End of the RV8?
Discussion
Thursday of last week was a land mark day for the venerable Rover V8, the last RV8 block was cast in Leeds 
. No more RV8 blocks will be cast at Hydro Aluminium Motorcast (formerly West Yorkshire Foundries)the birth place and home of the RV8 for so many years. Seeing the aluminium poured into the die for the very last time was quite moving, I'm sure all present realised that the British car industry really is dead. The RV8 as long been a symbol of all that was so good about Great Britain(dispite the original design been a Buick cast off)the once proud car industry,winning at football, afternoon tea, the whole way of life, everything.
Is this truely the end for this great British institution? will someone take up the fight buy up the rights and tooling? which would allow the RV8 to continue make the purist smile and the ground shake for many years to come.
>>> Edited by budd on Sunday 9th May 21:09
. No more RV8 blocks will be cast at Hydro Aluminium Motorcast (formerly West Yorkshire Foundries)the birth place and home of the RV8 for so many years. Seeing the aluminium poured into the die for the very last time was quite moving, I'm sure all present realised that the British car industry really is dead. The RV8 as long been a symbol of all that was so good about Great Britain(dispite the original design been a Buick cast off)the once proud car industry,winning at football, afternoon tea, the whole way of life, everything. Is this truely the end for this great British institution? will someone take up the fight buy up the rights and tooling? which would allow the RV8 to continue make the purist smile and the ground shake for many years to come.
>>> Edited by budd on Sunday 9th May 21:09
I don't think any of the engines currently available offer the same level of user friendliness and ease of installation that as made the RV8 so popular with low volume car makers and kit car builders alike. I accept that currently the RV8 falls short of the new emission regs , but surely with a fully managed ECU from the likes of ,MSD, Motec,AEM or the excellent Emerald M3D (which I'm currently looking at for my Griff)these emission level could be met.
Perhaps we should let the old warrior die a dignified death and herald in the new blood, but can't see the low volume manufacturers embraceing the new Jag motor in the same way as TVR, Morgan, Marcos or the many kit cars (particularly Cobra reps)did and in some cases still do.This engine saved TVR and carried Morgan through the bad times and I believe is still used in the new(ish) Marcos . The RV8 still as the virtue of light weight and a robust simple construction along with a wealth of tuning parts availible from repected suppliers,WILL THE ROVER V8 EVER DIE?
Perhaps we should let the old warrior die a dignified death and herald in the new blood, but can't see the low volume manufacturers embraceing the new Jag motor in the same way as TVR, Morgan, Marcos or the many kit cars (particularly Cobra reps)did and in some cases still do.This engine saved TVR and carried Morgan through the bad times and I believe is still used in the new(ish) Marcos . The RV8 still as the virtue of light weight and a robust simple construction along with a wealth of tuning parts availible from repected suppliers,WILL THE ROVER V8 EVER DIE?
Budd I understand your sadness, and ANYTHING can be made to meet emissions from an engine DEVELOPMENT point of view if you throw enough money at it...
However, and this is no criticism of the RV8 at all, because it's to do with emissions and doesn't concern th kits cars and others who use this engine, its the base engine design that means it can't meet emissions NOT the mapping and calibration. The Last Range Rover/Land Rover Disco engines are mapped to fine limits to meet emissions, they HAVE to be.
In order for a car to meet stringent emissions regs such as ULEV or SULEV these days it must be able to warm up the cats to optimal operating temperature in the quickest possible time-and in order to do this, during the warm up phase the calibration is set to make the engine run as inefficiently as possible in order to reject more heat to the cats- as perverse as it may sound. This is done by retarding the ignition lots-and an engines ability to withstand alot of retard without combustion going unstable - is often what counts when it comes to emissions (It's also a good characteristic to have for fuel economy-amongst other factors of course).
I know this talk isn't as sexy as performance and grunt, but I guess I was just giving insight.Unfortunately the top cheeses probably decided that they didn't think it was a worthwhile investment to redesign the base combustion system of the RV8. There are other old venerable classic designs out there that either meet or have been made to meet emissions- the Corvette C5 and Ford Endura 4 cylinder (Kent) in the Ka spring to mind so it would have been possible.
However, and this is no criticism of the RV8 at all, because it's to do with emissions and doesn't concern th kits cars and others who use this engine, its the base engine design that means it can't meet emissions NOT the mapping and calibration. The Last Range Rover/Land Rover Disco engines are mapped to fine limits to meet emissions, they HAVE to be.
In order for a car to meet stringent emissions regs such as ULEV or SULEV these days it must be able to warm up the cats to optimal operating temperature in the quickest possible time-and in order to do this, during the warm up phase the calibration is set to make the engine run as inefficiently as possible in order to reject more heat to the cats- as perverse as it may sound. This is done by retarding the ignition lots-and an engines ability to withstand alot of retard without combustion going unstable - is often what counts when it comes to emissions (It's also a good characteristic to have for fuel economy-amongst other factors of course).
I know this talk isn't as sexy as performance and grunt, but I guess I was just giving insight.Unfortunately the top cheeses probably decided that they didn't think it was a worthwhile investment to redesign the base combustion system of the RV8. There are other old venerable classic designs out there that either meet or have been made to meet emissions- the Corvette C5 and Ford Endura 4 cylinder (Kent) in the Ka spring to mind so it would have been possible.
Tim is right, the last production blocks destined for customer cars will already be out there. The blocks and heads cast last week will be held by Landrover as spares.Car manufacturers carry (new old) stock for years after production ceases.Marquis your points are quite correct, the big players in the car industry have no time for sentiment, why waste money making an old engine comply to the latest regs when a look through their engine range will provide something more suitable. I'm sure the Rover will continue to go from strength to strength in the hands of the die hard enthusiast 
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