Gday On autospeed at the moment they road test a TE50 car and they have alot to say about the engine. Mostly negative. However they said the suspension and brakes were top class. The car had the optional Brnembo brakes. I have cut and pasted the relevant engine comments below.
Pele. The stroked version of the 5-litre V8 is available in three Tickfords - the tested base model TE50, the slightly more luxo TS50, and the Fairlane-based TL50. Developing a not-inspiring 250kW at 5250 rpm (the most powerful of the opposition Holdens has 300kW from just 0.1 litres more capacity), the key to the 5.6-litre stroker's performance lies in its earth-shattering torque curve. The peak of 500Nm at 4250 rpm tells only a fraction of the story; this engine has no less than 380Nm at just 1000 rpm! In fact, the torque plateau is one of the flattest you will see in any naturally aspirated engine - let alone one without variable cam timing or a variable inlet manifold. Between 1000 and 5500 rpm, the torque output varies by only 24 percent from its maximum - now that's a characteristic to give great driveability everywhere! In addition to the longer-throw crankshaft, the 5.6 is also equipped with billet conrods, lightweight pistons with fully floating pins, specific Tickford heads and cam, a newly cast intake plenum, and a 82mm throttle body. Its development and production must have cost Tickford a pretty penny. Certainly Tickford sings its praises. "Smooth, endless, urgent power.... an iron first in a velvet glove," goes the glossy. Perhaps the advertising copywriter never drove the car, because this is certainly no smooth engine. At idle the engine lumps away, shaking the whole car in a way you won't see in any other new car sold in Australia. The idle is, for example, a heap rougher than found in the cam'd 300kW HSV engine; to many people it will simply be unacceptable. But at low revs - from above idle to 2500 - the engine is quite refined. There are plenty of (nice) V8 sounds entering the cabin, but in this window the engine's NVH is quite acceptable. Rev it past 2500, though, and a tingly vibration starts to make its way through the floor. Something in the engine balance is just not quite right.... Then start to use the engine in anger and all hell can break loose. Get near the 5750 rpm redline - but still before the rev cut - and the engine shakes with vehemence that we've never experienced in any car. Like, it honestly feels as if the V8 is about to explode - pistons erupting out of the side of the block. You don't even need to look at the tacho - when the whole car starts to fiercely vibrate and the engine makes an incredibly harsh and strained noise, change gear. Kind of a whole-of-body shift buzzer. So, a "smooth endless surge of power" it isn't. And trying to highlight NVH quality as a positive is just plain stupid. It doesn't have any. What it does have is a superbly linear and tractable grunt - there's no waiting for the engine to come on cam, there's no delay while a turbo spools up, in fact there's no waiting around at all. The wall of torque picks the car up and hurls it forward, whatever the gear. Responsive and strong and forceful. Out with the clutch in first gear and the car drives away with ease - that monstrous torque makes stalling damn-near impossible. But then boot it and the rears will immediately light up. And therein lies a major problem. For away from the world of macho-bullshit tail slides, the lack of any traction control systems in these cars immediately confines them to a far narrower group of potential users than, say, the HSV equivalents. The TE50 is a two-wheel drive car which in the dry can easily spin its wheels; in the wet we imagine that any injudicious use of the right foot could see the Falcon immediately wrapped around a power pole. I can hear the comments now: Who cares that it doesn't have traction control? What is he, just a wimp? But you see this is a car that will be bought largely by men in their upper thirties, in their forties and even fifties. They'll be men with wives, with families, with children. And the Tickford TE50 is not a car that you would let a 17 or 18 year old son go out driving with his mates; further than that, it is not a car that many non-enthusiast men or women will be able to safely drive in slippery conditions. And, critically, that is simply not the case with the HSV Clubsport (which has similar performance), and it is not the case with the Commodore SV300 (which has even more performance). Both of these latter cars are extraordinarily safe and easy to drive - whatever the skill level, reaction speed and interest being shown by the driver. And a major part of that on-road safety is the standard traction control system fitted to these cars. (We'll have tests of both the Clubsport R8 and SV300 soon.) Without traction control, the 5.6-series Tickfords are cars that would require a stern warning before being lent to a friend on a wet day; no such constraint exists with the Holdens. So while in absolute terms the Tickford actually has good rear-end grip, in the real world of families and cars and driving, its lack of traction control is an enormous disadvantage. And, only days before we drove the Tickford, we sampled a car with just the right engine. It was a US import, a late Nineties Ford Cobra Mustang with the DOHC-per-bank V8 brimful of exuberant muscle. Despite being 'only' 4.6-litres in capacity, it was one of the most exciting V8s that we have ever driven, immensely strong right across the rev range, yet tractable and progressive. Backed by a six speed, we found that we could change back to first gear at 60 km/h, then floor it and just hang on as the engine screamed up to its 7000 rpm rev cut. Awesome - although the rest of the car was nothing fantastic. Now, put that engine and gearbox into the Tickford Falcon, give the package traction (or, even better, stability) control, and we think that you'd have a brilliant car - and one potentially much better than anything in the current HSV line-up. And of course it's rumoured that just that sort of engine transplant will very soon happen ... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Greenbury" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 4:58 PM Subject: Re: An interesting test. > Hi Zac, > > yep the mustang engine for the 8s and a locally developed twin > cam head for the 6s, including a turbo version :) From what Ive > heard they are having to DE-tune this one to keep it below V8 > power levels :) > > > yeah but in the cooking model bluebird/skyline, unless you call a TRX performance!!! :) > > You know as soon as Tickford get those donks in from US they immediately pull them down and rebuild them to get them to the 220kw power rating. if I believe what people tell me then these engines are the rejects from the us ford explorer range? > > they're switching to ohc engines later in the year anyway arent they? > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Dave Thomas > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 1:03 PM > > Subject: Re: An interesting test. > > > > > > We used the L series until '85? But I guess Nissan knew when its time was up... > > > > > > > > >From: "Zac Campbell" > > >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >To: > > >Subject: Re: An interesting test. > > >Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 12:35:58 +0930 > > > > > >Ford designed the Windsor block in the 1950s!! > > >It's 50 year old technology! > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > From: Ben > > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 5:13 AM > > > Subject: Re: An interesting test. > > > > > > > > > or a JUN sr20..........when i was at one of the targa stages, a XY GT went past, and the anno > ucer was cheerfully sprouting off about how the block of the 351 in it was the same as the block in > the brand new v8 falcons. shit, i would be happy if my brand new "sports" car had 30 year old tech > nology > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > From: Dave Thomas > > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2002 7:34 PM > > > Subject: An interesting test. > > > > > > > > > A slightly different event i was dragged into by a friend was the Holden vs Ford show held at > the Melbourne Exhibition Centre... I wore my Nissan cap to patronise a few of the local hardcore y > obbos. > > > > > > To show how much better Nissan is, on the dyno test the Falcon XR-8 (Tickford) rigged up a di > smal 145Kw!! That left Ford fans bowing their heads. Most beefed up L series could manage that. The > opposition, HSV VX GTS was 251kw. Monaro GT CVS - 244.5kw. The best of the sad looking cars was a > turboed Torana V8 - 338.9Kw ~ 443.95Hp. > > > > > > I sat there wishing the room was filled with Jap technology and a few R34 GTR Skylines to put > them in their place. > > > > > > Anyone know any upcoming events in or near Melbourne with some Nissan muscle? > > > -Dave T > > > > > > > > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- - > > > Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: Click Here > > > > > > --membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- > > > OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- > > > Send (un)subscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > No unauthorised redistribution of this email > > > http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm > > > http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html > > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > --membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- > > > OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- > > > Send (un)subscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > No unauthorised redistribution of this email > > > http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm > > > http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html > > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > >--membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- > > >OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- > > >Send (un)subscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >No unauthorised redistribution of this email > > >http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm > > >http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html > > >http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com. > > > > --membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- > > OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- > > Send (un)subscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > No unauthorised redistribution of this email > > http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm > > http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > --membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- Send (un)subscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] No unauthorised redistribution of this email http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------
