LS 7 T350 at Topcats [Ballistic]
Discussion
Stopped in at Topcats Racing on the way home tonight to check on the progress of my LS installation to find them beavering away on my new manifolds, but even better than seeing my car coming together was Warren taking me for a test drive in the LS7 T350 they have just finished complete with all new fly by wire! Now i know the purist's amongst you will shoot me down in flames and you could say i might be a little bias going down the LS route myself but if i had a speed 6 that needed a re-build or just wanted more power especially low down grunt, i know where my money would be going!!
I'm fortunate enough to of done a couple of laps round Oulton in P Blacks LS7 Sag[thanks Paul] but tonight thanks to there being no slow back markers in our path and just a long straight road i got to feel the true potential of this conversion. The car was so tractable it pulled in Fifth from about 18mph as smooth as anything and when the horses where really let loose the sheer grunt and brutal thrust was breath taking! I ride a tuned GSX-R 1000 K9 and i have to say in my humble experiance thats the closest i've got to the raw acceleration of the bikes, the thing was still pulling like a bullet train at 130 awesome!! If i was not excited enough already i'm positively drooling at the mouth now, roll on the spring i need my Griff back!!! P.S Thanks to Warren for scaring the s
t out of me!
I'm fortunate enough to of done a couple of laps round Oulton in P Blacks LS7 Sag[thanks Paul] but tonight thanks to there being no slow back markers in our path and just a long straight road i got to feel the true potential of this conversion. The car was so tractable it pulled in Fifth from about 18mph as smooth as anything and when the horses where really let loose the sheer grunt and brutal thrust was breath taking! I ride a tuned GSX-R 1000 K9 and i have to say in my humble experiance thats the closest i've got to the raw acceleration of the bikes, the thing was still pulling like a bullet train at 130 awesome!! If i was not excited enough already i'm positively drooling at the mouth now, roll on the spring i need my Griff back!!! P.S Thanks to Warren for scaring the s
t out of me!
Zippee said:
Out of interest do you mind if I ask roughly how much an LS7 conversion is compared with a Power 4.3/4.5?
As a benchmark, my 4.3 conversion cost £9.6k all in - that was the 3.6 to 4.3 rebuild, new clutch, starter, injectors, lightweight flywheel, re-lined block, rebuilt 5th gear synchros, both an annual service and 1k running in service, and a bespoke mapping session.Pete
pete said:
As a benchmark, my 4.3 conversion cost £9.6k all in - that was the 3.6 to 4.3 rebuild, new clutch, starter, injectors, lightweight flywheel, re-lined block, rebuilt 5th gear synchros, both an annual service and 1k running in service, and a bespoke mapping session.
Pete
Hi, could I ask If you felt it was money well spent, do you feel you have value for the money you spent,how better is the car with the 4.3 upgrade?Pete
I ask as I am thinking about the 4.3 upgade but I need to know it will be a BIG improvement on the my current 4.0SP6( which is great) for that kind of cash,
G20RG B said:
Hi, could I ask If you felt it was money well spent, do you feel you have value for the money you spent,how better is the car with the 4.3 upgrade?
I ask as I am thinking about the 4.3 upgade but I need to know it will be a BIG improvement on the my current 4.0SP6( which is great) for that kind of cash,
I'm over the moon with my upgrade, but it was partially enforced - at 40k my 3.6 was down on compression on a couple of cylinders, and the valve seat erosion was pretty bad on no.s 5 and 6. Not catastrophic, but not an unusual level of wear and tear for an S6 at that mileage.I ask as I am thinking about the 4.3 upgade but I need to know it will be a BIG improvement on the my current 4.0SP6( which is great) for that kind of cash,
Post rebuild, it's transformed - it pulls much more strongly at low revs, it revs even harder (much better balanced than the factory build), and it's much smoother in both sound and driving characteristics. It's also producing about 70bhp and 80lb.ft more torque than even when the 3.6 was tip top, so definitely enough to feel from the seat of your pants.
Would I do it to a healthy 4.0? Probably not, but if it's just the incremental cost over a standard rebuild at some point in the future, I whole heartedly recommend it.
Pete
samnorthy said:
Glad you enjoyed Warrens demonstration, I'm looking forward to picking the car up.
Awesome bit of kit you have there, your a very lucky man i was really impressed by the sheer speed of the car, it would be good to meet up once mines finished to see how the two car's compare? as i'm interested to see the differance between the LS£ AND LS3?? Do you do any TD or other TVR outings?pete said:
I'm over the moon with my upgrade, but it was partially enforced - at 40k my 3.6 was down on compression on a couple of cylinders, and the valve seat erosion was pretty bad on no.s 5 and 6. Not catastrophic, but not an unusual level of wear and tear for an S6 at that mileage.
Post rebuild, it's transformed - it pulls much more strongly at low revs, it revs even harder (much better balanced than the factory build), and it's much smoother in both sound and driving characteristics. It's also producing about 70bhp and 80lb.ft more torque than even when the 3.6 was tip top, so definitely enough to feel from the seat of your pants.
Would I do it to a healthy 4.0? Probably not, but if it's just the incremental cost over a standard rebuild at some point in the future, I whole heartedly recommend it.
Pete
Thanks for the reply Pete.Post rebuild, it's transformed - it pulls much more strongly at low revs, it revs even harder (much better balanced than the factory build), and it's much smoother in both sound and driving characteristics. It's also producing about 70bhp and 80lb.ft more torque than even when the 3.6 was tip top, so definitely enough to feel from the seat of your pants.
Would I do it to a healthy 4.0? Probably not, but if it's just the incremental cost over a standard rebuild at some point in the future, I whole heartedly recommend it.
Pete
Gassing Station | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff