<VV> Re: Ad - Turbo question?

[Harry Yarnell]

Sure, the car should/could go faster than 60 mph, but you havn't tried by 
your own decision. How much faster, is open for discussion. I assume your 
talking sustained. Bare in mind, with a 3.55 rear, the engine is turning at 
4,000 rpm @ 80 mph.

Harry Yarnell
Perryman Garage and Orphanage
hyarnell1 at earthlink.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joel S. Garblik" <jgarblik at comcast.net>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2006 9:07 AM
Subject: <VV> Re: Ad - Turbo question?


Hi folks,
I have encouraged and received a few phone calls regarding my ad on Ebay.  I
received a call last night from a gentleman who called from Lexus of
Highland Park (IL) and questioned the speed of my Spyder.  I mention in the
ad that top speed seems to be "around 55mph."  As a practical matter, it is
rarely driven on a highway, and because the odometer/speedometer does not
appear to be accurate, I usually guess at the speed of the car.  For every
day driving, my neighborhood and local business roads are with posted speed
of 25-45 mph, and I don't have any problem keeping up with any nearby cars.
On the local highway, people travel way faster than speed limit, and I
confess that I am not comfortable taking an old car up to top limit.  When
driving at my fastest speeds, the speedo needle is hovering around 55-60,
but I'm disclosing that the reading is not accurate - in fact, I may be
going faster.  However, the caller is of the impression that a "properly
restored" turbo should be able to go "80-90" mph.
Despite the fact that I have had the turbo rebuilt and the car worked on
over the years, I can not ever recall the car having that kind of speed.
It's very likely that the local mechanics, not expert in Corvair rebuilding,
did the best they could and the car is still not up to its potential.  I
usually don't go that fast in our Volvo turbo, or my Mercedes AMG55 turbo.
I want to be honest and accurate.  Should the car be able to travel at that
high a speed, or is the caller misinformed?
Thanks
Joel