Who's got the highest recorded milage Chimaera
Discussion
As tittle really, Mines a wee infant at 65,000 miles and only 16 years old,
Any spec will do including re built cars etc, just what's the record going to be,,,
100,000,,,,,,, 130,000 miles maybe, who can lay claim to a well proven car.
Intermittent rain in the air so I must find something to do in between drives
This should be good for a laugh
Any spec will do including re built cars etc, just what's the record going to be,,,
100,000,,,,,,, 130,000 miles maybe, who can lay claim to a well proven car.
Intermittent rain in the air so I must find something to do in between drives
This should be good for a laugh
There was a Chimaera mentioned on here about 6 months ago but I can't find it using the search. It sold in the classifieds and had about 270k miles on it if I remember correctly. Almost every thing changed like Trigger's broom but had been bought and then refurbed. FSH I think too. Still trying to find mention of it!
There's been a few posts like this over the years and they always reveal a number of Chimaeras that have done well over 100,000 miles without having their engine rebuilt. Personally I always like to look at the mileage on P38 Rage Rovers and Discoveries to see what this engine can really do because there's loads more of them out there and they tend to get a much harder life. In these cases it's quite common to see listings on E-Bay for Rangies and Discos with over 150k on the clock and many with over £200k.
These E-Bay adverts dont always tell you if the engine has been rebuilt but talking to my local Land Rover independent reveals that a lot of the engine failures seem to come between 120 and 140k, but his opinion on it is when an old Disco gets to 100k its very much in the banger territory, it was probably bought at 100,000 miles for £1,500 and receives very little in the way of love for it's last 20-40,000 miles at which point it goes pop.
Oil changes become less frequent and anti-freeze changes non existent, this is when the venerable old Rover V8 will protest... and who can blame it. The truth is as an engine becomes older it needs more care not less, the frequent oil and coolant changes that were so important when new now become super critical to the engine's likely future life beyond the 100k mark.
The other thing you'll find when you go looking for high mileage Rangies and Discos is that 90% of them have been converted to gas, now I'm a big fan of LPG as we all know but in this case the problem is the conversion is being done to a very cheap car at the end of its life, so the cheapest LPG kit is used. These budget kits nearly always deliver extremely poor fuel metering allowing mixtures to run dangerously lean.
This budget conscious owner then uses the poor old gas powered disco to haul his heavy burger van and seldom bothers to change his oil, he just flat floors his cholesterol combo up hills while his cheapo LPG system delivers deadly lean mixtures and his bunged up radiator ensures engine temperatures run close to or even over the 100 degrees mark. And that's when his Rover V8 gives out, it's also when everyone tells him...
"You killed it by putting it on gas mate"!
But look closer at those E-Bay listings and occasionally you find the odd well maintained 220,000 mile Disco or Rangie that's still on it's original engine and often with one of the better LPG systems installed like Prins. It's all in the careful maintenance folks, and while we do run a more aggressive cam in our TVRs they may not actually increase valve gear wear as much as you might think. It's also true that TVR got the best engine blocks from the production line so liner slip may be less likely, but the biggest thing in favor of a Rover V8 racking up more miles in a TVR over a Land Rover product is it will have had a much easier life!
With only 1060kgs of slippery shape to push along the engine have a much easier life than hailing a 4x4 two tonn barn door down the road that's probably pulling a couple of nags in a horsebox too. As such I see no reason why 200,000 miles on a well maintained RV8 engine in a TVR Chimaera isn't perfectly achievable. Just keep those oil and antifreeze changes regular, make sure your radiator and fans are in tip top shape, replace the cam before it puts metal through the engine... and you should achieve the 200k landmark no trouble at all.
I try to do all the above and only use the high zinc good quality engine oils from Penrite or Millers, a fiberglass media Fleetguard oil filter, a FilterMag snapped around it and a strong magnetic drain plug of my own design. I also keep my engine temps under control and my AFRs closely managed, so here's to achieving my 200k target in 15 years time
These E-Bay adverts dont always tell you if the engine has been rebuilt but talking to my local Land Rover independent reveals that a lot of the engine failures seem to come between 120 and 140k, but his opinion on it is when an old Disco gets to 100k its very much in the banger territory, it was probably bought at 100,000 miles for £1,500 and receives very little in the way of love for it's last 20-40,000 miles at which point it goes pop.
Oil changes become less frequent and anti-freeze changes non existent, this is when the venerable old Rover V8 will protest... and who can blame it. The truth is as an engine becomes older it needs more care not less, the frequent oil and coolant changes that were so important when new now become super critical to the engine's likely future life beyond the 100k mark.
The other thing you'll find when you go looking for high mileage Rangies and Discos is that 90% of them have been converted to gas, now I'm a big fan of LPG as we all know but in this case the problem is the conversion is being done to a very cheap car at the end of its life, so the cheapest LPG kit is used. These budget kits nearly always deliver extremely poor fuel metering allowing mixtures to run dangerously lean.
This budget conscious owner then uses the poor old gas powered disco to haul his heavy burger van and seldom bothers to change his oil, he just flat floors his cholesterol combo up hills while his cheapo LPG system delivers deadly lean mixtures and his bunged up radiator ensures engine temperatures run close to or even over the 100 degrees mark. And that's when his Rover V8 gives out, it's also when everyone tells him...
"You killed it by putting it on gas mate"!
But look closer at those E-Bay listings and occasionally you find the odd well maintained 220,000 mile Disco or Rangie that's still on it's original engine and often with one of the better LPG systems installed like Prins. It's all in the careful maintenance folks, and while we do run a more aggressive cam in our TVRs they may not actually increase valve gear wear as much as you might think. It's also true that TVR got the best engine blocks from the production line so liner slip may be less likely, but the biggest thing in favor of a Rover V8 racking up more miles in a TVR over a Land Rover product is it will have had a much easier life!
With only 1060kgs of slippery shape to push along the engine have a much easier life than hailing a 4x4 two tonn barn door down the road that's probably pulling a couple of nags in a horsebox too. As such I see no reason why 200,000 miles on a well maintained RV8 engine in a TVR Chimaera isn't perfectly achievable. Just keep those oil and antifreeze changes regular, make sure your radiator and fans are in tip top shape, replace the cam before it puts metal through the engine... and you should achieve the 200k landmark no trouble at all.
I try to do all the above and only use the high zinc good quality engine oils from Penrite or Millers, a fiberglass media Fleetguard oil filter, a FilterMag snapped around it and a strong magnetic drain plug of my own design. I also keep my engine temps under control and my AFRs closely managed, so here's to achieving my 200k target in 15 years time
It's one of the bast aspects of a RV8 powered Tvr, it's one of the many parts we know plenty about and have good evidence as to its usable life.
I suppose everytime you upgrade these cars it's like taking it back to new, as their all old now each time you do something your giving that part of the car a new lease of life,, bit like a heart transplant.
Onwards and upwards
I suppose everytime you upgrade these cars it's like taking it back to new, as their all old now each time you do something your giving that part of the car a new lease of life,, bit like a heart transplant.
Onwards and upwards
147K and counting, preventative engine rebuild/enhancement at 106K as it came to me with a cooling system leaking in several places that weren't apparent to the naked eye, which led to HGF on a run out. Countless small and large improvements and tweaks/adjustments making it better than it was when it left Bristol Avenue an all important respects, but all the major components as well as body, trim and interior are still the original ones.
I reckon by the time it reaches 200K, it will be better still...
I reckon by the time it reaches 200K, it will be better still...
Lot of "Trigger's Broom" examples so far which sort of defeats the idea of the post for me, if the engine gets rebuilt you've really got to consider the clock has started from zero again.
Personally I'm keen to hear about the big mileage ones that haven't had a rebuild.
Pre engine rebuild examples are Bassfiendnoideawhathp at approximately 160k and Pwd95 with a very similar 155k, but are we really talking untouched TVR RV8s here boys? Or (be honest now) did your engine benefit from a little help to get to these high mileages?
The real winner of this competition will be the guy who can prove he's covered a big mileage figure with no significant engine work whatsoever.
Water pump, cam, clutch, sump & rocker cover gaskets excluded (lets call them consumables)..... who's racked up the biggest mileage having done nothing at all to their original TVR RV8 engine?
Personally I'm keen to hear about the big mileage ones that haven't had a rebuild.
Pre engine rebuild examples are Bassfiendnoideawhathp at approximately 160k and Pwd95 with a very similar 155k, but are we really talking untouched TVR RV8s here boys? Or (be honest now) did your engine benefit from a little help to get to these high mileages?
The real winner of this competition will be the guy who can prove he's covered a big mileage figure with no significant engine work whatsoever.
Water pump, cam, clutch, sump & rocker cover gaskets excluded (lets call them consumables)..... who's racked up the biggest mileage having done nothing at all to their original TVR RV8 engine?
ChimpOnGas said:
Lot of "Trigger's Broom" examples so far which sort of defeats the idea of the post for me, if the engine gets rebuilt you've really got to consider the clock has started from zero again.
Really? So what about the rest of the car? Does this mean if I sell a car on PH I'm allowed to put in the mileage after the rebuild? :P
900T-R said:
ChimpOnGas said:
Lot of "Trigger's Broom" examples so far which sort of defeats the idea of the post for me, if the engine gets rebuilt you've really got to consider the clock has started from zero again.
Does this mean if I sell a car on PH I'm allowed to put in the mileage after the rebuild?My advice for your advert would be...
- Start by quoting the car's total original complete mileage figure
- Then cover the fact it's had an engine rebuild
- Then quote the mileage post engine rebuild
When discussing "Who's got the highest recorded mileage Chimaera" it's only really the significant and expensive to rebuild larger mechanical components that serve as any meaningful barometer for the original car's durability...
IE. engine, diff and gearbox... and its these big oily bits bolted to the rusting chassis and hooked up to the iffy electrics that properly dictate the model's ability to achieve high mileages
Joking aside, all I'm saying is... if the object of this post is to conduct a study of Chimaera longevity, you really can't include the "Trigger's Broom" cars any more than you can include consumables like brakes & clutches.
The reason is intrinsic to the joke itself...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUl6PooveJE
We all love these cars and want to proclaim their eternal durability and reliability, but the truth is they were built quickly by a part skilled workforce in a less than ideal environment to achieve a competitive price point and make a small profit. To the eternal benefit of Chimaera & Griffith these simpler TVR models enjoyed an engine, gearbox and differential all sourced from a serious car maker or transmission manufacturer with proper development budgets, and with such a tiny development budget available to TVR this had to be a big big help.
The Chimaera and Griffith was also built just before the boys and girls at Bristol Avenue tried to get too clever with electronics, and if we're honest TVR never did properly grasp the discipline that is basic automotive wiring, so the brave new world of little black boxes was always unlikely to end well for their later more sophisticated models.
The reality of all this is you can completely rebuild anything, indeed you can even recreate it completely... what was once made by hand can be repaired or replicated by hand, but none of this serves as any indication of the original product's durability... which is surely the whole point of this post?
For a real picture of Chimaera longevity we need to understand how long the key components are likely to last before any serious intervention is required, which is why the most interesting and revealing responses will come from those who have completed big miles without the need for a rebuild.
Or from those who can confirm how many miles they achieved before the rebuild was needed, to that end perhaps the following table would help?...
| COMPONENT | MILES ACHIEVED BEFORE REBUILD |
|---|---|
| Rover Gearbox | |
| T5 Gearbox | |
| GKN Diff | |
| BTR Diff | |
| Pre-serp engine | |
| Serp engine |
While my table doesn't allow for how well the car may or may not have been maintained, the collated results would at least go some way to demonstrate the likely life of these key components. Armed with the information from this survey the guy with the 30,40 or 60k Chimaera could better plan for the future, and any new prospective Chimaera owner can choose his purchase armed with a bit more information on the breed.
Just a thought
How about these two old buses with the same venerable 4.0 serpentine Rover V8.
The first has covered 184,000 miles...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Range-Rover-HSE-V8-Auto-...
And the second an incredible 278,000 miles
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-Range-Rover-4...
Who knows if either or both have had engine rebuilds, but one thing is for sure they are both still running
The first has covered 184,000 miles...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Range-Rover-HSE-V8-Auto-...
And the second an incredible 278,000 miles
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-Range-Rover-4...
Who knows if either or both have had engine rebuilds, but one thing is for sure they are both still running
Anyone else fancy completing the table?
For a real picture of Chimaera longevity it would be of great interest for many to understand how long the key original key components are likely to last before any serious intervention is required, it would therefore be great to hear from Chimaera owners who've managed big mileages on their original engine, gearbox and diff
| COMPONENT | MILES ACHIEVED BEFORE REBUILD |
|---|---|
| Rover Gearbox | |
| T5 Gearbox | |
| GKN Diff | |
| BTR Diff | |
| Pre-serp engine | |
| Serp engine |
For a real picture of Chimaera longevity it would be of great interest for many to understand how long the key original key components are likely to last before any serious intervention is required, it would therefore be great to hear from Chimaera owners who've managed big mileages on their original engine, gearbox and diff
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