Exactly this...my mate's one was hauling hard at 100mph 5-up with a bootfull of beer. I suspect the final drive ratio is totally inappropriate...if it wasn't that then the car would at least pull hard in 1st gear surely?Originally Posted by Goldy
Exactly this...my mate's one was hauling hard at 100mph 5-up with a bootfull of beer. I suspect the final drive ratio is totally inappropriate...if it wasn't that then the car would at least pull hard in 1st gear surely?
Yeah, I also have never mashed the pedal to the floor, it's not really taxed and MOT'd if you catch my drift. I almost want to trailer it out to the country where I can give a run. I really should go handle some paperwork rather than playing with cameras and computers.. I know my truck is way faster than this thing.
If it were me i would have mashed the pedal way before now...... it's like a big red "do not press" button.
But yeah, probably the rear diff is totally mismatched.
I do feel autoboxes get a bit of a bad press on here. I stopped driving manuals on a day-to-day basis when I sold my MR2 about 8 years ago.
Can't really say I've missed it. Can't argue with the weight and probably they sap a bit more power. But a modern-ish autobox mated to an engine with a decent bit of torque is absolutely fine in my book. I've rarely felt in the wrong gear in either of my last couple of cars (Merc C320 & Qashqai 2.0 DCi) and not much wrong with the step-off performance on either of those.
I believe the latest 911 GT3 is quicker round the 'Ring in full auto than when using the paddles - even in the hands of Porsche's test drivers. OK that's a long way forward from the technology most of us have access to but really, I think they are nowhere near as bad as they are made out.
Just one further thing to add to the mix - are you definitely getting full throttle? Sounds stupid I know but when my mate Jim took his V8 Spitfire on the rollers they found about another 20bhp just by bending his throttle cable bracket a bit (wasn't letting the other 2 barrels open on his carb). Always worth double checking dumb stuff like that!
Your Maserati final drive ratio appears to be 3.73:
http://www.automobile-catalog.com/auta_details1.php
LS400 final drive ratio 3.62 according to this:
http://www.carfolio.com/specificatio...car/?car=25773
You can do the sums here adjusting for tyre size:
http://www.apexgarage.com/tech/gear_ratios.shtml
....but seems that on the face of it, the gearbox and the final drive are a fairly good match, so may not be the culprit?
At first, I wasn't getting full throttle. My pedal was hitting the carpet and the stop bolt was too far out. I had my boy mash the pedal and I checked at the throttle body and after adjusting it again I ended getting about another 10mm out of it. That's a lot. As of the test drive video, it was hitting wide open throttle position if you push hard down.
I'm not against auto boxes, I would never own a manual shift car as my daily driver. Getting stuck in traffic every day with a heavy clutch pedal can kiss my ass. I don't want to "work" on the way home from work. For a play car, manual is the way to go. More fun, more connected to the driving experience. Nobody would want an automatic motorcycle, right?
I've been in plenty of hot rod cars that go like hell with auto boxes, but we're talking 400BHP and up. My truck shifts like a champ and it's auto, although I have always wanted second and third to wind out another 1500 RPM before shifting. Sure I could get a programmer and change that, but why, really it's a tow vehicle, not a race truck.
Back to the point: I was thinking the same thing- I wonder if something else is wrong with this set up? Thanks Geoff for checking on the ratios. Fine, they're not too far out, so it had me thinking.
Dig this: The exhaust is stock log headers that turn down under the car. On the down bend, they increase to 2&1/2" and make the 90 degree turn. Both sides go straight "ish" back until they pass the transmission pan. After the trans pan, they turn into each other and come together in a non restrictive "Y" merge. Fully open on the inside, I made extra sure the merge was full bore and clean inside. Then the pipe, still 2&1/2" goes all the way back to the muffler. It's a Magnaflow single inlet, dual outlet. The two outlets both 2&1/2", came out right underneath the bumper cover, but not high enough so if I cut holes in the bumper cover, I could exit through the bumper, that would have looked cool. They ran right into the bottom edge.
So I had the two tips. The are 1&1/4" small tubing on the back side. They open up on the ovals, but I had to offset them down on the muffler themselves so I did something that looks like this, so they would clear and exit under the bumper:
I am thinking it's acting like a plugged exhaust and choking off power. Now that you mention the ratios are not too bad, then I'm going to cut off those tips and dump them straight down with no reduction in size to the pipes.
Maybe that has something to do with it?
Last edited by Grenade; 29-06-2015 at 22:34.
Are you still using the catalytic converters? If not then I find it hard to believe anything you've done much can be any more restrictive than leaving the cats in. And I know from personal experience these engines can pull a big heavy car just fine with all the emission gear in place.
But, leave no stone unturned and all that...
No cats. we don't have emissions on something this old and I could power it with a 1957 airplane engine and still be road legal with no inspections.
But- the tiny tips, made it sound different straight away.
I have already cut them off and I have full bore replacements. Putting them on right now.
Your tyre/wheel size could make a difference as well, how does the wheel/tyre combo you have fitted compare with the original ? I think the Maserati was originally on 190/60/14, if you have a 16" combo fitted then it could mean less acceleration -> higher top speed
Jimi
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
I have 225/50/16's on it. Can't go any smaller, couldn't bear to look at it with those tiny wheels it had.
It might have something to do with tires, one thing's for sure- it wasn't the exhaust tips. It sounds better than it did and the ECU is making everything smoother as it learns. It only has maybe 10 miles on it, Pshhh maybe only 5 miles.
Also, I pressed the big red "do not press" button and MASHED it so hard I tried to push the pedal through the floor.
Video link if not viewable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfUtt8YUU7A
Oh, I don't know....
Needs something. A flamethrower, 5 gallons of gas and and about 100 incendiary rounds.
Nice shirt sir. ;)
It sounds like half throttle. I bet it would make a great tourer as it is. The LS400 I broke for my engine had no cats on it, open exhaust downpipes, and it was like a raging bull. I only drove it from the trailer up the driveway but it was twitchy as hell, if I had stamped on that pedal it would have launched.
Plug in the the Bluetooth dongle jobber, let's see some live data. I reckon its waiting for something, possibly in some sort of limp home mode.
I think it's very close, but I suspect when you find this gremlin, its going to be a little scary.
C.
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