Hi Pierre,
We all have our favorite TR's! Here's mine and here's why...
As a TR4A IRS owner I can attest that they handle just fine. Great
for a car of its era. Basically, the suspension is exactly like a TR5 or a TR6.
It will respond to any of the normal suspension tuning that one might do to to
the later TR's. ie: Koni's, sway bars, springs, wider tires, ect.
My set up is basicly that. An Addco front sway bar, Koni shocks, stock coils
with one coil removed, heavy duty rear lever shocks, and stock TR4A rear
springs (which I'm swaping for TR6 rear springs this year.) I had used the TRF
RFK777 heavy duty spring kit but I found that it raised the car WAY too much
(like 1" or more). Probably the most important factors are the sway bar and the
good tires 195/65R15 on 15 X 5 K&N Panasport look-a-like wheels. The car rides
pretty comfortably and is just a blast to drive.
As far as the engine is concerned, it's only drawback is that it'll never be as
smooth as a six. But then again the four doesn't hang out past the front wheel
centerline like the six, putting a lot of weight where no self-respecting
chassis engineer would want it. The Triumph wet liner 4cyl is a great engine --
don't listen to any of that rubbish about it being a tractor engine. It wasn't
a tractor engine hot-rodded to be used in a sportscar, it's a sports car
engine that's sturdy and reliable enough to be detuned and used in a quality
tractor. Porsche also did this (it's called a Type 111 agricultural).
Once again, it will respond to any of the tuning tricks that the later Triumph
6's will. Build a good head, raise the compression, use a free flow
exhaust--hey put Webers on it, if you like them, give it plenty of spark with
a modern ingition system and it will run like the champion it is. This engine
has a wonderful competiton heritage and some vintage racers have worked
veritable miracles with it.
In stock form the six is no faster than the four. In America, I think they're
slower because most of the six's have really low compression and lot's of
crude emmissions equipment. Of course, ultimately, the six can be made to go
faster, especially in PI form (it's really just a matter of 2.5L 12 valves vs.
8 valves 2.2L). But the 4 will go longer with less down time....
Good luck and let us know!
Christopher M.Lillja
Marketing Associate
Princeton University Press
Fax:609 258 6305
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