Assuming you're building a Mini which is still recognisably a Mini (10" wheels, rubber cone suspension etc) - what's the point where power and torque start to ruin the car?
I'm thinking just a little more than Cooper S power.
Any opinions?
Posted 18 March 2019 - 01:32 PM
Assuming you're building a Mini which is still recognisably a Mini (10" wheels, rubber cone suspension etc) - what's the point where power and torque start to ruin the car?
I'm thinking just a little more than Cooper S power.
Any opinions?
Posted 18 March 2019 - 01:39 PM
will be fine.
Posted 18 March 2019 - 01:45 PM
Assuming you're building a Mini which is still recognisably a Mini (10" wheels, rubber cone suspension etc) - what's the point where power and torque start to ruin the car?
I'm thinking just a little more than Cooper S power.
Any opinions?
What a sensible attitude !
Posted 18 March 2019 - 01:49 PM
Agreed, very sensible approach. I asked a similar question when planning my project. I also drove a few cars from standard up to 110bhp (all naturally aspirated A series). For me, the sweet spot was around 90bhp with a sensible 'road' cam giving a broad torque curve. It's amazing how very different a group of different tuned 1275 minis can be.
Posted 18 March 2019 - 02:12 PM
What an interesting question. Maybe when driving in the dry is like driving on a wet road you probably don't need anymore torque.
Posted 18 March 2019 - 05:59 PM
Agreed, very sensible approach. I asked a similar question when planning my project. I also drove a few cars from standard up to 110bhp (all naturally aspirated A series). For me, the sweet spot was around 90bhp with a sensible 'road' cam giving a broad torque curve. It's amazing how very different a group of different tuned 1275 minis can be.
yes, I can imagine.
I'm tempted by a mild turbo (as I have the engine already), but a nicely tuned NA at around 90bhp is a bit more fitting... particularly in a Mk1.
Posted 18 March 2019 - 09:17 PM
Agreed, very sensible approach. I asked a similar question when planning my project. I also drove a few cars from standard up to 110bhp (all naturally aspirated A series). For me, the sweet spot was around 90bhp with a sensible 'road' cam giving a broad torque curve. It's amazing how very different a group of different tuned 1275 minis can be.
yes, I can imagine.
I'm tempted by a mild turbo (as I have the engine already), but a nicely tuned NA at around 90bhp is a bit more fitting... particularly in a Mk1.
why do people keep going on about BHP? it is Torque that you want. a car with bigish BHP can be a right pig to drive.
Posted 18 March 2019 - 09:47 PM
As Nick says, it's good torque from around 2500 - 3000 rpm which will give best classic driving pleasure. The old 510 cam in the original Cooper 'S' was fine for a road car, although later cams such as the MG Metro were/are even better. Both give max power at around 5500 to 5700 rpm.
People get obsessed by maximum power, and if a few tenths of a second per lap or per special stage mile are important, then that's fine.
But for a classic car on public roads and in traffic good torque is needed.
Posted 18 March 2019 - 10:13 PM
a good 100 for 100 is a great engine
Posted 19 March 2019 - 08:12 AM
Edited by dyshipfakta, 19 March 2019 - 08:12 AM.
Posted 19 March 2019 - 08:27 AM
Yes, there's a lot of pleasure in going flat out a lot of the time!
Posted 19 March 2019 - 09:56 AM
I Find 40bhp to be about right means I can go everywhere flat out lol
Hear Here.
I had a beautifully set up 850 Mini pick-up, with a large valve polished head and 948 cam, and traffic permitting, I could drive flat out almost everywhere.
Then I put a 997 with a 544 cam in it.
Ruined it.
I had to keep lifting off on the corners.
Posted 19 March 2019 - 10:44 AM
Posted 20 March 2019 - 06:18 PM
I Find 40bhp to be about right means I can go everywhere flat out lol
Careful now! God you're a mad sort of a fella altogether, all this talk of wild power outputs!
My 850 supposedly had 37 horses when new, I think most of them have escaped over the last 55 years, Im down to a pony with a limp and a 3 legged donkey under the bonnet, A set of 5.20 x 10 crossplies and a wet corner and you know youve got all the power you'll need.
Ex F1 driver James Hunt used to talk about how he loved driving his Austin A35 van flat out everywhere, as much fun at sane speeds as a F1 car at insane speeds.
Posted 20 March 2019 - 09:33 PM
I Find 40bhp to be about right means I can go everywhere flat out lol
Careful now! God you're a mad sort of a fella altogether, all this talk of wild power outputs!
My 850 supposedly had 37 horses when new, I think most of them have escaped over the last 55 years, Im down to a pony with a limp and a 3 legged donkey under the bonnet, A set of 5.20 x 10 crossplies and a wet corner and you know youve got all the power you'll need.
Ex F1 driver James Hunt used to talk about how he loved driving his Austin A35 van flat out everywhere, as much fun at sane speeds as a F1 car at insane speeds.
Bugger, that's not helpful!
I'm now split between:
- tuning the 850 the car originally came with (and keeping the charming pudding stirrer gearstick)
- a mild turbo (I've got most of the bits)
- a sensible MG-metro based 1293 with a decent road cam
Edited by NDT, 20 March 2019 - 09:33 PM.
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