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Re: tri-SU's on a TR6

To: british-cars@Autox.Team.Net (British-Cars), triumphs@Autox.Team.Net (Triumph Mailing List)
Subject: Re: tri-SU's on a TR6
From: "Randell Jesup" <jesup@mailhost.scala.com>
Date: Wed, 7 May 97 13:54:58 EDT
TriumphBee@aol.com writes:
>      A while back on this list I read a letter talking about a TR6 manifold
> that would allow 3 SU carbs to be mounted on a TR6.  I presently have 2 SU
> carbs mounted straight on the old Stromberg manifold.  It offers more
> tunability, simplicity, and performance but I would really opt for the 3 carb
> set up if I can track down this unique manifold.  Please help.  I do not want
> to put a tri-carb set-up of the Italian manufacturer on my '6'.

        Note: while triple SU's look cool, you'll almost certainly get more
HP and torque by using two larger SU's (not to mention easier tuning).

        The reason is that in a triple-carb setup, the carbs each see two
intake pulses close together, and then a much longer gap.  Think about the
firing order.  This causes the air column in the manifold and carb to
decelerate much more during the gap.  This is more of a problem at slower
flow rates (lower RPMs).  In the dual-carb configuration, the three pulses
are equally spaced, providing much more consistent airflow and mixture
regulation.  Triple-carbs do have the advantage of not favoring cylinders 2
and 5 (straight runs), but intake design can minimize this.

        Note that the A-series 4-cylinder engine has a similar problem
when run with dual SU's.  They try to minimize it with a balance tube, but
it's quite hard to do well.  Many high-HP A-series engines using single
large SU's because of this.

        This information is based on David Vizard's How to Tune the A-Series
Engine, a top-notch book on engine tuning with much information that's
applicable to almost any engine of even roughly similar design.  He's
a strong believer in measuring all supposed effects instead of taking them
on faith.

-- 
Randell Jesup, Scala US R&D, Ex-Commodore-Amiga Engineer class of '94
Randell.Jesup@scala.com
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