Carbs before Marbs.

The 19th and 20th Holley carb conversions were packaged up and sent to new homes today! So far they're on Alpines in France, UK, Norway, Sweden, USA, Germany, Switzerland and Australia.

[johnb]

Any comparison performance data John, standard Solex set-up against the Holley conversion?

Hi Jon,

The best increase we've seen so far is 14bhp over the standard output but this is without a before and after rolling road session, just taking Renaults stats, which are always inflated from my experience.

The kit wasn't initially created to simply bolt on power but more to take advantage of the flexibility the Holley carburettor gives you when adjusting the fuelling in conjunction with other modifications, such as 3 branch manifolds, compression increases and free flowing silencers etc. The Solex setup will run lean, lose power or detonate. With the Holley it is so simple to work with re jetting is very easy and effective.

Other benefits which may seem a little boring but really make the car more enjoyable to drive and work on are the ease at which the car will start, hot and cold. The idle holds very well as you would expect for a new carburettor. The simplicity of fitting and removal for any maintenance, and the tidy and uncluttered look of the engine bay.

Have a chat with Simon G or Jim V who have converted and wouldn't go back to Solex's.

[johnb]

Thanks for the response John.

That's the sort of power increase I thought you'd estimate, not massive but a reasonable percentage increase. Your other points about flexibility make sense and I can see where you're coming from regarding the standard set-up.

On my A310 the standard set-up is working reasonably well upto now bearing in mind that the car has done less than 600 miles since I finished the restoration earlier in the year and there's still some debugging and fine tuning to be done. My starting point was to keep the car as original as possible and, at least, try to make the standard carbs work, purely for the satisfaction of doing that, before thinking about changes. You never know, I might go for the Holley conversion eventually.

Hi Jon,

If its not broken don't fix it. If your carbs are in good working order and you're happy with them no point in changing to the holley... Yet!

I was chatting to someone at Origine RS about running the Holley but adapting the original air filter arrangement, I've seen one done like this and no one would be any the wiser to what is hiding under it.

.
wots a marb when it's home??

Hahaha, sorry its an Essex thing

[johnb]

Hi Jon,

If its not broken don't fix it. If your carbs are in good working order and you're happy with them no point in changing to the holley... Yet!

I was chatting to someone at Origine RS about running the Holley but adapting the original air filter arrangement, I've seen one done like this and no one would be any the wiser to what is hiding under it.

You read my mind. I was going to comment about keeping the original air feed duct arrangement as this would be my personal preference. I presume it's better for the engine to have a cooler supply of air to the carbs rather than drawing hotter air from above the engine. Also, from an appearance point of view, I'd prefer the filter housing connected to the air duct. I'm sure it can be done. Something to think about for the future.