• 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

Keeping up with Traffic

Share this page

In my wedge, 3200 PRM, 5th gear, is about 70 mph. The car cruises very nice like that. In fact, when on the open road, I have to keep an eye on it, as it tends to creap up faster and faster. Have caught myself doing 80 a couple times.
 
After I had pulled over and had my bonnet up and "checking" the oil with the dip stick out, the State trouper finally pulled in next to me. He walked around my '67 GT6 and after careful consideration said, "I bet this baby really goes?"

My reply, "It keeps up with traffic pretty good."

True story from November 1968.
 
Thanx everyone for your response,

So I'll try to maintain about a 3200ish rmp with more room on top to pass.

My next task is to complete the correct calibration of my speedo;. John at Quantum shared his contact with me.
As soon as I get a chance to roll the car and count the revolutions of the cable in a 100', then the speedo and the info can be sent out.



tr69.jpg
 
Bill,

Stop with the still action idyllic photos of that green beauty in a parade rest position in a park.

Ever wonder why there is a red line on your tach? For crying out loud, stop babying that honey of a car and put the pedal to the metal. Let's see some video of you on the Merritt flying through the tunnel at about 90, revving around 4500 RPMs and that exhaust singing sweetly in the breeze.

Hehehehehehe......
 
Paul yer soooo bad!...lol

I'm still waiting for ya to meet me in the middle.
I can almost taste the better weather.

I push but I just got her on the road, and dont wanna break her and end up in the garage for the summer.


Film at 11
 
Chiming in late on this one, but on my old stock motor in my TR6, it regularly saw extended periods over 4,000 rpm. I was told as a lad that anythinng under the redline/caution line is good to go. But there is a reason why they call that side of the tach the expensive end. Oh, and that engine was still running and revving just fine when I pulled it out. It also had close to 150,000 miles on it.

My TR8 is the real road rocket that has zero problems keeping up with modern traffic. At 3,000 rpm it sits just over 80mph and just by rolling onto the throttle it will jump to three digits fairly quickly. That's Nice! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
And here's my two (inflation-devalued) cents -

from my TR3 Maintenance Hints manual:

Desirable Speed Limits (Particularly in gears lower than top)

Avoid over-revving, particularly in the lower gears. The driver is advised not to drive the car continuously at engine speeds above 4,500 r.p.m. in any gear. However, whilst accelerating through the gears it is permissible to attain 5,000 r.p.m. for short periods, this speed being indicated by a red mark on the tachometer.


Not saying I'd test that you understand. Say, how does this works recommendation for the TR3 compare to what's in a TR4 owner's manual?

Tom
 
Summers coming, bud! If not sooner, I'm hoping for Harkness, June 3rd. Harry will be there with his expanding group of LBC lovers, in the miniature versions.

Tom can't make it, so I need the RI guys to chime in here. MA cars are welcome too!
 
I hate to have to wait untill June 3rd.
But You can count on me being there!

I hope the weather is better than last year!
 
Whoops. Thanks Andrew, those were the numbers I was trying to reference!



Adam.


____________________________________________________________
1973 Triumph Spitfire.
 
Cruising at 4,000 rpm or anything decently below the redline is not going to do any harm.

In the Triumph GT6 driver's manual, there's a section listing road speeds in various gears. The TR6 manual may have one, too. They were expected to be driven at those speeds.
 
Doesn't the original TR2 owners manual advise to raise the air pressure in your tires if you are driving for extended periods at over 100 mph?

Evidently the designers thought 60 mph was quite slow...
 
TR4A. No overdrive. I feel right at about 55 MPH. But no one behind me does. I like the back roads anyway. I suppose with some new tires and more precise balancing I could go 65 MPH, but I think that would push things.
 
From my TR3 owner's manual (bias ply tires):

"Normal motoring with sustained speeds limited to 85mph: 20/24psi for 5.50/5.90-15 tires. 24/32psi for 165/xxx tires.

Low end tires raise inflation to 26/30 for "sustained speeds up to 100mph".

There's more, but it looks like 85mph was "no problem".

Tom
 
can a tr2 really do 100 M.P.H.?
Concerning engine speeds at cruise, I guess I'm just jealous of those with a fifth gear. Also jealous of those with overdrive, though a bit complex, but mainly for the overdrive emblem on the rear.
 
I never had a problem running 65 for long periods if time with TS74011L. I occasionally would take it up to 70 if I was only going 100 miles or so.

The fastest I ever ran it was just a notch over 100...but I had on 30 year old 5:90 tires and I didn't want to push it. I did run those old tires for 12 years before I broke down and bought some new radials...and 200 miles later the fan broke and wrecked the radiator and I sold it shortly afterwards...that will teach me to buy those new-fangled tires!

TS1203LO (minus the OD) will definitley be running 70 plus this summer...

I'd better get busy!

At Jabbeke, Belgium in 1953 the factory TR2 did 124 + in the flying mile with a bellypan, a cut-down windscreen and hard tonneau cover.

In production trim it hit 114...
 
Just returned from a 1300 mile ride in the TR6. 4th OD had it at 70mph at 2800 rpm, and that's where we stayed the entire time.
 
I run my TR3 about 70 on the highway (3000 RPM w/OD) which still makes me about the slowest thing on the road. The car runs very well at that speed but there is always the nagging thought in the back of my head "50 year old suspension mounting points". I tend to enjoy taking the back roads at 55-60 something about that extra 10MPH that just doesn't feel as comfortable as I would like.
 
Ok I tested the theory /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif

3/4 hour at 3200 RPM's She performed like a champ!
DSC07730.jpg
DSC07724.jpg
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/banana.gif
 
Back
Top