1974 Dolomite Sprint

[LynehamHerc]

Regarding the 0-60 this was the commonly accepted figure at the time. It stuck in my mind as one of my accountancy lecturers had one and I was jealous that it was so much faster than my MGB at 11.5.
It was common practice, apparently, to either blueprint the engines of test cars or to install a particularly powerful one. The figure of a variance of up to 10% between supposedly identical engines springs to mind.

[SiC]

Tested on an early Sprint that already has speed holes rusted in, engine ancillaries removed, fresh gearbox that was supposed to be a warranty replacement for someone else, interior stripped, engine made when the tooling was less knackered by a machinist who cared and engine then blueprinted by BL Special Tuning. All done when it was a cool day, with their best driver and a strong tailwind.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

0-100 was the sign of a proper car.

A few years ago I did a light resto on a really nice early E30 320i. These had the 3.45 final drive and that meant it could get to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds using second gear at 6200 rpm. Over that it was as flat as a fart, just overgeared. Later ones had a 4.1 diff, so 0-60 needed 10 seconds and third gear. Once up and running through it was really lively in third fourth and fifth.

[Hooli]

Interesting as when I had a Midget years ago it was much nicer with a 3.7 diff than the 3.9 which was all I could find after blowing the previous diff up. With the 3.9 you got to third before the engine could rev quicker than the car picked up speed.

[LynehamHerc]

I seem to remember that after the 73 fuel crisis the gearing on a lot of cars was lengthened. BMW even did some tests, with one of their carb models, to prove the most economical way to accelerate was to use full throttle up to about 2,500 rpm. This was about the same time as they released the 2002 Turbo.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

For a laugh, I fitted my old 318i Touring with a 318tds diff, going from 3.38 to 2.79. As a result, the gearing was insanely long and even on a long trip the fuel economy was no better.

[richardthestag]

these days when a snotty nosed kid asks "what'll she do mister?"

He means "How many L/KM will it do? you fucking climate criminal!"

[Hooli]

I refuse to understand litres or KM as I'm not french.

[BenHar]

In 1980 I had recently passed my driving test so wanted a car that was less than group 7 insurance (7 was the top group then).

I also wanted a car that would do 0 - 60 in less than ten seconds.

The only two that met the criteria were the 3l Capri and the Dolomite Sprint.

I got a Sprint. Fuck that Ford shit.

Ben

[John F]

I refuse to understand litres or KM as I refuse to use the same units of measurement as the entire scientific community.

EFA