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Re: Poor man's speedomete

To: Cometman <cometman_98@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Poor man's speedomete
From: Andrew Mace <amace@unix2.nysed.gov>
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 23:02:26 -0400 (EDT)
On Fri, 8 Oct 1999, Cometman wrote:

> It's not long till my speedometer gear gets here from England, but I
> was told that in top gear, you double the rpms/100 to get the
> approximate speed. 

It's not quite that simple with a Spitfire, although it works pretty well 
with most GT6s and the big TRs, where each 1000rpm in top gear is worth 
approximately 20 mph. On the earlier Spitfires with the 4.11:1 diff, 1000 
rpm in top gear is worth 15.7 mph with original size tires; figure 16 mph 
as an easier number to work with. Similarly, later Spitfires with the 
3.89:1 diff will give around 16.7 (figure 17) mph per 1000 rpm in top gear.

> If you invoke the overdrive how does that affect
> the calculation?

It's a reduction of about 20% (although the later "J" type OD units might 
be different? Help me out here).

--Andy

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Andrew Mace, President and                *
*   10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
* Vintage Triumph Register <www.vtr.org>    *
* amace@unix2.nysed.gov                     *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


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