Just a liitle test run after a bit of carb tuning......All within the speed limits of course....it's worth watching for the noise! A big thankyou to JDT Autos for getting it all set up. www.jdtautos.com
Fucking hell. That high engine speed roar is music to my ears. Well done for posting. That's what makes driving enjoyable. You can't get that beautiful noise with a diesel.
Thank a lot! I'd just about managed to quash my yearning for an SD1 (my dad had one from new) and then I see this and it all comes flooding back again!
Well driven, nice noise :) sod jags and the like from the same era if I was going to have a classic from that era the sd1 would be the weapon of choice!
Ah, BL at it's finest. I have never seen one here in the USA. I do own a 76 Jag XJ12C(or XJ5.3C as you call them in Europe) which is my fav but the SD1 is a VERY close second for me!
I want a v8 manual sd1 so much. I know it’s insanity and heartbreak waiting to happen, but I miss my old 4.6 Range Rover P38, too - I’m a glutton for punishment 😂
@mxmad03 You tell 'em mxmad. Probably the best car BL ever made. North Wales, ..my only worry would be in regard to the sheep. I mean, don't do that man, you'll get arrested. even if the sheep is willing.
Sounds great, had an SD1 3500se carb model. A100ELS in the early 90s lovely noise. Love the road aswell from the ponderosa down. Love giving it to bikes on the way up from Llangollen in their leather romps suits. As regards to the petrol light comment I had it on from St Asaph one night nothing in Ruthin open but still made it back to Wrexham without a splutter, must be about 30 miles if not more. Great Video many thanks :-)
Brilliant video! Tony Pond in the making there!! Such a shame BL management held back these Marques, Rover, Triumph, MG and so on they could of been so much more......
The achilles heel of this superb car was the slapdash way that the totally incompetent British Leyland bosses allowed this car to be thrown together in the late seventies - they had yet again a winner but build quality mainly let this car down so badly - similar tale with the stag but with the engine - triumph V 8 had serious cooling and weak timing chain issues that just simply should not have been dismissed as there were basic design errors like putting the water temperature sender unit in one cylinder head and also a water pump positioned too high and timing chain that was prone to stretching very quickly then failure which led to guaranteed colossal engine damage - the buick v8 was the obvious choice for the stag and worse still bl already owned it and used it in their rovers mainly back then and continued to use it through the 1990 s!! - it's still the worst idea bl ever had and availability was said to be the reason bl decided not to use it but rather than sort out the supply of v8 buick engines or source a suitable engine they chose to try build a v8 from the joining of two dolomite engines which has proved to be a capable reliable unit after all the issues were sorted out - yet bl were so slow to attempt to do this with the stag so another superb car didn't live up to the expectations that it easily could have if things were sorted out at the earliest opportunity - another trick missed by bl and people still wonder why British car industry died out!! - original engine stags now command higher prices than the buick conversions - hindsight isn't even a small factor here because it's glaringly obvious that bl mucked it up and still thought British people would stick with tradition etc and still buy British but they also wanted reliability and decent build quality
That is the best sounding stock SD1 I have ever heard. I has to be quite suped up is it the Vitese or just the dual intake? I seems really fast in this video...
Watched this video when you first published it still one of the best videos to watch about an SD1 what’s the gearbox whine is that factory or was there an issue or a modification?
Ouch. That's a pretty narrow road to do that on. I hope the rear brakes were upgraded from the original Drums. Great looking, Great sounding car. AMAZING it was built by British Leyland.
@MrNxjohn the engines are fine and very durable i had a 3.5 V8 mk1 auto the only weakpoints on the sd1 can be the standard 5 spd manual box oh and make sure u have decent cooling as they run hot when driven hard in my sd1 the v8 was good for a top speed of 140mph with the stock 3speed auto box so ur proberlly best off with like a six speed auto or a good strong manual like a getrag box
That is the sound of engineering. Modern cars have got nothing on these British bulldogs! :) Does it have syncro? Because I think I hear a transmission whine.
That'll be your fuel light coming on then. Being a V8, I'm surprised it doesn't have the wood panels on the dash. Goes quicker than my old 2600 VP, when it did go!
Is that an oil low pressure light? If so, you needs a new oil pump, as the oil heats up it becomes thinner thus the pump gives less pressure as its worn out. Keep your beast on the road
That whining noise... Is that the live rear axle saying "had enough"? ;-) Beautiful cars! I grew up with a golden SD1 3500 Vandan Plas (first series), which had to disappear for a bloody Metro... After that "disappeared" a Blue 2600 came but my parents hated it...
As for the gearbox, what is the limit as to what you can put through them before they become problematic? I believe that TVR used a beefed-up SD1 box with its bored-out Rover V8s, which were good for at least 400bhp, but I don't know what their box reliability is like.
Used to have a race tuned 3.9 SD1 in early 90's. Used to do 7 miles per gallon - love to have one again but with fuel at 105p per litre it's just never going to happen.
Right. My dad's P6 was actually pretty economical (stock 152bhp, did 25mpg average, 30 on a good run). I've heard that if you put modern piezoelectric EFI plus an ECU on, they're good for 200bhp + 40mpg, which is bloody amazing for a nice V8. Still, I wonder about doing something involving a Daimler V8... smaller capacity should equal better fuel economy, shouldn't it?
Nice! I'm wondering if owning one should be on list of things to do before I die - my dad ran a P6 3500S daily for ten years and loved it, but maintains that the SD1's suspension and rear live axle are inferior. I like SD1's shape, but would want to make the interior less brutal. What's SD1 as a car to drive (and own)? How's the reliability? Some say sooth of the gearbox, but the P6 box wasn't great either. Would P6 rear suspension improve the roadholding? Dad says his cornered as if on rails...
@MrNxjohn you best bet if yours is overheating go to a company called rimmer brothers and get the kenlowe fan kit should help with the cooling they do alot of modifications and upgrades for the SD1 including sports exhausts/suspension and a polybush kit which improves the response of the steering too yep i got 140 out of mine it was definatley the gearbox was holding it back a little after all its just a 3spder lol though my V8 ran off the standard Twin SU carbs was yours carbs or electric ig ?
just who quick /old is your car mate it sounds great and your insurance just passed test at 35 worked on them when i was 18 and always wanted a v8 straight six are for grandads.
if ever you're out and about ikn North Wales(horseshoe pass?) again, please let me know so that I can be out too for you to overtake me so I can enjoy the noise :)
Great video -Thumbs up! I've always loved the sleek look of the Rover SDi, Your car definitely sounds like it has a blower/supercharger on its 3.5 v8 engine??, Even better, Its a manual too!!! - Must be very enjoyable and fun once you let it loose on those winding A-roads! :-)
I've Always Rated the Rover 3.5 V8 if you get an early one without any water problems as that is the main problem I've ever had with these engine's.. a good 3.5 is just as good as the later 3.9 and the 4litre.... get em back on carbs for a Start and let them breath better Air...
I wouldn't say it wasn't good enough. According to Wikipedia it was very popular but it was too expensive to make and had a few reliability problems so GM stopped production and eventually sold it to Rover. But it was exactly what Rover was looking for, a American V8 they could sell in Britain. It was changed quite a bit over the years by Rover though so you can't really call this particular V8 American any more, more an American-British hybrid.
Rover (Buick) 3.5 litre V8. Although, you could put a 4.6 Range Rover or 5.0 TVR version in with no real trouble. Great noise, not a massive amount of power, drinks like Oliver Reed on a stag do... glorious though.
