Before I go any further I dont mean boy racer style thrashing. And Im a very
careful driver (doesnt everybody think that?) And fully respect my classic car.
And wouldnt ever do any harm to it.
This morning my confidence grew - resulting in a car that now scares me in a
very different way.
As some of you know - when I first got the car I was petrified because I had
never driven a classic before. or anything older than a few years. so the
clutch was very very heavy - steering was very difficult at low speed.
However - now my clutch foot/leg has developed sufficient muscles that I dont
notice it any more - in fact it feels just as light as a modern car (I havent
driven on in weeks mind!) And of course my arm muscles now feel alot stronger.
So "dry" steering isnt so bad.
Now last night I was reading thru an Autocar review of the 1500 and of course
my Haynes manual. And discovered that the rpm's could indeed go alot higher
than I had been driving it. Im talking about going along in 3rd at 30Mph. I
couldnt understand how I was in 4th (top gear- i dont have o/d) @ around 40 to
50 mph and this car could go 100 mph. allegedly according to the report 1st
gears max speed was 31 mph - now obviously you wouldnt do that but seeing as I
was changing up at around 10 mph i realised i was doing something wrong. I
realised today that the car hadnt gone faster than around 2500rpm - except on
the motorway in 4th gear.
Let me explain my thinking here: I was used to driving a new ford fiesta. this
was of course very quiet. so Ive been using the same noise levels for changing
gear (and not even being used to a rev counter) for the spit as the fiesta.
This has resulted in me driving relativley slowly. Im simply not used to a
noisy engine. So when my spit began to get loud it made me change up.
Anyway - back to this morning. I was driving my usual route to college. And I
was with my friend - I was discussing this with him and we decided that it
would be a good idea to try my theory out. So along came the open road - very
clear visibility and the perfect chance to let the spitfire spit fire (sorry
for the pun).
So I let the engine go up to about 4000 or 5000rpm before changing up - I hadnt
realised that the engine would continue pulling so much. Any way - I knew I had
gone fast enough when my friend started making noises in the form of hysterical
laughter. I started slowing at about 50mph - but even more scary was the fact
that it felt like it could have easily gone so much quicker (of course it could
have - but Ive never accelerated so quickly in my life before - under my
control anyway). I slowed down the car and my heart started slowing down. Me
and my friend only stopped grinning at lunch time.
I had always thought that the car was going slower than it could. But this was
cancelled out by the fact that you think your going so much faster - being so
low to the ground. The engine after changing gear would effectivley start to
"die" a little - the revs would go down significantly and make the engine more
of a ruururuururuurur than a rrrrrrrrrrrr.
So a kind of crazy question: what rpm are you meant to change up? did I thrash
my car this morning? Ive established that the engine makes a very different
noise than what Im used to - so going along with the engine roaring makes me
feel like im thrashing it - but a part of me says thats how its meant to sound
- it is old after all - and the sound proofing isn't exactly existant.
so my journey continues....
hopefully the K&Ns and new carbs are going on tomorrow btw. I imagine its going
to get even louder.....
NB: I dont mind loud at all; in fact I kind of like it, but at the moment it
feels like im hurting my spit.
...I hope I dont sound like a boy racer. You have to trust me on this.
Do I get an award for the longest email ever to this list?
james
77 Pimento Red Spit
Bromley, Kent, UK.
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