how to increase kw for testarossa? any clues

bring the car to the tuning company called Koenig - they produced a 1000hp Testarossa at one time I have a video somewhere of it being reviewed - insane car

 

Get rid of the k-jet and put carbies. change compression and up the timing.
Should get you +10 hp (I am just guessing on this last point)

 

I could bring a tow rope. Would that help?

 

Goober, this is your answer. 1000hp has a nice ring to it.

 

only if the flat top has space for you both

cheeky sod

 

you'd be better of trying to lighten the car. If you could reduce it by 100kilos, that would make a big difference. It would even brake better.

 

BWAHAHAHAHAA! Gallardowned.

 

Bloody good point.

 

i'm the biggest fan of less weight vs more power, but how would you go about deporkifying a TR without butchering it?

where's the first place it can lose weight?

 

Phil might have some ideas about that. It is a little difficult to loose weight in a car and not turn it into a race car.
but you would do things like take out carpets, smaller battery, light weight bolts etc etc.
if you hot up the engine, you'll have to improve the brakes and then the TRANSAXLE. The transaxle will not take anymore power as it is, and you'll destroy it. Same problem as boxers have. The 512LM boxer has a steel casing to cope with the extra power. You'd have to do the same.
A transaxle rebuild will cost lots......believe me, i've been through it.

 

here's a list of stuff done by a fellow X'er to get his fiat down to 1600lbs (725kg) from an original weight of around 2000lbs (900kg).

written by Scot
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The body panels are surprisingly heavy, replacing just the boot lids with racing fiberglass parts is worth about 60 lbs.

Here are some weights of parts (in lbs,old/new)

Code:

# Bumpers each                    20 /  3

# headlights (fixed)pair          22 /  4

# rear window(lexan)              12 /  4

# engine cover                    17 /  2

(homemade aluminum,no hinges)

# exhaust(manifold not incl)      60 /  7

(original was factory with cat, very heavy and restrictive, new is Ti and stainless)

# spare,jack,wrench               30 /  0

# FI aircleaner canister           7 /  1

# battery(for 1800 cc motorcycle) 32 / 15

# engine fan/bkts,ducts            7 /  0

# radio/speakers                  12 /  0

(its easy to have 50 lbs radio/changer/amps/speakers)

# driver                         195 /185

As you can see, trimming the first 100 lbs is easy, the second harder, the third lots harder.

It's easy to add a ton of weight to the wheel/tire unit. Mine are 13"mag alloy cromadoras w/185-55 tires, 15"wheels and spacers weigh a bunch more,in the last place you want extra weight, poorer handling is only one of the penalties.

Some of the details that helped trim that last 100 lbs (yes, Lez, Mike, and I share a certain obsesive approach, express it somewhat differently):

# inside door handles replaced with forged alum parts
# top latches milled out
# non critical bolts/washers replaced with polished ss buttonhead bolts/hard anodized alum washers
wheel plates made in Ti
# FI manifold ground smooth and polished,(in and out
# Early dash with alum panels(late dash glove box cover alone is 3 lbs!)
# new lightweight upholstery in cockpit
# steering shafts replaced in chomoly tube
# all sound deadening matls in floor removed
# shift lever/knob replaced with carbon fiber tube and hollow alum ball
# windshield targa chrome removed
# brake discs drilled and edge grooved
# rear louvres replaced with alum perforated sheet
# 5 lbs turned off flywheel
# clutch slave brkt drilled
# dogbone replaced w/ tubular unit.....

During the teardown and rebuild of this car, I looked at every piece asking, do I need this? If so can I make it lighter safely?

A point often missed in discusions of power/weight ratio, most HP increases are in high rpm range, weight reductions pay off from iddle speeds up, multiplies the efect, especialy in the higher gears.
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and some more added by Rob

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Just to add another 2 bobs worth...

As many of you would know, we rally my '78 X (because it is the small bumper model) in forest rallies in Australia. This means we can only modify the car within strict rules governing the sport and I have managed to reduce the weight of the car in several areas. I have most of the weights documented, but in Australia, so I will only quote those I remember. For those not yet metricated, 1 kilo = 2.2 pounds.

Lightened the flywheel (about 50% ?).

Headlight motors have been removed. Existing adjusting "rods" are used for location until I can make something in an alloy tube.

Alloy radiator from an Alfa Romeo 33 fitted. About half the weight of the original empty, same water capacity and copes with long special stages on 30+ celsius days.

Lightweight race/rally seats. Maybe only 5 kilos each from memory? Standard seats were 12.5 kilos each?

Removed rubber seal around rear boot (trunk). This boot gets hot enough to cook a chook and is completely empty, so I don't use it and don't care if it gets dusty. Also lid "stay" has been removed.

Most of the same rubber has been removed from the front compartment. Just sections in corners left to reduce vibration of this heavy panel. Doesn't seem to get too dusty and I only keep the spare and jack in there anyway. Replaced stay with alloy version.

Bumper over-riders removed. These must be removed by regulations as a safety issue. Yippee!!

All sound deadening removed from inside floor. 4 kilos?

All interior trim removed, door panels replaced with lightweight MDF board.

Plastic window winders from my '79 parts car fitted.

Top "dogbone" engine mount (including it's bracket on the engine) replaced with rose joints and threaded rod. This saved 3/4s of a kilo. I don't care about vibrations. Can't feel them when the car is moving, only at idle.

All sound/heat proofing removed from firewall in engine bay. 2 kilos?

Clutch slave bracket drilled.

Original horns replaced with a lightweight aftermarket unit.

Brake backing plates removed.

Steering column shaft (the one with the universals at each end) replaced with the lightest one in my collection. Saved over 1/4 kilo compared to my heaviest one.

Weighed my roofs and fitted lightest one. 1/2 kilo saved. Front catches replaced with M6 through-bolts drilled through the original alloy fittings. Lighter and holds roof more securely.

Speedo cable removed, speed is displayed on Terra Trip (pick-up off front hub), and I kept braking cables anyway!

Any wires in the loom that weren't required were removed. My looms seem to have wires for all markets around the globe, so many didn't actually connect. Over a kilo saved there alone and the wiring is now simpler.

All anti-smog gear gone. Pre '84 competition vehicles not required to have it.

There are probably more that I will remember later.


Some things to be done / tried:

Replace the gearshift rod (from stick to g'box) with alloy tube. May not have enough torsional stiffness for the job.

Replace windscreen wiper arm (the one that links both sides) with an alloy version.

Alloy radiator mounting beam to replace steel original.

Aftermarket steering wheel hub to be drilled.


I realise some of these are not for everyone, especially those who still want a comfortable road car, but thought I would share our experience thus far. I took some photos of some of these mods recently when I was home for a couple of weeks and intend to put them online once I have them scanned. Most of this work has been done to try to offset the following weight additions:

full roll cage, Uno Turbo front brakes, twin dellorto carbs, 14" wheels and tyres, 2 fire extinguishers, full race harnesses, oil cooler and remote filter, rear mud flaps, sump guard, terra trip, intercom, driving lights
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Turbo baby!!

 

yeah, and the crown wheel and pinion will be the first thing to launch itself.

 

saw one being changed on a 512TR several years ago here on the Coast and it was still stock!!

The mechanic said the owner was a bit ham-fisted so imagine what damage that combo with a turbo could do ??!!

 

Gil's right. Weight loss is far cheaper than power gain.

best way to go faster in a TRossa is to pick up skinny chics instead of beefy ones....

Racing seats is great cost/weight/benefit ratio for starters, but then it gets ugly and noisy after that with a road car.

Sports exhaust is also great cost/weight/benefit.

K jet is actually a good system for power, and responds well to other engine tuning, but it's the small throttle bodies that are restrictive, so for fairly small money you could engineer some larger (at least 10% or don't bother) throttle bodies, but really the best way is to convert it to a 12 butterfly racing set up with injection. That would be a bolt on job, but require some considerable installation and more than a few $$. Very doable though. Zest performance in UK raced a Trossa for a while with it on and it made good power.

BBLM use chopped weber bodies with injector welded in the side, but nowadays there are sweeter methods.

Racing diff and re-inforced diff housing are high on the list though.

Cheapest speed you'll ever buy.... Driving instruction from a pro, and you can use it in every car you ever own!!

 

if the local rice boyz are anything to go by, vinyl = power! just how many spare 'Save Ferris' stickers you got?

speaking of which, i noted such a sticker was conspicuously absent from the Gallardo yesterday...

 

Never a truer word spoken. I can almost guarantee a two second a lap improvement for most drivers after spending just fifteen minutes with them.

And besides when you can wheel better than the next guy, there's a lot of fun to be had cleaning them up in their very fast cars when you're driving something of a ****ter

 

2 seconds a lap! What track, what car?? But yeah, lets say a 1% improvement is usually easy to find, and 2% is likely, 3% quite possible....

3% would put your P Island times down from say 1.50 to 1.46.7 ish

On the road, proper instruction gives you mainly safety, but you'll also find you can carry more corner speed and surprise more powerful cars (your mates) by getting on the gas a lot earlier than they think you can.........

 

Piece of cake, most [road] drivers most tracks - we aren't talkling racers here. The longer the lap time, the greater the gain. But two seconds on a track with a 60ish second lap time is more than feasible.

 

And just for comparison as to cost/speed....

To make a "average joe" driven 60 sec Calder Park car go 58 sec (on the same tyres), ... could easily cost about $30,000, if you did it with BHP.....


You'd get a couple of days with you for that.......

edit to say... not best example as 60 sec at Calder is really moving already, but it's the only 60 track apart from wakefield.... but Thats in NSW.....

 

yeah thank Phil, the best time I ever did was a 1:15 in a Cobra 302 at Wakefield...just more proof I can't drive

 

75 sec at Wakefield!!... you could kick your hat round faster than that......