MG Sports Cars

engine swaps and other performance upgrades, plus "factory" and Costello V8s

Go to Thread: PreviousNext
Go to: Forum ListMessage ListNew TopicLog In
Goto Page: 12Next
Current Page: 1 of 2


danmas
Dan Masters
Alcoa, Tennessee
(578 posts)

Registered:
10/28/2007 12:11AM

Main British Car:
1974 MGBGT Ford 302

authors avatar
How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: danmas
Date: April 13, 2014 03:55PM

This question comes up from time to time, but at last we have a definitive answer. According to a "How It Was Done" article written by Lloyd Faust for the MG V8 newsletter in 1995, Jim Stabe ran 152 at El Mirage with a turbo 215 MGB "in street trim minus windshield."

Tell us more, Jim and/or Lloyd! I'd particularly like to know how stable the car felt at that speed and what, if any, body or chassis modifications were needed.

I'll never go that fast, but it's good to know I could if I wanted to.


kstevusa
kelly stevenson
Southern Middle Tennessee
(985 posts)

Registered:
10/25/2007 09:37AM

Main British Car:
2003 Jaguar XK8 Coupe 4.2L DOHC/ VVT / 6sp. AT

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: kstevusa
Date: April 13, 2014 06:04PM

That is a question I am asked frequently, my reply, "I don't want to know". I'm sure it is much in excess of 120+MPH. Years ago when attending the meet in Cleveland, the GPS indicated my merge (being contested) onto the interstate going to Mentor at 117MPH. That was top speed for the trip! Now, 75-80 MPH interstate is max. :-)


rubbinisracin
Ivan Collins

(38 posts)

Registered:
03/19/2013 09:34AM

Main British Car:


Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: rubbinisracin
Date: April 14, 2014 09:22AM

I would say the answer is very dependent on aerodynamic stability. I can't remember who it was but someone on here has a v8 bgt, across the pond, with a significant aero setup and the videos he posted on track tend to suggest he was easily 150+. I would bet that with right aero setup some of these cars with ~400 horsepower would be capable of speeds in the 180 range without too much trouble. All of this in a controlled environment on track of course.


Jim Stabe
Jim Stabe
San Diego, Ca
(829 posts)

Registered:
02/28/2009 10:01AM

Main British Car:
1966 MGB Roadster 350 LT1 Chevy

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: Jim Stabe
Date: April 14, 2014 09:58AM

This is the same response I posted on the MG Experience forum

Partially true. What happened (although I shouldn't be admitting it publicly) is that one early evening I drove the car out the freeway through Santa Ana Canyon which at the time (late 1970's) did not have any on ramps in either direction for several miles and no places for cops to hide, just a golf course on one side and a sheer cliff on the other. After driving the several miles out and seeing no cops I took an off ramp and crossed over the overpass and waited at the top of the on ramp until all cars had passed and I could just see a car on the horizon before I took off. I went through the gears shifting at 6500 rpm and stayed in it until it hit 6500 rpm in 4th gear. I didn't have a speedometer but doing the calculations - 3.54 gears, 6500 rpm and tall rear tires calculated out to something around150 mph. Lloyd may have thrown in a couple mph for tire expansion. The road was very smooth and the car seemed stable enough that I don't remember being concerned - might be a different story if I did the same thing today in that car.

I would be much more comfortable doing it in the car as it is today - and I most likely will in a different venue.

Dan - you should post the article here also.


v8bloke
Mark Rawlins

(75 posts)

Registered:
02/02/2010 02:13PM

Main British Car:


Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: v8bloke
Date: April 14, 2014 11:41AM

ivan,
I think it might be me that you are referring to with the aero. My car is quite low with a splitter at the front that runs back to the crossmember and a rear wing with a drag reduction device. I use the R380 gearbox and when I had 330bhp 5th gear was barely faster than 4th ( straight not long enough) Now I have about 370 bhp and it pulls much better in 5th. Not sure what the actual top speed is down the hangar straight at Silverstone but it must be 140+mph. car is very stable and feels planted.
I will be fitting a new 5.0L engine with TA heads soon which will be interesting.

Mark


danmas
Dan Masters
Alcoa, Tennessee
(578 posts)

Registered:
10/28/2007 12:11AM

Main British Car:
1974 MGBGT Ford 302

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: danmas
Date: April 14, 2014 03:08PM

Quote:
Dan - you should post the article here also.
image.jpg


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: April 14, 2014 03:35PM

When I first did my conversion back in about '88, from a dead stop I was doing 130 across the New River Gorge Bridge which is 3000 ft long, so that was at about the 2/3 mark when I backed out of it because the front end was getting light and I got a little concerned about being 900 ft up. It was pulling hard and would easily have done a good bit more. Not a stitch of aero at the time but it was lowered ('71 model).

Since then I don't think I've driven it any faster, though it has gotten quicker. That was with a HiPo Buick 215, full race cam, 650cfm Holley and those wonderful free breathing equal length headers. It was a screamer.

Jim



Jim Stabe
Jim Stabe
San Diego, Ca
(829 posts)

Registered:
02/28/2009 10:01AM

Main British Car:
1966 MGB Roadster 350 LT1 Chevy

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: Jim Stabe
Date: April 14, 2014 04:22PM

I agree Jim, top speed isn't what does it for me. I'll take face distorting acceleration any day - usually a lot safer too.


pspeaks
Paul Speaks
Dallas, Texas
(698 posts)

Registered:
07/20/2009 06:40PM

Main British Car:
1972 MGB-GT 1979 Ford 302

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: pspeaks
Date: April 14, 2014 11:02PM

Given my gearing, and tire diameter the computer says I should get 143 @ 5300 rpm, given I could get 5300 rpm in 5th gear that is. However, that speed would require a part of my anatomy to be sufficient for the task and the aerodynamics to stay planted which goes back to the anatomy thing I guess. I would like to have the top speed as a bragging right which is a reason I have a 160 mph GPS speedometer I suppose, but as an old T-Bucket guy, like Jim, acceleration is what puts a smile on my face. Every time I would pull into a gas station, which was more often than I would have liked, somebody would ask me how fast it would go and I would just say it had the aerodynamics of a 90 cent brick.

Paul


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: April 16, 2014 08:51AM

Well, the aerodynamics of an MGB are quite a bit better than a brick. I think you'd hit that speed easily enough with that 302. When I was 20 I had a 1970 Olds Cutlass Supreme, mildly modified, that would get up to 150 and at that speed it also got a little lighter in the front end but was still stable enough to bomb down the interstate. The MG was less comfortable at 130. But an air dam and a wing make a big difference in keeping it planted. Even so, these days I don't have any reason or even excuse for going that fast, there is way more traffic, way more cops, and when you do get caught the penalties are way more severe. Plus there are the things a 20 year old either never thinks about or considers unimportant like possible mechanical failures, dogs, deer, other drivers, acts of God, etc. We were all immortal back then of course and eventually begin to see our own mortality if we live long enough. Which is a very good thing too.

Jim


pspeaks
Paul Speaks
Dallas, Texas
(698 posts)

Registered:
07/20/2009 06:40PM

Main British Car:
1972 MGB-GT 1979 Ford 302

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: pspeaks
Date: April 16, 2014 11:26AM

That's true, but then pretty much everything has better aerodynamics than a flat bottom "T." High rates of speed make me nervous for all the reasons you give Jim and at 70 years old my reaction time isn't what it once was. Rather than risk it on a public street, we have a couple of road courses in the area that offer track day almost every Saturday weather permitting.


paul


lawnvett
PJ Lenihan
Winston-Salem, NC
(477 posts)

Registered:
04/29/2009 11:37AM

Main British Car:
74 MGB-GT 3.4 V-6 crate, 5 spd

Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: lawnvett
Date: April 19, 2014 09:08AM

I was doing 130 across the New River Gorge Bridge which is 3000 ft long,

Jim,

I know that bridge and wouldn't drive that fast there even as a 20 year old. ( but the bridge wasn't built that long ago)

Hope you had a parachute.

Was that during your whitewater rafting days?

What is your top speed in the RM? My GPS showed 93 once but then I backed off due to unsafe conditions and fear of cops.


MGBV8
Carl Floyd
Kingsport, TN
(4511 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 11:32PM

Main British Car:
1979 MGB Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: MGBV8
Date: April 19, 2014 10:49AM

Rats, I only got up to 70 when the Star Wars air cleaner came off & flew over the car!

Caution: That scoop is in way too much wind for high speed runs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2014 10:51AM by MGBV8.


HealeyRick
Rick Neville

(489 posts)

Registered:
12/19/2007 05:01PM

Main British Car:
1963 Austin-Healey 3000 Ford 5.0L

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: HealeyRick
Date: April 21, 2014 09:33AM

This raises the question "When is an MGB no longer an MGB?" It's one thing to test an MGB motored car, quite another to ask the question about a tube-framed, V8 motor with a lightweight alloy body that has an MG octagon painted on the hood. Take a look at this Bugeye Sprite that did 202 mph at Bonneville:

http://i60.tinypic.com/4qkfia.jpg

Not much Sprite left in there: [www.hotrodhotline.com]


Jim Stabe
Jim Stabe
San Diego, Ca
(829 posts)

Registered:
02/28/2009 10:01AM

Main British Car:
1966 MGB Roadster 350 LT1 Chevy

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: Jim Stabe
Date: April 21, 2014 09:39AM

You get a hint looking at the tail lights but that's about it.



HealeyRick
Rick Neville

(489 posts)

Registered:
12/19/2007 05:01PM

Main British Car:
1963 Austin-Healey 3000 Ford 5.0L

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: HealeyRick
Date: April 21, 2014 10:08AM

Jim,

You got as far back to look at the taillights? :) Can't be a bugeye without those trademark headlights.


Dan B
Dan Blackwood
South Charleston, WV
(1007 posts)

Registered:
11/06/2007 01:55PM

Main British Car:
1966 TR4A, 1980 TR7 Multiport EFI MegaSquirt on the TR4A. Lexus V8 pl

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: Dan B
Date: April 21, 2014 11:16AM

Pretty sure I took the RM over 100 a couple of times just to see my GPS show trips....


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: April 21, 2014 09:47PM

I ain't sayin'


lawnvett
PJ Lenihan
Winston-Salem, NC
(477 posts)

Registered:
04/29/2009 11:37AM

Main British Car:
74 MGB-GT 3.4 V-6 crate, 5 spd

Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: lawnvett
Date: April 22, 2014 02:56PM

Rats, I only got up to 70 when the Star Wars air cleaner came off & flew over the car!

Caution: That scoop is in way too much wind for high speed runs.

Carl. you reminded me of driving Roadmaster with the morning rush hour flow of traffic in Houston TX, when I noticed the star wars air cleaner "wing" nut unwinding. I was four or five lanes away from a safe place to pull over.. By the time I did get stopped it had one more turn before it was off.

I started checking it for tightness ever petrol fill-up.

Lucky morning , but later that day the right front air bag failed. And that's another story.


mowog1
Rick Ingram
Central Illinois
(1523 posts)

Registered:
10/17/2007 09:36PM

Main British Car:
1974.5 MGB/GT 3.9l Rover

authors avatar
Re: How fast will an MGB go?
Posted by: mowog1
Date: April 22, 2014 08:45PM

re: Take a look at this Bugeye Sprite that did 202 mph at Bonneville:


There's a Bugeye in that photo?!?!


Eye_Popping_Cartoons.jpg
Goto Page: 12Next
Current Page: 1 of 2


Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.