The V8 Owners Forum -

Hi,
after owning a standard MGB and Rover P5B Coupe I have consequently bought a MG RV8 this spring. I am located in Germany. I always enjoyed tuning my engines sticking to factory hardware conditions. Therefore I optimized my new MG setup. I am not that competitve driver but all I can achieve is 7.5 s accelerating 0 to 60 mph.
I have done a lot new:
HT-leads, Bosch coil, new plugs, new 123ignition distributor.
I have read 2 books by Des Hamill and David Hardcastle on ignition and Rover V8 tuning in general. Following these and extensive test driving I have setup the ignition at 13 degrees advancing to 28 degrees at 3200 rpm (maximum torque). 13 degrees give the highest smoothest idle without pinging from accelerating around idle rpm. I just want to be on the safe side. And I did not just improve the ignition setup but also the fuel map setup which provided nearly another half second towards the actual 7.5 s. I am running some sort of home brew Optimax fuel map I took over from a screen shot in the WWW. Besides I have adapted a few TVR improved features like their throttle table. All this gave little measurable improvements over the standard factory setup. The car just feels much better than when bought this May.
Any hints are very welcome. But I like to keep my car roadworthy and mostly original. I am just thinking over new mild race 200 cps catalysts and colder air intake.

Actually I am using a Rover Gauge diagnostic interface and a Moates Ostrich to further improve my LUCAS 14CUX fuel mapping. If someone likes new ROMs I'm able to programme. I also changed coding sequences to alter open loop conditions in search of further power which I have not yet measured in relation to acceleration. It's all no major issue for me. It's only that my AFR-lambda probe should be placed before the new cats next year... I am more a software than a hardware guy. At least I did not touch my engines internals whereas nearly everything else is done by myself.

I would like to exchange with users owning Morgan or TVR with the same Rover V8 engine. Mine is a 3.9 CR 9.35:1 form 1995.

Cheers
Mark

I guess you don't want to make any physical changes to the engine (e.g. new camshaft, ported heads, larger capacity).

Chris.

No I would not opt for heavy engine modifications. At maximum a Piper cam like the mild V8BP255 and a duplex chain.
Mark

Mark Leitiger wrote:No I would not opt for heavy engine modifications. At maximum a Piper cam like the mild V8BP255 and a duplex chain.
Mark

You'd do better to have the heads 'cleaned up' to St1. Best bang for your buck, after making sure the cam isn't worn. You could raise the CR too at the same time.