Johnny sti

Hi All
Looking to sell the scoob and get a TVR Chimera.

Does anyone know where i might find some good pics of one and some sound clips if poss coz im trying to get the missus to hear it.

Thanks all

Johnny

dnb

Have you tried www.pistonheads.com ?

Johnny sti

Just looking now

Johnny

carl

IMHO, go for a 4.5 or a 5.0 if you can afford it. However, don't take my advice as gospel as I have a Cerb.

Johnny sti

Cool.

Will probably be looking around the 1997 R/S reg area.

Tiggs

i had a 97 450......bear in mind you are buying a 6/7 year old car that was put together badly on day one and will have been getting worse ever since and you'll be fine!

that engine doesnt sound so cool when you're pushing it!

jjones

build quality on some of them is shocking. bloke at work had a chimera, i would estimate the car was 10% mastic

he had a few minor problems, speedo packed up, boot release, roof leaking etc. it was his dream car and he saved for two years to buy it. he sold it after six months and swore never to buy another TVR.

it did sound the nuts tho.

dibble wants a scooby

trying to sell my Griff at the mo as I have bought a practical Scoob......
Bloody hell, how can a 4cyl 2.0L have worse consumption than a 4L V8!!!!!!
even with roof down.....driving everywhere in 2nd!!!!!

Johnny sti

All sounds bad?
There must be some nice ones out there. Like the crank on the scoob is a weak spot (i know twice!!), whats the weak points on a chimera?

Thanks all

Johnny

CraigH

It's a TVR?

I "think" the Chimaeras/Griffiths are the safest bet regarding TVR ownership - problems will likely be plentiful, but "minor". Go in open minded and you'll be fine.

Would love a TVR - look great, sound great, go well - but after seeing what a friend went through with 2 of his, would never buy one

dsmith

Best mate had for a while. He used to leave it with me if he was working in the states.

One night (11pm) after a cloud burst, the doors filled with water (stopping the electric door release) and the alarm control box filled up. Alarm goes off - none of the key fobs work. Had to muffle the siren until the battery went flat - then call the local TVR garage to find out how to get in with a flat battery (which is worryingly easy!).

It was superb to drive "occasionally" though. I certainly wouldnt be confident enough to have one as my only car.

he eventually sold it when he was told he needed new lower wishbones because of corrosion - and no it wasnt covered by the warranty.

Deano

JonW

Not sure about R/S plate cars but the later you buy the better they tend to be... anything with push button door openers on mirrors is going to be worth more later it seems as everyone wants those. Ive got a Tamora and used it as my own car through the last winter when I sold the Scooby - two days after picking it up I did the cat n fiddle in the snow... exciting with 350bhp! A mate of mine did two years with a Chim as his only car... he loved it til he wrote it off near Le Mans... ooops...

It leaked a small amount on motorways in downpours and i had niggling problems that the dealer fixed under warranty, but nothing serious or big. Servicing is costly tho.

I'd recomend one, it was far more relaiable than my Elise S2 135 which had a new gearbox, hood, steering rack, fuel pump, alenator and steering UJs in two years from new and just 13000 miles....

Also TVRs are faster than the poncy lotus that always needed the 190bhp it has now, from the start....

Tiggs

weak points on a chim?

i know nothing about cars so in laymans terms:

it leaked, i spent a fortune on fitting new seals and it still leaked.

it ticked over like a bag of bolts- clutch in at lights and it stalled.

bonnet hinge broke (well the glue that holds it together did)

windows wouldnt work.

push button door release failed

wouldnt start when it was hot...or wet

T

ps- as for general issues- no arcon in a plastic V8 means you sweat like a pig in a gym. so even if you make it to wear you are going you'll be soaked when you get there.

POC

I bought a 5.0 Chimera the year before last, stonking sounding car with shed loads of grunt.

I picked it up on the Sat morning and traded it in the following Wednesday ....... I hated it! Was heavy to drive, everything felt like it was set in stone, even took shed loads of effort to push the gas pedal down!

As a second car I would think it would be great, as an everyday drive NO WAY! be careful in the wet, I tried to pull out of a junction and just fooking sat on the spot

Sound the **** though

mattsan

My mates had the chimera,cerbera and now has a tuscan.He's had little bits of problems with each one,but they have all been fantastic cars,and better on petrol than my scoob!!

Johnny sti

So its all little bits then.
No one has said anything about the engine.
I take it that is a good strong engine? Easier to work on than the Boxer?!

Johnny

Tiggs

engine is fine but dont let that tempt you!

when you are stuck in traffic with a stalled car that wont start you wont care if its caused by a tiny little fuse somewhere or your big end conrod camshfty piston thing...you will look a **** and you will hate it!

les1

from the Trade point of view, cr@p, cr@p, and cr@p again, and try driving it in the wet, lethal.

CraigH

Is one thing I don't understand about TVRs ("early ones" like griffiths and chimaeras especially) They've got tweaked Rover V8s, Rover gearboxes and ford running gear, brakes etc. Why the fooking hell are they so expensive to service then?

That's one thing you need to bear in mind - if you do dealer servicing, be prepared for some HUGE bills!

Brun

LMFAO

Howee

Because they're TVR

Actually, the use of the Rover/Ford parts is the reason for one of the main problems with the earlier Chims and Griffs; overheating. To explain: they fettle the engine so that it generates more power and therefore more heat, stick it in a thick, plastic, insulated shell with inadequate ventilation, fit a large radiator at 30 degrees to the road and then fit 2 large cooling fans to the radiator. The fans have to work most of the time due to the poor airflow in the engine bay but are wired up using the old, Rover wiring loom which just can't cope. Fuses blow and the first thing you know is when you pull up and the temp gauge goes off the scale and it conks out. This in turn fries other bits and the chain of unreliable TVR ownership develops.

I think it's a fairly common mod nowadays to rewire each fan individually with higher rated cable so that if you still get a problem the chances are one fan will still work.

I still love em tho.

Johnny sti

So will most of the modern ones have the up-rated loom fitted or has TVR seen the problem and sorted it from manufacture, like Subaru didnt with the oil pump!!

Johnny

carl

The radiators are modified Range Rover items. Of course a Range Rover has a lot more airflow into the rad...