Tell me about the Triumph TR8

"Leadbull" (leadbull911) 07/27/2014 at 17:56 • Filed to: Oppositelock

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I saw one today; it really caught my eye. And although I know of it, I don't know much about it.

GhostZ > Leadbull 07/27/2014 at 17:58

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It and the TR-7 look like everything else:

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/search?q=tr7

( just keep scrolling back to about a year ago)

Dsscats > Leadbull 07/27/2014 at 18:09

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It's got a lot of interesting TR8s

ttyymmnn > Dsscats 07/27/2014 at 18:19

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Leadbull > Dsscats 07/27/2014 at 18:31

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R u 'avin a giggle m8?

ly2v8-Brian > Leadbull 07/27/2014 at 18:42

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The one shown above is yellow and has 4 wheels. And thus my knowledge of TR8s has been dispensed.

twochevrons > Leadbull 07/27/2014 at 19:48

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The TR8 and its smaller-engined sibling, the TR7 were the last (and least-loved) of Triumph's sports-car line, produced from 1975-1981 (TR8 production started in 1978). They're not inherently bad cars, but suffered a lot due to compromised design and poor build quality that characterised British Leyland's twilight years, as well as their somewhat controversial styling. Still, they were produced in far greater numbers than any of their predecessors, and are finally enjoying a bit of a resurgence as '70s kitsch becomes cool again.

The TR8 swaps out the TR7's four-pot for the 3.5 litre Rover V8 – as seen in the Rover P6, SD1 and Range Rover (amongst others). Genuine TR8s are relatively rare, never having been produced in large numbers, and are probably outnumbered by engine-swapped TR7s.

Kanaric > Leadbull 07/27/2014 at 21:20

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seriously underrated car that still has support from people like wedgeshop. If you want one get it asap, they are starting to explode in price. Rover v8 that has a lot of support, solid axle rear, coupes seem rarer so you might have to get a roadster. 5 speed trans that is a good unit. Brakes are shit and need to be upgraded if you want to drive it hard.

Theres some good car porn for these, like a late 70s early 80s manx rally, on youtube.

Kanaric > twochevrons 07/27/2014 at 21:21

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People generally say the TR8 is of a higher quality by quit a mile over the TR7.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Leadbull 07/28/2014 at 07:29

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I absolutely love the TR7/TR8. Really cool cars.

The TR7 and its proposed stablemates were meant to modernise and replace both the TR sports cars and the Stag GT (look at the Lynx for the Stag-replacement). There was also meant to be a platform variant shared with MG to replace the aging MGB and MGB V8.

The release TR7 had a bit of an anaemic 105bhp 2.0l SOHC 8v I4, but they had planned a version with the 127bhp (135bhp when put together properly) 16v Sprint engine. It's a real shame it didn't get produced as it's a popular swap nowadays in the UK and makes a half-decent car, what with the 1000kg kerbweight. One would assume the worsening monetary problems of late-era BL were to blame for the Sprint's demise.

Triumph campaigned the TR7 Sprint in rally for a couple of years near the start of production, but that was phased out in favour of the TR7 V8, which was campaigned with some success by Tony Pond, especially on road stages like the Manx rally.

The actual TR8 was a TR7 fitted with the 3.5l Rover V8 . Early cars were carbed with 133bhp, and later ones were injected with either 137 or 148bhp. Not massively impressive, but torque was near or over 200lb-ft for all engines, and even with a V8 it only weighed ~1200kg (with the added safety equipment its '78 launch date required). Plus, you can get to 220-250bhp on most RV8s with only mild tuning, and I've seen ones much higher than that.

They started selling them in the US first, but after 2 years of production (and before European production started), they were canned along with most of Triumph's lineup (thanks to BL's colossal problems at the time).

It's a real shame they didn't continue development, or even have the development schedule that was planned out from the outset. Some people have built some real performers out of Sprint-engined and V8 swapped TR7s. 220-250bhp with a ~1200kg kerbweight (or ~180bhp and a 1000kg kerbweight) and a tiny little wheelbase make for an exciting car :)

One of my favourites is the 3.9l EFi TR8 owned by a chap on AROnline. It's just a really, really nice build that looks like something the factory would have produced had they continued development. He's done some good articles about it as well. Here's one doing a comparo with the much-loved Capri 2.8i , and here's one of a cross-country trip across America :)

Unfortunately I'm at work, but I've got quite a few kickass little pictures of TR7s and TR8s at home :) here's a couple I've got saved on my work computer:

And a video or two :)