190mph? Possible?

[StuBeeDoo]

You would need balls like church bells to drive at that speed in an E30 though...

I was trying to think of a way to describe the size and hardness of balls required for this task, but got writers block.

[d6dph]

For standard shell, the power can be estimated quite easily. I'd expect the car to be totally unstable though.
318iS is 135BHP and 125mph, so for 190mph you'd need about 135*(190/125)^3=480BHP.
What's the top speed (book) and power outputs of the 325 sport and the M3?

Mine starts to get very "light" at an indicated 115, so even a very well sorted one isn't going to feel happy over about 150.

That's odd, because both E30s I've owned were very stable all the way up to top speed. Unlike 80s hot hatches.

Remember that drag depends on frontal area and the E30 is small and low by modern standards. Bit of a brick though.

Sorry dude, But I'm fairly sure that it is not a direct rise in power will give the correct speed increase.

It's exponential (if thats the word), The faster you want to go, The higher the increase in power. (140mph = 180hp, 150mph= 210hp, 160mph = 300hp and so on.)

[maxfield]

Doesn't the Veyron need like 300hp for 200mph and then 500hp for 210mph or something along them lines. Look how aerodynamic that is...

[StuBeeDoo]

Mine starts to get very "light" at an indicated 115, so even a very well sorted one isn't going to feel happy over about 150.

That's odd, because both E30s I've owned were very stable all the way up to top speed.

I have to be honest, it was probably partially due to lack of balls on my part.
It's an awful long time since I regularly drove in excess of 100mph, and I'm getting too old for that s**t now.

[Foomanchu]

The article in EVO about the omega you couldn't of read it very well because they had no trouble reaching speeds in excess of 220mph and it didn't have a rotary engine !

I had the M3 upto an indicated 157mph and it felt fantastic stable it didn't feel at all light you could feel the aerodynamics doing the job they were intended for.


some DTM racers were capable of 185mph

how aerodynamic is a E34 M5 because they are capable of 170 ish with only a modest gain in power..

[tomstickland]

Sorry dude, But I'm fairly sure that it is not a direct rise in power will give the correct speed increase.

That's why I used a cubic term, since drag power is proportional to speed cubed.

135*(190/125)^3

[d6dph]

Ah ok, Sorry.

Still can't see 480hp being anywhere near enough for 190 tho

[SPADGE]

A guy i know called Rod Tarry did over 200 mph on proper timing gear in his 750 hp Sapphire Cosworth.
They arn't exactly the most aerodynamic of charriots either so my answer would be yes with the correct gearing and the right amount of power then 190mph can be done.

Saph Cosworth is the next generation in terms of aerodynamics compared to an E30. The 'Jellymould' era of cars the Sierra came from had very low CD. In fact lots are more aerodynamic than modern motors with their silly pedestrian impact areas etc.

Evo mag recently ran a review on a 200MPH Omega. It was chosen as the chassis to fit the bonkers 1000bhp+ rotary engine in becaue it offered such a low CD. That thing only just cracked 200MPH with that horsepower so you can see what a struggle you're facing.

You'd need in excess of 1,000bhp to see 190mph in an E30. You'd definately loose bits off it at that speed too. My gutter trims survived until 145 before the passenger side one made a bid for freedom.

I would be confident of hitting the 190 mph with a lot less than 1000hp mate!

As for bits flying off are you saying the Ford Sierra was better built than the BMW

[no1_jazz]

Guy's according to the May 2007 issue of PBMW there is an E30 323I Turbo which has a BHP of 1137 which reached the speed of 208mph!! I am pretty sure that with a well modified 800 to 900bhp (well around this bhp) you can reach 190mph. I do understand that thousands of pounds will have to be spent, but that doesn't change the fact that If someone wanted to reach speeds of around 190mph they could.

So guys, I think I have proved my point; an e30 could reach the speeds of 190mph.

Jazz

[bigpimpin]

Ah, the gutter trim!

My passenger side one curled up like a banana after I was giving it a blast home after getting my splutter problem fixed.....massive bang, I thought i'd lost a major mechanical part! must have been doing over 100.

Im sure there is a very clever formula to work this out but you'd need kerb weights and drag co values to work it out.

Anyone know what an unlimited M3 Evo or E39 M5 is capable of? iMaybe that would give you a rough idea.

[d6dph]

Another thing to think of is what distance we are trying to achieve the speed in, I'm sure a 500hp car could pull 190 with a long enough diff and a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuug bit of road.

[tomstickland]

I've just had a look at my car stats spreadsheet and plotted power vs top speed. A best fit shows an exponent of 2.9999. ie: power is proportional to speed cubed.
The best fit line crossed 190mph at 460BHP. So the group average for about 150 production cars is 460BHP for 190mph. 200 takes a lot more, about 550BHP. Now, I'd guess that some other factors become apparent at high speeds, so these numbers are the minimum possible that would be needed.

[SPADGE]

If anyone would like to see Rod Tarrys 200+ mph Sapphire Cossie inc vids of the run click the link below

http://www.geocities.com/rtarry_uk/

[ian332isport]

Didn't Ian get his somewhere near 160? Perhaps he'll be along to give us his "take" on it.

It was 157 before I had to hit the brakes. With another half a mile of runway, it may have kissed 160, but that's pretty much max. There was a lot of wind noise, but nothing fell off, and the car was actually very stable.

I believe a de-restricted E36 M3 Evo is good for 175mph.

Ian.

[SPADGE]

Last one i promise but click below

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?doc ... 5969199012

[m-dtech]

a skyline over took me on the motorway doing mega fast speed, i was doing 120 and it passed me as if i was standing still must have been 180 mph +

[Gunni]

Of course it´s possible, it´s called money ever heard of it?

Hamann Motorsport did 186mph back in 1986 with a tuned 745i engine in a E30 M3.
So it´s not like it´s "that" hard. I belive they had about 450-500hp at the time.

And some E30´s have about 1000hp so getting to 190 or even 200mph isn´t really a challenge of engineering.

[m-dtech]

there was a twin turbo m5 engined e30, thats bound to be 200mph area ?

[itec]

To achieve such high speed ,shouldn't the final drive ratio be consider aswell as power,
check this link it allow you to calculate the speed with different final drive.

http://pw1.netcom.com/~sgalaba/mph.htm

My wheels are 205/55 15" if was to change my diff to 3.45, in 5th gear I should reach about 165 mph at 6500rpm
(in theory)

[Dveight]

My Calculations say with a frontal area of 20 square feet and a Drag Coefficient of 0.45 which are correct for a vauxhall nova, i assumed it was pretty close. you need 420bhp to reach 190, but how long it would take and how much of the car is left i do not know

[Gunni]

It´s a BMW, of course it will make 190mph, they go 150 easy. without vibration or any issues.
unless it´s a junker of course

[ste]

The article in EVO about the omega you couldn't of read it very well because they had no trouble reaching speeds in excess of 220mph and it didn't have a rotary engine !

I assume you mean "couldn't have read it very well". I did 'read it well' but couldn't remember specifics or be arsed to look it up. My point was pertaining to Rats choosing an old Jellymould car as the basis due to its low CD.

how aerodynamic is a E34 M5 because they are capable of 170 ish with only a modest gain in power..

Much more aerodynamic than an E30, although they obviously have a larger frontal area and wider wheels etc. However they are also blessed with 50% more power than the most powerful E30, which I'd class as slightly more than 'a modest gain'.

My E34 M5s were rock solid with over 170 on the clocks. More stable than any E30 with 150 on the clocks anyway.

[BadDave]

I think they would be sufficient for 190mph. You would need balls like church bells to drive at that speed in an E30 though...

You build it
I'll easily drive it

[Rosc0PColtrane]

And really, there's more to life than going 190 in a car from the 80's

Here here!

[casper8r]

.... will need to do all the rite required modifications needed.

Jazz

What are these so-called rite modifications? Enlighten us, do we get some Celtic monks performing chants over the exhaust manifold or is it something more sinister, goat sacrifice or something?

[royale30]

And really there more to life than going 190 in a car from the 80s

That's a brilliant quote, I'm going to make it my signature!

I reckon 190mph in an e30 would be a scary thing! There wouldn't be much of the original car left if it was capable of that speed!

[ste]

What are these so-called rite modifications? Enlighten us, do we get some Celtic monks performing chants over the exhaust manifold or is it something more sinister, goat sacrifice or something?

Haha, excellent.

[ChrisBarns]

Of course its possible! It just depends on when you decided that the modifications mean that your car is no longer an e30. Modern supercars aren't not all that aerodynamic - huge tyres and scoops and spoilers go a long way to offsetting pointy noses. I guess they are more aerodynamic than an E30 though.

Remeber that wind resistence increases with the square of the speed so you need vastly more power to go from 150 to 160 than form 140-150. Evo had an Omega with 1000 bhp which could do 200 quite easily.

[Steve-E30]

And really, there's more to life than going 190 in a car from the 80's

Here here!

You mean to do 190mph with engine mods id need a stick on hairy chest and a medallion too

[tomstickland]

Remeber that wind resistence increases with the square of the speed so

And power required increases witht the speed cubed.

[maxfield]

I think they would be sufficient for 190mph. You would need balls like church bells to drive at that speed in an E30 though...

You build it
I'll easily drive it

Where's the fun in that?

[BadDave]

I think they would be sufficient for 190mph. You would need balls like church bells to drive at that speed in an E30 though...

You build it
I'll easily drive it

Where's the fun in that?

Just thought you were advrtising for someone with "large testicular fortitude"

[maxfield]

If I built it... I would probably drive it.

If someone else built it... Maybe not... Unless I knew them and their work.

[Steve-E30]

Just thoughtn you were advrtising for someone with "large testicular fortitude"

Someone call

[maxfield]

Not emptied them in a while then lads?