one. Some footage of the M powered tub screaming down the street would be priceless.
BTW what type of differential are you running?
BOBH
 
I'm using an Infiniti Q45 R200 VLSD (3.54). Just too easy to pass up using Richard Good's kit. Thought about putting in a BMW since I would have better gear choices but just not as feasible.

On paper I thought I would be all right with my final drive numbers but after driving it, I have already started to source an e46 (later model M3) 6spd to swap out with my e36 M3 5spd. The first five gears are all the same but it adds a .83 overdrive in 6th.

My current set-up nets me 3300rpm @ 70mph and a top speed of 147mph. The 6spd brings it down to 2750rpm @ 70mph and a top speed of 177mph. The actual BMW runs 3000rpm @ 70mph. With this thing being so light, I'd like to have the option of dropping the rpm's a little on the highway.
 
I'm impressed. That motor fits in there nicely. I'm eagerly awaiting shots of the finished product.(I'm sure you're getting antsy too)
This is one of the nicest mod jobs I've seen , and with stunning performance results. My hat is off to you.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The 6spd brings it down to 2750rpm @ 70mph and a top speed of 177mph. The actual BMW runs 3000rpm @ 70mph. With this thing being so light, I'd like to have the option of dropping the rpm's a little on the highway.

[/ QUOTE ]

What is the fifth gear ratio on that 6-Speed and what are the rear end ratios in the BMW that hose rpm/mph numbers generated with? FWIW when my TR8 is spinning at 3,000rpm in fifth gear I'm doing 80mph. But the rear axle ratio is 3.08.

And I think your projected top speed of 177 is clearly not taking into account the brick like aerodynamics of our beloved TR6's as I do believe that it would take more than 300hp to push a TR6 to 177mph.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif
 
I'm defintely not taking into account the aerodynamics in the formula calculations of top speed. Actually I only listed it out as a kind of joke. I doubt that there would be a time I would ever even think of going that fast in such a small car.

The transmission ratios are as follows for the BMW Transmissions. The 5spd is exactly the same minus the 6th .83 OD. The 95 M3 used a 3.15 and the 96+ used a 3.23. Several M3 owners that have made the swap to the 6spd on earlier cars then lower their diffs to a 3.46 or even a 3.64 depending on their applications. I'm only turning 300 RPM's more than a Stock M3 so I'm really not that concerned. But, I'm making this a driver and it would be really nice to putz around on the highway turning 2700 at 70mph

5-speed or 6-speed
1st 4.23
2nd 2.53
3rd 1.67
4th 1.23
5th 1.0
6th 0.83

I'm running 225/45/17 tires which net a 25" diameter and 3.538 rear ratio in the R200 VLSD. My life would be much easier if someone made ring and pinion kits for this dif but no joy.

With that said, their is a local competition at an airport that is a stop-to-stop competition to see who can reach the highest speed in the measured distance and still stop before the end of the runway. I am quite certain that I will run out of gearing before I need to start braking as a friend of mine hit 145mph in his Rover V8 several years ago and I'd love to squash his record.

Calculated HP on the engine is around 310HP at the flywheel which does not take in consideration my 11lb Aluminum flywheel. I will dyno in the near future to see how much is actually making it to the ground.

Amazing how smooth this engine is as I can blip the throttle and get no vibration or shaking of the car at all. I feel like stacking wine glasses on the cowl to demonstrate that its not only Lexus that can isolate the engine well from the chassis.
 
Milemarker60
I was wondering how you were getting on with the M3TR6. It's been awhile since your last post. It's already a work of art. I can't wait to see the finished project.
Regards
Craig
 
You better have great pics and videos, because I may be in line when you market the conversion kit package!

Congratulations and I look forward to seeing more as you move forward.
 
Dave,

Do you have any pics yet of the car with the fenders on? I was wondering what it looks like with the 225/45/17's on.

I am running the same size wheel/tire combo but my car is still without the wings so I have no idea what it will look like (I had a deal I could not pass up). I was planning on changing the tires to 225/55/17's to get the same OD as the original 15's. Also are you running uprated lowered springs?
 
Dave,
First off, my sincere congrats on your progress!!! You've done a great job on your conversion. The CV's are a nice piece of engineering. I can certainly relate to the importance of gearing.

I'm running a BMW LSD rear end at 2.93 ratio. Not quick off the line but it pulls like a son of a gun after that. I've got a BMW 4.10 in the garage for a rainy weekend to swap out(there goes the tires). All together with the lockout OD, my engine runs 1800 at 75 mph. Tires would come off long before anything close to 5k rpm in top gear(if it COULD get there - yeah, right).
Your ride looks very good and I echo others when I'd love to see more of your progress.

happy motoring!
jeff
 
As far as the tires and wheels go. I have no pics yet of the panels on the tub as they are still down at the body shop. The wheels I'm using are BMW "style 5" multi-piece BBS that are 17x8 et 20 (5.3" back spacing). Up front the larger diameter allows them to clear the upper arms and mount without any spacers necessary. Thus the added width of the set-up minus the offset puts them nicely at the edge of the fender well with no rubbing anywhere. The rears are the same however I have added the thickness of the rear disc brake brackets as the rotor thickness offsets the drum thickness adding an effective .625" of track increase. This combo with the wheel offset moved them out perfectly (again without any kind of spacers) to avoid contact with the shock brackets. The rear tires just bulge past the fender lips much like people running 205's on Panasport 16"ers. Looks just right and I will post pics once I get the body panels mounted.

I am running Richard Good's lowered springs all the way around. My wheel and tire diameter is exactly 25.0" and the tires mounted to the stock wheels when I got it were 185/70/15's which are 25.2".

One way I have considered changing my gearing is to step up the size of the rear tires to a 245/45/17 which will drop my RPM's about 75 at 70mph. Not all that significant but I have the room in the back and I'm thinking I might want a bigger contact patch to hook-up. The Falken 615's I'm using are also available in a 275/40/17 which brings my diameter back down but could certainly add some more rubber-to-the-road contact to help hook-up but I'd have to test fit a set to see how they look first. I'll probably wait til I've roasted off this first set before trying other sizes.
 
Back
Top