Torque question

[Mal CSL 3.0]

Hi Everyone,

I have finally had a chance to spend a week out driving my new car after purchasing it a few months back, and it being in the workshop since then. Anyway I just wanted some advice from the far more experienced E9 owners/drivers on this forum:

Whilst I find my CSL drives very nicely; silky smooth gear box, very torquey in 3rd and 4th gear and no trouble keeping up with modern traffic. However one thing I notice is that 2nd gear is a very short ratio and really the car has minimal zippiness in 2nd gear, especially going up inclines it is a bit of a slug. However in 3rd and 4th the car flies and has amazing torque.

Just wondering if this sounds like the typical E9 drive characteristic or have I got some weird ratios in my gearbox?

I have other 70's cars and I find they are much quicker and zippier in the lower gears (ie 1st and 2nd).

 

[Mike Goble]

The physics of your perceived problem just don't work out. I don't have the specific CSL gearbox ratios, but if they are the same as the regular 4-speed, 3.85, 2.08, 1.375 and 1.00, first and second gears are really short, a lot more 'leg' in third and fourth.
Can you start off in third, or do you have to shift down to first or 2nd?

 

[Ohmess]

That is a beautiful car.

At what rpms are you shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd?

 

[lloyd]

Hi Everyone,

I have finally had a chance to spend a week out driving my new car after purchasing it a few months back, and it being in the workshop since then. Anyway I just wanted some advice from the far more experienced E9 owners/drivers on this forum:

Whilst I find my CSL drives very nicely; silky smooth gear box, very torquey in 3rd and 4th gear and no trouble keeping up with modern traffic. However one thing I notice is that 2nd gear is a very short ratio and really the car has minimal zippiness in 2nd gear, especially going up inclines it is a bit of a slug. However in 3rd and 4th the car flies and has amazing torque.

Just wondering if this sounds like the typical E9 drive characteristic or have I got some weird ratios in my gearbox?

I have other 70's cars and I find they are much quicker and zippier in the lower gears (ie 1st and 2nd).

View attachment 21270

"Zippiness" or "sluggardliness" are hard to define and very subjective, as are the characteristics of " '70s" cars. (Subaru 360s and 454 ci Corvettes were both manufactured in the '70s and are hardly comparable except for luggage capacity. :confused For a more definitive answer regarding typical acceleration characteristics, the owners manual provides some base numbers. Road tests found in magazines of the period might also be helpful.

When comparisons are drawn, it is helpful to keep things in perspective. First, even if all transmission gear ratios are the same, the axle ratio in your csl is likely 3.25:1 versus a 3.64:1 ratio found in the cs models. This might account for the perception of slightly slower acceleration at the expense of higher top end. This is probably a non-issue, unless you have driven both models or have the other model next to you on the track for comparison purposes. Second, your running gear may look tip-top but even a Bugatti or Stradavarius can be out of tune and not perform optimally. One would assume your engine is tuned to spec, but knowing nothing about it other than it looks quite nice, its ignition timing could be off or valves need adjustment or the engine could be modified with a non-stock camshaft that develops power at a different power range than stock. Other considerations include engines that rev quicker due to lightened flywheels, but this does not necessarily translate into faster acceleration.

 

[Honolulu]

looks to me like the yellow shark will eat the 360s for breakfast and still be hunnnnngrrrrrry

 

[Mal CSL 3.0]

Thanks all for the input and Lloyd for the useful pages from the owners manual. I think I need to operate the car at a higher rev range to get more out of the lower gears based on the charts from the manual. Unfortunately Sydney speed limits are 30-40 MPH and even 25 MPH in School zones and the traffic is pretty bad. Since the CSL is a cruiser I will just spend more time out on the open road where I can at least get around at 70 MPH.

One thing I do wonder is, how is the E9 performance of the Auto transmission compared to 4 speed manual box? Does anyone with an auto find it a big sluggish or is the torque comparable to a manual?

 

[Boobouna]

Thanks all for the input and Lloyd for the useful pages from the owners manual. I think I need to operate the car at a higher rev range to get more out of the lower gears based on the charts from the manual. Unfortunately Sydney speed limits are 30-40 MPH and even 25 MPH in School zones and the traffic is pretty bad. Since the CSL is a cruiser I will just spend more time out on the open road where I can at least get around at 70 MPH.

One thing I do wonder is, how is the E9 performance of the Auto transmission compared to 4 speed manual box? Does anyone with an auto find it a big sluggish or is the torque comparable to a manual?

Once my car is ready I can take you for a drive in the auto. But I can only guess the auto will be terrible in comparison to the manual. The 3 speed was not suited to the high revving straight 6.


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[Mal CSL 3.0]

Looking forward to it. And make sure you post plenty of photos when your car is all done.