I can not dispute what R&T published. But I still don't buy it. I would
like to know a bit more about the environmental conditions at the time of
the test. I don't have access to the issues. I proably owned them, when
they were new, but had to give most of them up in one or other of my
moves.
OTOH the difference between 20.1 and 19.9 seconds, while very significant
on a drag strip is negligable in the real world. And the 14.7 to 15.5
times are about the same. What were the speeds at the end of the quarter?
That small a difference for 219 lbs (over 10% of total weight with 10
less HP)?? Something is out of kilter here. I know that the 1500 has
greater torque, but that should only count for off the line - to about 30
- 40 mph. As far as drag coefficients, they begin to really come into
play at about 30 or so mph. I would expect that a RB Midget has a lower
drag, But I have no way to know for sure. Nobody cared when these cars
were new. BTW what was the RPM of the Sprite at top speed and what was
the stated redline?? With a 4.22 rearend the RPMs had to be about 6K or
more.
I am not disputing that the 1275 is a freer reving engine, just that the
figures do not make sense. And I still think that the R&T test data
should take into acount the environmental conditions. In fact when you
read some of the test articles they often make mention of that. Obviously
they did not do a head to head comparison.
Somebody should send this thread to Peter Egan and ask ;-)
Larry
2 items of notice from the BL shop manual:
Kerbside weight for a 78 Midget: 1849 lbs
MPH/1000 RPM in top gear: 17.3 (redline @ 6K = 103.8 mph)
BTW i like them all too.
>>>>On 6/12/00 8:57 PM so and so (Ron Soave) said. (And I quote:)
>> I like Bugeyes. I like Sprites. I like RWA
>> Midgets. I like the CB-non RWA
>> Midgets. I like RB Midgets.
>
>Me too - and have owned them all. I presented R&T
>period data for your own use/information. Now that
>I'm home after a 12 hr work day complete with
>cancelled Little League game and local monsoon rain,
>(the list banter did spice it up a bit) I looked up
>both issues. Here's the pertinent data:
>
>1) The 76 Midget tested was a 55.5 HP 49 state
>version, not the California model (50 HP), but that is
>what's printed, so don't believe it Larry. With 55.5
>HP, it weighed 1775 lb empty, top speed 83MPH@ 5100
>RPM (redline was 6000). 3.90 rear. 0- 60 in 15.5,
>1/4 mile in 20.1 seconds.
>
>2) 67 Sprite tested - 65 HP, 1560 lbs empty. Top
>speed 93 (not to fuel another debate, but the Spitfire
>tested in the same roadtest did 100 w/ 75 HP). 4.22
>rear. 0-60 in 14.7, 1/4 mile in 19.9.
>
>So as you would expect, 9.5 more HP and 215 less
>pounds made for faster times.
>
>=====
>Ron Soave
>'60 Bugeye
>'72 BGT
>'87 325iS
>
>__________________________________________________
>Yahoo! Photos -- now, 100 FREE prints!
>http://photos.yahoo.com
Larry Macy
78 Midget
Keep your top down and your chin up.
Larry B. Macy, Ph.D.
macy@bblmail.psycha.upenn.edu
System Manager/Administrator
Neuropsychiatry Section
Department of Psychiatry
University of Pennsylvania
3400 Spruce St. - 10 Gates
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Ask a question and you're a fool for three minutes; do not ask a
question and you're a fool for the rest of your life.
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