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TR2/3/3A TR3's VS MGA's Back in the Day

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K

karls59tr

Obi Wan
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I was at Gimli Racetrack in Manitoba on the weekend. It was Classic British Car Day and we were allowed to do Parade Laps in our cars. Lead car was a Cooper S,then a Porsche 914 1.8 ,a freshly restored Austin Healy 3000,a beautiful red Austin Healy 100, an MGB with a Moss supercharger and an MGB with a Chevy S10 truck motor. Those were fun laps :smile: Anyway some of us were admiring an MGA in the pits and the topic got around to how well the MGA used to handle on the track.One wag stated that the the MGA was a better handling car than the TR3 when racing back in the day.He said that the TR3 tended to "plow" in the corners so the MGA's used to pass on the inside. the "3"s having the more powerful motor would overtake in the straights! I realize that there are a lot of variables in racing and driver skill plays a factor so his statement might be a generalization. I think the MGA has beautiful lines and I do like the car but I was always under the impression that a stock TR3 would blow the doors off a stock MGA in a race. Anyone remember seeing the two of them driven in anger back in the day or have a link to a video of the same? Karl
 
I raced a TR-3 back in the '50s. Problem - the inside rear wheel would lift and you could go over. Mine did - at Lime Rock, but not driven by me. The driver was scratched and scared but unhurt. Luckily, the car did not rollover completely or ge would have been killed since we had no roll bars then.Harold Hurtley did get killed at Lime Rock in a TR-3. He was the hotshot driver in the class. Those two incidents - plus lack of money - ended my racing career.The TR-3 steering was lousy as well. The MGA had rack & pinion and was much better and safer and handled better. In a straight line, the TR-3 would blow the doors off the MGA. I finished 2nd in class at Lime Rock in 1/4 mile acceleration runs beating all XK 120s except one, all Austin Healeys,all Porsches, all MGs and all Alfas -beaten only by an Arnolt Bristol who beat me by 1/10 of a second, a couple of supercharged American musclecars, a Bristol racing car, a couple of Corvettes and one Jag driven by Gordon Mckenzie, a local hotshot. All this from a strictly stock TR-3. If you want to know how I did it, E-Mail me.

PD
 
This worked for me to beat all those cars.
1. Tires inflated to 40 lbs.
2. Spare tire removed.
3. Windscreen removed.
4. Tools, jack, etc. removed.
5. Revved engine to 3000 rpm or so and popped clutch when signal given.
6. Shifted just prior to redline with foot on floor.

Car never complained. I would never try the jackrabbit start with my TR-6. I might leave a halfshaft in the road.
I actually got my name in the NY Times Sports section. Frank M. Blunk was the motorsports editor and such events were covered in those days - the Golden Age of Sports Cars in the U.S. Gone but not forgotten.
Best of luck.

Paul Plotnick
 
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