Overdrive or 'not to' overdrive?

[garthy]

Do most people prefer a car with overdrive or is the standard 4 spd box acceptable for distances of up to say 100 miles?

[Fizzy]

i dont have OD on my 1300 spit, last week i done an hour each way trip, 90% dual carriageway. i was doing 50-55 at about 3.5k revs in 4th, with my non std exhaust it was a bit annoying, but not uncomfortable. thats with a 4.11 diff. i did have the window down all the way. which undoubtedly added to the noise quite a bit.

i dont know how much OD takes off the top revs, but at least its some sort of bench mark. mechanically the car coped easily. i had one small problem of the revs dropping after coming off the carriageway, 99% sure down to fuel evaporation. after half hour at 55 mph with air blowing through the engine bay, coming to a stop at a roundabout i guess it got very hot very quickly under the bonnet. easily solved with a bit of choke till i got moving again though.

so yeah for me the sound of the revs was more of a concern than whether my car could deal with the journey with no overdrive. if i had the cash or parts laying about, i would be fitting one though.

[Doug Paterson]

Fizzy

OD would take it down to roughly 3000rpm.

[beefertoo]

depends on the regular use really. yes it will do it, (mine came back some 200 miles without but it was hard work,either deafaning at 70 or mixing with the trucks at 55 :))if just used 'round town' and very occasional A road then only a maybe. if used mainly A road and m/way then its definatly worth having.

craig

[price]

got to be the best thing i done to my 1360,  i went for the 3rail box, d type overdrive all out of a out of a spitt, and fitted an alloy bell housing. will never go back to standard now, massive diffrence to the car. eny one thinking of doing this to there herald doit.

[GarthT]

Definately an asset, mine sometimes dosen't engage and it's a pain as it screams its bits off.

I drove my Vitesse 240 miles home after purchasing it and it would have been painful without the OD.

It drops the revs by about 500rpm.

[price]

the revs drop about  900 ,1000 on my one and kicks in at about 2250rpm ,gareth u may need oil in it and clean the  fillter out as well. may be of some help to u

[bxbodger]

If you do a lot of your journeys on the motorway or dual carriageways then it makes a world of difference to the noise and fuel consumption. O/D has the added fun feature of you being able to drive in third with the o/d engaged, which gives roughly equivelant revs to being in fourth without the o/d, and then flick the stalk to disengage it for an instant and noisy increase in revs and speed....great fun when overtaking someone on the motorway!

If I mainly drove around town or minor roads then I don't think it would make a deal of difference but on the Vitesse on the motorway it's a very nice thing to have and I wouldn't be without it.

[GT6 M]

what car is it,!!
cos a GT with or without it,  [ as standard ] is about the same .
except some very rare factory spec  ones that came with 3.27 and od

Spittys, with less  HP had a  lower axle and od combo than a GT, and so cruised at less revs.
S =3.63 +od = 22
GT and Vit 3.89 + od =21.5
GT 3.27 + od =25

all above on standard tyres

but i my self find the GT is well under geared, so a od, and a 3.27 is a must
but a vit should still be able to pull  the same,

Marcus

[garthy]

Thanks chaps

This is exactly what I thought. I haven't atually bought a car yet but was very tempted the other day to buy a vit 1600 without the o/d but I could see myself getting frustrated long term.

Also it seems quite an expensive option to retro fit. Although I am reasonably mechanically minded I am very short of time which means I would have to pay a garage to do the work.

I think this means my ideal car would be a vit cv with either 1600 or 2000 with the overdrive......... and probably in white. If anyone knows of such a car please get in touch.

Many thanks for all the reply posts.

Garthy

[Mark Hammond]

Needn't be expensive to retro fit.  Although I'm not a fan, others have fitted Ford Type 9 5 speed conversions and Toyota 5 speed conversions.

M.

[heraldcoupe]

Having owned a mix fo Triumphs with and without overdrive, those that have been most enjoyable as daily drivers have all been fitted with overdrive. Witha town car you wouldn't miss it, but on open roads it's an absolute plus.
Any Triumph with a 1300 or larger engine will have enough torque to make overdrive useful. 1200s can be a bit hit and miss as the engine specs were changed several times. With early Heralds on the Mk1 chassis, overdrive isn't a realistic option, but with anything after June 1962, the chassis is designed to accept the installation,

Cheers,
Bill.

[TR7th Heaven]

Definately an asset. I retro fitted it to my Vitesse as we were rebuilding the car anyway. It's not a difficult job.
I still think the car is a little bit undergeared and am considering changing the standard 3.89 diff for a 3.63. Without o/d, the Vit would be much less usable. Fine around town, but my recent trip to Wales would have been a nightmare without it.
However, if you find the right car but it doesn't have o/d, don't let it put you off. You could always upgrade later. There are so many other things to consider when buying the right car.
Rich ;)