Re: Jeremy Clarkson: Goodbye, Rover. Sorry, I won’t be shedding a tear

The Rover v8 was bought in from Buick, ergo the reason why the P5 / P6 was also the P5B / P6B, the B standing for Buick.

Triumph - and they put it into the Stag at least - designed a v8 3 litre engine that was very good (potentially better) but lacked any sort of development for cost reasons and gained a well-deserved reputation for unreliability. Quite different from the Rover v8 engine.

The Triumph v8 engine was never put into any MG as far as I know, but it certainly might have been. It might even have fitted better into the MGB.

I think both Triumph and Buick / Rover engines were and are excellent and I have an SD1 engine in my TR7, which is what the TR8 got and I don't believe this did it any harm at all compared to getting the Triumph one.

HST, the v8 originally found in the Stag is a dead ringer for two Dolomites bolted together, whenever I've seen one. Even down to the slant head, which is hardly surprising I suppose.

"Halmyre" wrote

Hmm, debatable. I have it on very good authority that the flue down the sides of Maestros and Montegos was there because it enabled the cars to be made out of thinner metal than would otherwise have been necessary. Very tinny, if so.

"Steve Firth" wrote

Read what I wrote. Clue: "derivatives". The Saab engine was a V4 based on hal;f a Stag engine and the TR7 engine was one bank of a Stag engine. Both were derived from the V8 which was the first iteration of the intended series of engines.

Er, Clarkson's comment ignores the fact that the Stag and its engine

Hardly, given it was a pushrod unit. Maximum state of production tune was only about 60 bhp per litre. Some production A-series cast iron units beat that with carburettors.

The Stag unit, being OHC, would easily have exceeded that with fuel injection.

More bollocks.

The Saab V4 was a German Ford engine.

Saab later used the four cylinder Triumph engine as fitted to the Dolomite. Then leased the design and improved it for their own use, as the BL engines weren't good enough - and it was the basis of many later Saab engines.

The only 'V' version of this engine was the one fitted to the Stag - and it came afterwards.

The location of the cams makes little difference, the head design has more effect

The I4s which replaced the V4s were Triumph based, the V4 was the Ford unit

There's no point in using OHC unless you need high revs - and the higher the revs the more BHP, everything being equal.

Vauxhall,

Due to using a very convex mirror, no doubt. Regards Mike.

You know, I really need to read the postings properly. D'oh!

:O)

You don't remember how crap the last Cortinas and early Cavaliers handled?

I do. ;-)

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "John Redman" saying something like:

Wow. That deserves some sort of prize.

I did, that's why I can tell you it was s**te.

And how. The Triumph V8 might be vaguely related to the Ricardo designed engine that saw service in the Triumph and (in design) the SAAB, but it's not a derivative at all.

Richard