Top Speed?
 

What is the top speed for an SVX? I had 145mph showing the other day but seem to remember the top speed being quoted as a little lower than that. Plus she still had a little more oomph left in her, perhaps just enough to squeeze the needle round to 150.

Taking into consideration a little give and take in gauge accuracy I think the displayed speed was very close to genuine. I've done 140mph on numerous occasions in other cars and this felt that bit quicker and that bit scarier!!! The rolling radius of my wheels/tyres is spot on and correctly pressured.

I don't know whether any previous owners 'tuned' my SVX, the only visible mod is the exhaust; a stainless steel system with biiiiig twin tailpipes. The car really has a roar with this fitted.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Monzta,

If I remember correctly, the top speed of 92 & 93 models is 156 mph and the 94-97 models are electronically goerned to 143 mph. This is for USA models. I don't know what the top speeds are for European and Asian models.

I have some incar footage of a BMW 840 doing 250kph on the autobahn....when I first saw it I felt a bit giddy (our legal top speed here is 110kph - ridiculous when the huge distances between our cities and actually good roads!!)

Anyways, a friend *ahem* reached 180kph against a pesky turbocharged BMW 318 (one very very quick car!) and I have heard of others who have done over 200kph

Surely our European friends, or UK/Eire guys and gals have had the need to take the SVX touring in Europe?? :D

Anyone got a video camera from onboard - would be amazing!!

Just on speed, I have seen the McLaren F1 video where it does 396kph on a test track....but you don't get a perspective of speed till you see, as in the BMW video, Camry's and trucks being little specs...then big specs...then gone.

I can only imagine what another 146kph on top of that would look like!! On another forum, a poster from Germany noted how he was in his M3 on the autobahn when a McLaren F1 went past at full throttle - he said it sounded like a jet as the shockwave hit the car and just disappeared into the distance

Hail the McLaren F1 - copier of SVX windows!

:p

Top speed?
 

As mine is still limited with the Japanese restrictor, I can take a guess at the top speed of mine being about 115 mph:D

Don't know if Larry is correct about 92 cars going to 156 mph. Most of the road tests I have show 144-146. Strangely though, the quoted horsepower varies between 225 hp and 240 hp.

As you would need all the hp available to pull top speed, it goes without saying the car would need to be in good tune, and be using the best premium fuel you can get. Without high octane fuel, the computer will retard the ignition, and you will not be developing maximum available hp. Also, I'm sure you will have had the aircon shut off as well.

Most manufacturers have their car speedos read fast so you won't sue them for travelling at 75 when the clock says 70. In the past, some of the US guys who have GPS in their cars have said the clock is very accurate, it is electronic, not a cable drive.

So it is likely Monzta that what ever speed you saw on the clock is correct within one or two mph.

Joe:)

Some posts on the yahoo site concluded that the SVX speedo generally over reads by 5mph. This seems reasonable to me: We passed a speed indicator sign last month (when we went to the Midlands SVX meet) and it said 33 while the speedo said 38.

Although, our speedo readings may differ from others because I took it apart when I removed the 180km/h limiter.

We've had the car to 135 (indicated) and there seemed to be plenty left. I wouldn't be surprised if the SVX could crack 150mph.

P&B.

What did the limiter consist of and what did you remove ? Joe may also be interested ! I may have the opportunity to do a few laps on a racing circuit at a local club meeting and would hate to have this spoiled by a limiter.

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/show...?threadid=6784

In a nutshell: The limiter is in the ECU. I expect there is a simple ECU mod to remove it, but I couldn't find any information on that.

The accepted procedure is to connect a frequency divider in between speed sensor #2 and the ECU. So the ECU thinks you are going slower than you are.

I also patched the signal to the speedometer to make it read MPH rather than km/h and the cruise control to make it work above 70MPH.

I had to dismantle the speedo because the importer had installed a 110MPH face in place of the 180km/h face. I replaced it with a 180MPH face.

I gather that you're something of an electronics wizard, so you may have a better solution. I'd be interested to hear your comments.

Phil.

Trevor, I was about to link you to this excellent post of Phil's, but he has beaten me to it.

So far as I can see, this changing the pulse will also affect your odometer, which is driven from the speedo output from the box also. So you should be clocking up in miles, not kms.

Can you confirm, Phil?

I am wondering if the chip allows the signal to loop through if the chip is not powered up? In which case a discreet switch would leave it street legal for Trevor for the MOT people, and it could be switched to miles/derestricted for those special occasions:) :D

Don't forget Trevor, with an unchanged ECU, the limiter will still cut in at 180 mph.
Could give you a scary moment on your track day:rolleyes: ;) :D

Joe:)

You are correct in that, post modification, both the speedo and odometer now read in miles.

It is entirely possible to only connect the chip to the ECU: The speedo and odo will continue to read km, but then your needle will hit the end of it's track at 180.

I don't think the chip will loop through, but you could use a two way switch to select the speedo/odo input between the modified and unmodified signals. Alternatively you could fit a european speedo which presumably measures km/h higher than 180.

Phil.

On the subject of accuracy, I had the opportunity to check my speedo on the way to Melbourne last year - 110kph on the dial was 110kph on the display over the freeway - I could not believe it!!

Not sure whether the accuracy varies at higher speeds though - have not had an opportunity to find out! They, nastily, only allow the display boards to read to 117kph - seems that in other countries *cough USA!!* it was a trend to take photos of the fastest speed you could get up on the display!!

:D

Thanks Phil/Joe,

Because of your reference to dismantling the speedometer I thought a sensor might have been included within. My car is ex Japan and is all in KÕs which suits us down here. It would not be worthwhile to go to the extreme of a frequency divider.

I have had a lot of experience racing on the circuit where I hope to run the car and I would expect an absolute maximum of 190 KPH/118 MPH but the SVX could surprise me. If the limiter cuts in, no big deal as my main interest is to explore the absolute limits in regard to handling.

The reports re roll and under steer etc. do not add up as I have no complaints at all with my car. If it was in accordance with reports from the US guys I would not have purchased it and certainly would not continue to own it. Do I or we in fact have a different car ?

My only criticism is in respect of lack of steering feel. None of the mod maniacs rate this most important factor as worth a mention. I first thought that a quick rack was needed but have changed by mind on this. Currently I am wondering about replacing the steering column rubber shock absorber and the rack mounts with urethane components. There is an outfit here that can custom mould bushes etc. to order using the original as a pattern.

However I must admit that I am not as enthusiastic as I once was and no longer have the workshop facilities I had, having moved to a smaller property. This would be an interesting project. What do you guys think ?

Over the limiter
 

It would be better to only compare handling reports with Japanese, European or English cars Trevor, as there is a pretty radical difference between the gearboxes that US cars have, and the rest of the Known Universe. In turn, this dictates how the cars handle.

The American gearbox is essentially a front-wheel-drive gearbox, with a separate clutch taking the drive to the back axle. So US cars are set up as fwd units, with rear assist. As I understand it, and I'm open to correction, default torque spilt on US cars is 90 front, 10 rear. Under acceleration, split is varied, more sent to rear axle, up to a max of 50-50. Tail out handling is not possible with this set-up [without extreme provocation], so the suspension of the car is set to understeer at the limit for safety.

Japanese/English/NZ cars have a full blown AWD gearbox, Harvey can help with the torque split, but I think it starts out at 50/50, and sends more power to the rear under heavy footed driving, so the handling bias is set for RWD, and the overall handling effect is neutral to slight oversteer under power.

The guys in the UK who run their SVXs in the company of Imprezas reckon their cars are not taut, and wave the tail more than is comfortable on the twisties. This is correct. The car is set up for smooth high-speed mile munching, the springs are too soft, the anti-roll bars are not thick enough.

You will also find on the circuit, to get power to the back of the car, forget third, drive the daylights out of it in second, let the gearbox failsafe make the change up to third. Naturally, if your car has the switchable POWER mode, leave it on, the gearchanges are programmed to change up way too soon in standard mode.

Have fun on the circuit, but drive smooth. Because of all the weight, if it goes beyond the limit it may tend to yaw and pendulum. I think this is what happened to Noir in the States on the Dragon run, and the steering as you observe is not sensitive enough or quick enough to correct this before an "off" looms.

Joe:)

Hi Joe, nice to talk to you.

Yes I know all about the stupid centre clutch in the US models and the resulting poor torque split. No doubt those reporting lots of under steer have bugger all drive to the rear due to a stuffed clutch.

Ò The car is set up for smooth high-speed mile munching, the springs are too soft, the anti-roll bars are not thick enough. Ò

Based on the way my car handles I do not understand this view. As an all round road car mine is an excellent compromise in all respects. If it was as you describe I would not own it as we have very few straight roads. When pushing the limit it is close to neutral.

Ò Have fun on the circuit, but drive smooth. Because of all the weight, if it goes beyond the limit it may tend to yaw and pendulum.Ó

My aim is to take the car way beyond the limit, this being the object of the exercise. I drive straight arm and expect no problem in getting the required opposite lock on quickly. Having started my racing well before sticky tyres I regard side ways motion as part of the fun or to be more exact all of the fun !

Driven hard on the road my car does not yaw or wash out at the front and there is no reaction at the rear end which is related to weight imbalance i.e. pendulum effect. Yes the car is heavy but so what. The weight is fairly well balanced and the c of g is low. I have owned and raced cars much more of a handful and which stood on their ear through a corner but could still be made to continue at a high rate of knots. The SVX does none of this.

There is one authoritative member who has done some fast sealed circuit autocross events in the US. I noticed and have been interested that his comments do not agree with the general opinion there. Strange he even rates the brakes as adequate. The answer I have to many of the reports I read is that they are based on the performance of worn out examples.

What do you and others think about urethane steering components as I
mentioned ?

Sincere regards, Trevor.

Urethane/Al steering rack bushings
 

www.maximummotorsports.com offers both urethane and aluminum steering rack bushings for Mustang. It was mentioned that urethane bushings offer half the benefit of the aluminum ones. I don't know how that would apply to the SVX.
wolf33h

I'm bushed
 

I have no real experience of using these Trevor.

However, I would be inclined to avoid them, as stiffer bushes transmit more road noise[NVH] to the body and the cabin. Some of the Matra users put in Eurethane suspension bushes, and in a car that was already noisy, they created more din.

I bought the SVX as a luxury [read quiet] car that has a sporty nature, and I must admit I would not want to do anything to "harden" it. You have said you don't listen to music while driving. This indicates to me you live in a part of the world that has no traffic jams. Commuting in Dublin is about 30% driving and 70% sitting watching the rear of the stationary vehicle in front. So maybe you can see why I have a need for a car that is quiet inside and has a good radio.

Like yourself, if I am driving with purpose, I will shut off the stereo and won't even talk to passengers.

Joe:)