The Rover 3500 V8 engine
The engine as fitted in my car has been subjected to mild tuning. Originally the compression was low (8.13:1) and the heads were quite restrictive in their ability to flow. So what has been done and what are the results?
| matching numbers, just as per the Heritage Certificate |
| the camshaft of a 3.9 liter Rover V8 |
| SD1 heads, so 40 mm inlet valve instead of 38 mm |
| tubular exhaust manifolds with a big bore twin exhaust |
| K&N filters |
At the moment the car still runs on the original setup of HIF6 carbs. The consumption of unleaded is around 1 liter every 11,5 km. LPG is worse at 1 liter per 8 km. But then LPG costs 40 eurocents the liter, whereas unleaded goes at well over a euro (1,10 euro). To see what the current output is after the modifications to the engine I put the car on a rolling road. The pictures underneath are taken from the report. The power is up considerably, as is torque. All figures are measured at the wheels, while the car was running on LPG.
115,7 KW @ 5354 rpm
240 NM @ 3482 rpm
The cylinder pressure in bars
This results came from the rolling road of Speedcentre. This shop is located very close to where I live. Another rolling road that can help you in getting mixture and timing right (also for Weber and Holley) is BCCP. Whomever you choose, be aware that rolling road session do not come for free. This is an expensive way to see what your car cranks out.
Parts used:
Oil filter: FRAM PH43