V-techland

Hi all,

Looking for a bit of knowledge really from anyone who has experience with TVR Chimeras!

Pal of mine is looking for one and coming from an STI V5 he's obviouly keen to have a fast and useable car ) He will only consider cars 1998 s-plate or newer, in order too hold his private plate.

.......now he's a bit of an entertainer so he is keen to know problems with the following:

1) Which engines are best?

We've heard mixed views, but it would seem that the 4.0litres are the moste reliable, then the 4.5 and most problematic the 5.0. Now the engine displacement is supposedly just a result of how much the block has been bored out, so the above info would be logical and correct! He really wants the 4.5 coz its a halfway house between the most reliable 4,0 and the fastest yet most unreliable 5.0's.

What are your thoughts?

2) How well does the transmssion and drivetrain hold out?

My friend has a very heavy right foot, and (like I said) is a bit of an entertainer! If the car can do donuts....then it will be made to do so....frequently ) and side turnings can sometimes cry out for a bit of fishtailing, to brighten his day. Now TVR's are naturally abit of a lottery with build quality and he is wondering how well they withstand a bit of abuse (not abuse..but strong use, you know what I mean!).

3) Do they donut? Not sure about the differential status! do they have 'slipper's? if so do they only really go 180 like the old Ferrari 348's???

4) Any other general advice would be gr8ly appreciated )

PS B4 anyone asks, no I'm not describing myself, and using a friend as cover, its just a genral request for advice as to the robustness of these (what would seem to be) the most reliable of the TVR range. Oh and no comments about my friends 'entertaining - driving style' please, I don't really want the thread getting taken down the road of "your friend sounds like a ****, and disregards road laws" etc etc coz i'm not interested!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Advice on the cars only please!

POC you must have had one of these at one stage?

Cheers Fellas

V-techland

Oooops, sorry all the smilies are meant to be

Diesel

Well I went the other way 'round - from TVR to Scoob and have a 'dangerous' thread elsewhere asking why has nothing gone wrongon the Scoob in 4+ years. Wouldnt have happened with the TVR I ASSURE you!

I had the V8 S with a 4.0 L Rover V8 in mine at about 260 BHP and bags more torque. No issues with engine in 5 years - although part of the reason I sold it was that it was starting to sound tappety at 7 yrs old 60k miles.

All that power in RWD means it is a crime NOT to get the **** end out when nipping out of a junction now and again! And yes you can do donuts if you are about to have a new set of tyres fitted

The Chimp is a bit tamer and softer than the Griff (my choice) and the looks arent the best of the range IMHO. At this age any issues would have been sorted by previous owners (mushrooms growing in the boot being one common one...).

A mate fell in love with mine after a jaunt in Wales and traded his Jag in for one. He kept it 3 months... You need hair on your chest for these cars

medders

Your mate just needs to be careful what he buys (although sometimes you just cant tell) I had a really bad Griff 500hc.

TVR Gary had a chimera (i think) and he had no problems at all.
We've had discussions about TVR's many times on here, but all agree that they are weekend only (toy)

Anyway - onto the comparisons.

HC engines are supposed to be most reliable.

5.0 l are for men. 4's are for the ladies. Power steering is for girls.

griffs and chimeras are very similar with the griff being firmer (and looks better ) iirc.

Paul

Tiggs

i have a mint 97 4.5 chim, best car i have ever owned. No probs with engine or trim.

T

audinut

Loads of threads on this subject on:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?f=8&h=0

Ive only had a Chimaera for 3 months so am not in a position to comment on long term reliability, but seeking out a sound car, regardless of engine choice is more important.
You can have problems with any if you buy a dog. You will also hear owners of higher mileage 4, 4HC, 4.3,4.5 and 5 litre cars who have had few problems.
Conclusion of most of the pistonheads threads is see which version suits you. Im happy with a boggo 98 4.0 as it suits my daily commute. If I wanted a sunny weekend car Id have a 5 litre.

All are great fun however and the adjustment from 4wd turbo cars didnt take long at all.

medders

......as long as you remember not to accelerate in the wet

V-techland

Cheers all for your thoughts

I'll 4ward your views onto him!

Tiggs

my 450 is fine in the wet, drive it at 80% and its no bother and still faster than most other cars.

T

ps- think resale....non PAS is gonna be hard to shift, so will a 4 litre- theres loads of them.

Stevie

Has anyone ever had their TVR dyno tested?

Reason I ask, I'm just about to get a new V8 built for my next toy, and having spoken to a Rover V8 specialist I have used for 6 years (this is my 3rd engine, all in different vehicles and all still running superbly btw), he said that he has never seen a TVR engine produce more than 275bhp, even a Griff 500 unit that was rated at 340bhp!

ScoobySnack

Stevie.... Yep I've had mine dyno'd at standard and them after some tinkering.......

The 5.0 was said to come with 340BHP and was then altered to 320BHP for driveabilty reasons. It is known that these figures were produced on a dyno station at TVR and are not what you get in the car in real life... It can be 260bhp for a bad runner, the best unmodified I've seen was 302BHP.

So now the good news.... when tested the cars still have the said torque figures and also can do he 0-60/ 0-100 times mentioned in the literature.

These cars are not perfect by any means, but do they go.. and what a noise.. When driving one its more than going fast.. it becomes a event


J (Griff 500... dyno'd at 301bhp , 327lb/ft torque... rear wheel drive (low transmission loss) and weighing in at 1064kg )

Diesel

Just for ref, when I had mine many years ago I used to commute Cardiff to Swansea every day for 3 years. It was therefore a nice event and not a commute... Only issue was throttle cable broke once. Got it off the motorway and then drove it home in 5th with NO throttle - about 35mph. Nice!

Broke down in Sweden once - OHHH MY GOOOODDD I thought. Thankfully fixed it roadside though by routing another +12v feed to the fuel pump. We were all very impressed with me

Blub, blub, blub - still miss that meaty burble and counting the cylinders firing at tickover

TVR Gary

As medders says 7 years of TVR ownership and no problems from me.

I didnt have a chimp though I had a V8 S.

From what I have learnt about them the one to have is the 4.5 LTR. The 4LTR is nice but needs a bit more oomph and the 5LTR is not much different than the 4.5LTR, just a little more frantic. The one you can live with day on day is the 4.5.
However....they are not everyday cars, never have been and never will be. That is why most 93/94 model cars for sale have around 40 - 60K miles on the clock. Some also a lot less.

As an extra note I have at home loads and loads of TVR owner club magazines with articles, for sale etc etc in them. I will be getting rid of them soon coz they are getting in the way, so if anyone wants them, pay the postage and they are yours.

Diesel

Gary >>they are not everyday cars, never have been and never will be<<

Quite the opposite of the point I was trying to make above really As I said - had only 2 let downs in a daily commuting and Euro trotting V8 S in 5 years... I would NOT labour that reliability point though - well not unless I was drunk and unusually belligerent and purposelly ignored the servicing costs