Kevin,
The Liberty is a very free revving engine, helped by having a much lighter clutch and crankshaft than a Meteor. This makes it very easy to change gear although as Adrian says you do need to do it more often as the Meteor has another 1000 rpm over the Liberty. In fact the torque curve (and so the HP) is almost the same up to the point when the Liberty runs out of revs so the acceleration to that point is possibly better with the Liberty but the Meteor keeps on going. It is not that the Centaur is slow but that the Cromwell is fast, to the point that they were breaking tracks. The cure was a slower final drive ratio and much stronger tracks which were also slightly wider to help with the inevitable extra weight that had been gained. A Centaur with its original track and final drives is very nice to drive and the Liberty that is fitted in a Centaur is a world more reliable than the one in a Crusader. The biggest reliability problem with a restored Centaur is the hydraulic system used for the clutch and brakes but that is shared with Cromwell, Comet and Churchill as the components are identical. Good luck with finding parts !
David
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