Torque wins trophies!

The long winter nights spent in the garage working on my 1957 MGA have proven to be fruitful. Strengthening the front springs has reduced the annoying wheel spin from the inside rear wheel when hard cornering, allowing exit speeds to be increased. The engine rebuild has also increased brake horse power from 109 to 124 and torque from 105 to 129 ft.lbs. The new camshaft has given me torque at lower revs, working to the adage, “torque wins trophies” rather than max power. 

The engine took longer to build than expected as everything has to be built, measured, stripped, machined and rebuilt to get it right. Everything has to be matched together, valve sizes, compression, bore size; some people call this “blue printing”. Once built and run in, around Wales one winter weekend, the car was then set up on a rolling road which enables the car to be tuned at maximum speed without leaving the garage.

The season is now over and I have defended my Luffield Championship title again. It came down to the last run of my season at Prescott and I was very pleased with my performance under pressure from 3 of my fellow competitors who were all getting some very quick times. It took a new class record to finally clinch the title.

Now I need to figure out how to get more speed out of the old car again this winter. Hmmm!!!

Luffield Speed Championship Success

After three years of hard work and trying I finally succeeded in winning the 2012 Luffield Cars Trophy.

In order to win I had to beat 70 cars in 8 events either in hill climbs or sprints. Every year, the event is arranged against the clock on tarmac courses, some are narrow and twisty like they are at Shelsley Walsh and some of them are fast and open such as at Silverstone.

The Championship is open to MG based cars and attracts vehicles from supercharged 1930 cars up to the present day Chinese produced MG6. Me and my 1957 MGA Coupe achieved 8 class records this year, so the long cold nights during the winter I spend in my garage, getting speed out of my car have been more than worthwhile. This culminated in the performance I experienced which at times was scary and required a delicate touch through the corners, especially when pushing it to the limit on narrow tyres.

Each event lasts between 1 and 2 minutes, so that there is absolutely no room for errors, those championships can be won and lost in hundredths of a second and apart from a well-prepared car, luck and driving skill it is also about being absolutely focused on every corner and being mentally prepared for the next gear change.

Even the smallest mistakes can mean more than just the lost race, such as serious damage or worse. Nevertheless I am looking forward spending the next winter in my garage aiming to get more drive out of the corners and even now just a few days after the Championship I am planning suspension and camshaft modifications for my 1957 MGA Coupe. I will keep you updated as the winter progresses.