Cheap Chimaera - What Could Possibly Go Wrong
Discussion
to you sir, seems like a really cheap good buy at just the right time of year!Getting there now...
Replaced the aux belt as the old one was too long and the tensioner was banging against it's stop - was hoping it might cure the jumpy rev needle but no.
Checked the timing - 3 degrees - reset it to 6 - the bottom end torque has increased.
It smelt rich so I turned the AFM screw one turn - more power again.
Just these two feel like I've gained another 20bhp so I must be getting close to all of the available power now - shame the previous owner never experienced it as it should be.
I'll have to arrange a trip to the dyno soon to check.
Replaced the aux belt as the old one was too long and the tensioner was banging against it's stop - was hoping it might cure the jumpy rev needle but no.
Checked the timing - 3 degrees - reset it to 6 - the bottom end torque has increased.
It smelt rich so I turned the AFM screw one turn - more power again.
Just these two feel like I've gained another 20bhp so I must be getting close to all of the available power now - shame the previous owner never experienced it as it should be.
I'll have to arrange a trip to the dyno soon to check.
redgriff500 said:
Yes just the 4.0 I deliberately bought the slow one to help preserve my license.
Lol, deliberately buying a car with "only 240 hp" to stop from speeding too much, lovely 
Glad to see it is comming along nicely, lovely when you can sort the horsepower problems out with a turn of a screwdriver and such.
Greg_D said:
Vitorio said:
240 hp
i think anyone who has ever dyno'd one would comment on TVR's wilful optimism in relation to power.I know it's missing the point, but when i have never seen a standard one over 200 it does make them look a bit silly
My old 500 had a claimed 340 and genuine 300bhp - dyno operator said that the the best he'd seen from a std 500 most had 280bhp.
My brother had a later 4.0 and it felt only as fast as my old 200bhp MX5 but had far more torque, this one now feels as fast but I think is still missing some torque - albeit I've had a lot of fast cars since then so maybe I'm mis-remembering.
redgriff500 said:
I think 210 is the norm.
225 or thereabouts should be possible with a good std one when set up well; I believe that there are loads of cars out there that are off colour due to lack of maintenance/proper set up - a result under 200 bhp would IMO indicate that there's something amiss.300 'true' hp is a very strong result for a std 500 although there seem to be a few variations in actual engine contents.
Most we see here are in the 250-260 bracket with really good ones getting near 280 (and those are PS-DIN even; at this level subtract 3 horses or so to get the correct bhp number).BTW wherever the power level was part of vehicle certification in Europe 400s were quoted at 228 PS-DIN; 450s @ 260 PS-DIN and 500s @ 309 PS-DIN. If the actual hp number is not found to be within 5% of manufacturer quotes, one could file a complaint against the manufacturer.
My personal feelings are that while the 400's quote was bang on and the 450's maybe just a tad optimistic, I might have hoped that no one took TVR up on the quoted # for the 500
900T-R said:
225 or thereabouts should be possible with a good std one when set up well; I believe that there are loads of cars out there that are off colour due to lack of maintenance/proper set up - a result under 200 bhp would IMO indicate that there's something amiss.300 'true' hp is a very strong result for a std 500 although there seem to be a few variations in actual engine contents.
Most we see here are in the 250-260 bracket with really good ones getting near 280 (and those are PS-DIN even; at this level subtract 3 horses or so to get the correct bhp number).BTW wherever the power level was part of vehicle certification in Europe 400s were quoted at 228 PS-DIN; 450s @ 260 PS-DIN and 500s @ 309 PS-DIN. If the actual hp number is not found to be within 5% of manufacturer quotes, one could file a complaint against the manufacturer.
My personal feelings are that while the 400's quote was bang on and the 450's maybe just a tad optimistic, I might have hoped that no one took TVR up on the quoted # for the 500
We had a standard 500 make 275bhp just last summer on our rolling road day and one other 400 made 208bhp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8WXz2-qrZ0
Edited by scotty_d on Tuesday 29th May 08:51
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