Tom Fremont Posted October 9, 2018 Report Share Posted October 9, 2018 Noting the preponderance of octagons in the top ten per the latest issue of TRaction competition reports, I wonder what gives? When they were in production TRs enjoyed an image edge over MGBs - and today? What are they doing to make such winners out of them? Cheers, Tom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Hogan Posted October 9, 2018 Report Share Posted October 9, 2018 its to do with engine size Tom, the MGB is under the 2 ltr capacity break and a TR at 2.2 ltrs is over it. Of course during period road cars were seen in a different pecking order for sales. The Sptifire was a good alternative to the MG Midget/AH sprite, the MGB and TR4 were pitted against each other. GT6 v MGBGT TR5 against MGC with Jags E-type ruling the British Leyland roost. And that in a nutshell is why we now drive Mazda MX5's There were too many similar models chasing the same customers. The same goes for BL saloons too. Rover 2000, v Triumph 2000 etc etc. Throw in the mix of top heavy management with directors for all the different BL marques then it was always going to end badly. hoges. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fremont Posted October 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2018 Thanks for that, Paul, but why are the MGBs racking up faster times? Counter intuitive.. Tom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jellison Posted October 9, 2018 Report Share Posted October 9, 2018 Monocoque. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave McDonald Posted October 9, 2018 Report Share Posted October 9, 2018 5 hours ago, Tom Fremont said: Noting the preponderance of octagons in the top ten per the latest issue of TRaction competition reports, I wonder what gives? When they were in production TRs enjoyed an image edge over MGBs - and today? What are they doing to make such winners out of them? Cheers, Tom Tom, I take it that you are referring to TRAction 308, Sept 2018, page 58/59 reporting results of the Equipe GTS 30 min race and 3 hr relay? These races were both run the same weekend at an MGCC meeting hence the preponderance of MGs. The paddock would be full of them. Lots of drivers compete in one series/championship and then enter such as the Equipe races as a second event while they are there. That and the fact that there were always more MGs built than Triumphs and also TRs are more expensive to build as a competition car, so less attractive to drivers on a limited budget. Dave McD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Hogan Posted October 9, 2018 Report Share Posted October 9, 2018 (edited) Hi Tom, i'm afraid Jellison is also right with his answer above. The TR is a heavy car in comparison to the MGB . The TR has to lug its girder chassis around or to put it another way, it has the added weight of a heavy steel body on its chassis which does nothing for aerodynamics, acceleration or braking. Now if Triumph had continued its experiment with fiberglass bodies as per the TRS of 1960/61 and made use of a full fiberglass bodyshell for the TR4 then things might be different. I commissioned my own all alloy body for one of my TR4's and that has reduced its weight considerably. but it would still find it hard to out corner an MGB on the track and that is usually where a race is either won or lost. hoges. Edited October 9, 2018 by Paul Hogan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted October 10, 2018 Report Share Posted October 10, 2018 10 hours ago, Paul Hogan said: Hi Tom, i'm afraid Jellison is also right with his answer above. The TR is a heavy car in comparison to the MGB . The TR has to lug its girder chassis around or to put it another way, it has the added weight of a heavy steel body on its chassis which does nothing for aerodynamics, acceleration or braking. Now if Triumph had continued its experiment with fiberglass bodies as per the TRS of 1960/61 and made use of a full fiberglass bodyshell for the TR4 then things might be different. I commissioned my own all alloy body for one of my TR4's and that has reduced its weight considerably. but it would still find it hard to out corner an MGB on the track and that is usually where a race is either won or lost. hoges. Why are the front wing vents down so low Paul? I take it the vents at the "B" post are for rear brake/diff cooling? Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Hogan Posted October 10, 2018 Report Share Posted October 10, 2018 8 minutes ago, stuart said: Why are the front wing vents down so low Paul? I take it the vents at the "B" post are for rear brake/diff cooling? Stuart. Hi Stuart, Yes the rear vents are for brake cooling but the front vents are to Michelotti's original design. and taken from his drawings. The idea behind the car was to build a complete lightweight TR which Triumph could have built for competition. It takes some styling cues from the TRS cars with twin boot handles and a larger oil cooler box. I've also added a vent into the surrey top roof. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iain Posted October 10, 2018 Report Share Posted October 10, 2018 You appear to be hard on your tyres Paul Iain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fremont Posted October 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2018 Very impressive, Paul! Having had the panels off my 250s a few times my guess is you'd do well to save 100 lbs. with alloy ones - what's the real figure? Was it just the bolt on panels or did you have the entire body done in alloy? Cheers, Tom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tomfpurves Posted October 10, 2018 Report Share Posted October 10, 2018 You can buy a new MGB monocoque shell from BMH and have a race car built for the up to two litre class for less money than building a TR which needs a 2.2 litre engine to offset the weight and puts it in a class with Healey 3000s. In practise I am told a good TR4 will run away from a good MGB in a straight line but the B is faster round corners..Equipe GTS seems an excellent successful formula .Paul I really like the alloy body .Who made the panels? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jellison Posted October 11, 2018 Report Share Posted October 11, 2018 They killed the Thoroughbred Sportcar series by swamping them with B’s and finally V8 B’s!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MadMarx Posted October 14, 2018 Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 (edited) This Weekend I've outperformed all MGs, with starting from very back of the grid and finished 5th overall. So it is a rumor that MGs are faster then TR's. They are fast, but beatable. Edited October 14, 2018 by MadMarx Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chilliman Posted October 15, 2018 Report Share Posted October 15, 2018 Well done Chris - nice to see.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MadMarx Posted October 15, 2018 Report Share Posted October 15, 2018 I think, if the period correct cars race together, then the TR's will win: TR3 - MGA TR4 - MGB TR6 - MGC TR7V8 - MGB GT V8 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roy53 Posted October 15, 2018 Report Share Posted October 15, 2018 In the UK we have a series called Equipe GTS where the cars run to FIA spec. [ with historic tyres ] In this the TR & the MGB are very close and usually depends on the circuit as to which one comes out on top. Very competitive and a high standard of drivers. ROY Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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