Very interesting reading dude ----- Original Message ----- From: "Hoey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 5:45 PM Subject: Re: An interesting test.
> 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]/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------
