Clarkson talks Stag

[BuzzLOLOL]

.. Americans know the song Spirit in the Sky by the original author and recorder of it: Norman Greenbaum

[BuzzLOLOL]

.. The Buick 215" aluminum V8 first appeared in a 1952 Buick Show car... an extremely long-lived engine...it went into full production mid 1960... highest points in USA were 1963 Buick 200HP w/ 4 bbl. carb. and the '62/'63 Olds 215 version with turbocharger and 215 HP... Rover kept it in full production till about 2000... still in limited aftermarket production today, up to 5.0L/305"... survived neglect British engines/cars were expected to get close servicing almost daily to keep them going...

[spartacusvikinga]

He forgot to say that the Buick V8 first was installed into the Rover P5B in 1967.

[80sfordman]

Clarkson also fails to mention that the Buick/Rover V8 was also used in the Rover P5.

So is the Triumph V8 basically 2 Dolomite slant-4's welded together?

[midsaint776]

don'nt know about clarkson talks stag , but clarkson definately talks bollocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MrJezza31]

stags are great but i cant see what jeromeys got against the marinor its a great car so was the rover p6

[peterfarrow]

The stag 3.0 v8 engine was a total dog, the best thing to do with it was to remove it, through it in the bin and stick a rover v8 in it instead.

[powerje75]

@peterfarrow My Stag has the original V8 in it and it's a beaut!

[RobertoAndClaire]

@powerje75. You have to look after and service an original Stag engine. If you do, it will perform as designed. Mine does. 1976, and still working just fine thank-you. Lazy owners brought this car to an end, not shite engineering.

[McElhinney65]

Spirit in the Sky by Doctor and the Medics.

[EXTREME4YEARSTOCOME]

btw can someone please tell me the name of the song at 1:20

[triden55]

@EXTREME4YEARSTOCOME Spirit in the sky

[EXTREME4YEARSTOCOME]

the reason that they didnt use the buick was coz rover and triumph were enemys and when triumph wanted to put the buick v8 in the stag rover didnt let them so triumph tryed to make there own v8 witch didnt work

[jopiira]

Landrover was best car what Leyland did.

[thatbristolbloke]

the engine

[malcstag]

its remarkable but clarksons hair looks like a cunt snatch

[mooseman2468]

I do believe that the Stag was the first car to have ABS if my memory serves me right?

[silkdestroyer]

No. Stags never had ABS. The Jenson FF was the 1st production car to be fitted with ABS, (called maxaret abs, or something like that). LG.

[48channels]

Go long on the U,clarkson you Cuuuuuuunt.

[jozg44]

Whilst I generally like Clarkson, he has a tendency to 'not let the truth get in the way of a good story'. He conveniently overlooks the fact that not only had Triumph invested large sums of money in designing/tooling up for the Dolomite/Stag engines and weren't going to chuck that away, but even if they had wanted to use the Rover V8 there wasn't the capacity to meet the expected demand for the Stag because Rover/Land Rover were selling cars as fast as they could build them.

[Staaaag]

Commswarrior: as an engineer, you would have been to spell "galleries" - as to the Stag engine being shit, I would venture to suggest that your engine rebuilding skills match your spelling and that's why you had to replace the engine with a Buick - go back to fixing telephones and leave your Halfords socket set in your garage.

[commswarrior]

My Stag is still going strong - after taking the engine out and rebuilding it piece by piece. When that didn't work (the engine suffered countless piston faults and snapped valves, I replaced it with an engine from the V8 Disco - and I've never had a problem with the car again.

As an engineer, I can see the problems with this engine - it's weak block, with very little reinforcing, twists and contorts. The coolant galaries are WAY too small.

It's a shit engine that never should have been made

[rob2859]

sounds good though, but thats about it

[malcstag]

clarkson you penis

[unigateman]

the problem was the unions

[OfficialNonsense]

staaaaaag

[IH6848]

Stag engine is OK if built properly unfortunatly most that left the factory wern't....

Rover engine also has its faults esp 4.0 & 4.6 with cracked blocks & slipped liners.

[fordlandau]

Such a great looking car ..what a shame they screwed up everything underneath!

[lagerzok]

Timed my Stag (Triumph V8) from 0 to 100mph in 26 secs this morning at 5am on the way to the airport in Perth WA. love that surge of torque from 3500-5500 and changing gear at 6300... I have a Discovery 2 V8 4.0 and love the torque but the Stag engine is in a different league as a standard engine rev wise... Used to drive a Rover vitesse which was gasping at 5000 rpm (Stag does have a totally crap head stud design though.....)

[IH6848]

blimey, have the same 2 motors!!

Nothing like the V8 sound!!

[M3addicted]

The stag's original V8 was almost completely designed by Triumphs engineers, and then the option of the Rover unit came... It was just a matter of taking the Rover V8 of the shelfs, but the engineers had a "too big ego"... Nevertheless, BL should have switched to the Rover engine after max 2 years or so...

THEN the Stag would have been the best car BL ever made...

Because of that I own a TR6 (which is a great "bloke's car" :D)...

Greetz from Belgium

[grahamkeithtodd]

the triumph stag was a good car apart from that damm engine... the alloy block was prone to pourosity the liners leaked the alloy heads warped as dealers had no idea how to look after the enging and keep the anti freeze topped up with the right amount of coolant(75/25 mix of anti freeze and water the timing chains streatched after 20,000(if you was lucky to have them last that long and the radiaotr was too small to begine with so the dolts replaced it with a smaller one.. WHY?

[wakaday]

Alloy Block???????

[grahamkeithtodd]

my mistake..it had alloy cylinder heads that warped if you did not keep the anti freeze levels up..not the block..that was cast iron...

[jjppol]

I have a Staaaaaaaaaaag

[Staaaag]

The Triumph engine is an absolute peach when it is running right - and mine usually is! Since I have had my own Stag, it has been the model of reliability and has never left me stranded and I use it daily in all weathers. All this from a car over 30 yrs old? Try that from a Mondeo - Most people who bitch about the Stag have never owned one, and are just regurgitating ill-informed secondhand opinions as fact.

[MrSuntail]

well i do own one and the original engine is a piece of crap. the rover is teh better choice in practical every way, unless your a mid 40's pipe smoking old fuddy duddy who is more concerned that the car has its original cigarette lighter than if it actually works. i will not be swayed on this just like how my stag keeps on running day after day with the rover trouble free. besides the POWER is awesome ;P

[dancool13]

my dad has a stag with the original v8 and you cant beat it! much more fun that our other cars the torque and power is awesome. its reliable, use it almost every weekend, just did the timing chains and clutch, went on a run the rougham model show today and on the motorway cruised lovely at 3,500 revs;)

[youbeenhurt]

just make sure you dont get one made on friday afternoon!

[dancool13]

what do you mean?

[youbeenhurt]

the workers couldnt really be arsed on a friday afternoon!

[malcstag]

but the Rover engine was crap in '69 when the Stag one was developed,it had rope seals! The later Rover would be better, what a stupid argument. Why not put in a 4.9 new Range Rover injected engine in while you are about it.

[darrowby1972]

Pick you up on two points there sonny,,,

1 = when its running

2 = Which it usually is????

hmmn

[Nicodemus1971]

Clarkson is absolutely right on this one. I had a Stag which I did a Rover V8 conversion on. I took joy in disposing of the Triumph engine at the scrap metal dealer since I have always so despised that abortion of a motor.

[MrSuntail]

I completely agree. 2 years of hassle free good fun motoring with the rover, drove for 6 hours straight in 35 deg c weather and not a hint of any problems. the way it should be.

mr suntail

[Nicodemus1971]

Absolutely, I am amazed at how loving people are of this heap of crap excuse for a motor. You'd think Stag fans would be angry - The engine destroyed the car and added another nail into the coffin that was BL reputation, which has left the modern era without some of the most evocative brands in history and the United Kingdom without a car industry to speak of. There are no Triumphs anymore..for good reason.

[apjoe18]

and people who beleive what they read too much put another nail in....

[Nicodemus1971]

Having said that, I think Clarkson does not pay due credit to Rover by calling it a Buick V8. The engine was a dog when they got it. It was only on account of Rover's vast experience in alloy casting technology that really made it into the legend it was (and still is).

[wakaday]

I remember when Stags would be seen at the roadside with steam gushing from the Bonnet after yet another failure from that V8. But that was back in the 70s and 80s. Now we are in the noughties and that beautiful underated V8 has moved on as well thanks to ongoing development by after market specialists. Its a shame that a great car will never be able to shake off its old image but great for us believers.

[KongoXIIV]

Agreed.

NO need to swap for a Rover V8 when the Triumph owners club can dort it out for ya, make it reliable AND give it all it's horsepower it should have had. :)

[MrSuntail]

wow you mean tuning and investing heaps of time and money will make it as good as an original untuned cheap as chips rover 3.5. OMG. id rather invest in performance parts for the rover and get 250plus reliable power rather than 150 woulda coulda shoulda.

you know it makes sense!

Mr Suntail

[MrSuntail]

You mike like the noise of the stag v8 but mine has a 3.5 rover, revs to 5,500 all day long in Australia on 35 to 40 deg Celcius days!

ill think of the slightly better noise as i leave behind the poor guys who are in the 3 litre stags on the car run days.

also what clarkeson show was this from. i have seen all top gear episodes for like 8 seasons and never seen it. is it from something else?

Mr Suntail

[bentleyv8t]

this is from clarkson's " Who killed the British car industry?" video.

[malcstag]

you will never beat the noise of a cast iron block V8! Give me the Stag engine everytime

[MrSuntail]

you can have it . . .

[MrSuntail]

you can have it . . .

[cbv8]

Thanks for that Staaaag ;-)

Nice car wish mine looked that good!!! watching that clip and hearing Clarksons comments does make you wonder WHY. The tried tested and proven RV8 lump was NOT used in the Stag insanity or what???

Cheers,

Chas.