Is there a difference between 5.0 and 5.0HC engine

[jvdriet]

Is there a difference between 5.0 and 5.0HC engine, because the engine of my chimaera
is a 5.0 HC and how many horsepower has this engine according to factory specs and how many real ??

[russ turner]

Same engine by all accounts

[theaxe]

No difference at all

[daz the plumber]

hc means high cam means nothing .some people think it stands for high compression.

[jvdriet]

Ok thanks

[winston lai]

HC means highlift cam. So to be precise, all 5 ltr engines are with higlift cam. They are all the same irrespective of what the sign says.

The factory quotes 320BHP and 340BHP for non-cat ones. I just had my 96 Chim 500 (totally de-cat) dyno tested. You can see the result/graph below. A few other members have also posted their result here as well. You can have some ideas of what is actual output.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Winston

[900T-R]

winston lai said:

The factory quotes 320BHP and 340BHP for non-cat ones.

No roadgoing non-cat 500s were delivered AFAIK - by 1993, I don't think there was any market left where cats weren't mandatory... I think TVR first quoted 340 bhp, then 325, then offered an option to tame the in-town manners of the engine at the cost of another 5 bhp and finally made that option standard. Regardless, the true output on a chassis dyno (calculated back to the flywheel) seems to hover around 270 bhp for all of them...

[rev-erend]

I think they stopped claiming 340 bhp because no one beleived them and it was a laughing stock..

OK - 320 was still probably wrong by 20 ~ 50 bhp depending how lucy you were but more realistic.

Then around that time they launched the Cerb (4.2) - so probably wanted to offer a more powerful model and made the power outputs appear to be different.

[shpub]

If you are selling... 500HC means about £1000 extra
If you are buying... it means £0

[BBR]

HC does mean 'High Compression'. On a 4L V8 it makes about 30 bhp difference (based on TVR log book) however all the 5.0L V8s were HC engines.

[shpub]

BBR said:

HC does mean 'High Compression'. On a 4L V8 it makes about 30 bhp difference (based on TVR log book) however all the 5.0L V8s were HC engines.

Sorry it doesn't. The 400HC engine has the same compression ratio or even lower than the 400 depending on which bit of TVR literature you happen to read. The HC engine had a high lift cam which gave it the extra power - nothing to do with the compression ratio. See page 33 in the bible and page 54 for the different cam types.

[Andy JB]

Just to confuse things, TVR apparently an ex-employee confirmed changed the state of tune (de-tuned) the 5.0 litre around 1997 for smoother running around town, hence the varied quoted outputs.

FWIW all 5.0 are HC and this relates to high compression per the 4.0 HC i believe

[shpub]

Andy JB said:

FWIW all 5.0 are HC and this relates to high compression per the 4.0 HC i believe

REPEAT AFTER ME.... HC is not HIGH COMPRESSION.
IT IS "High lift Cam"

The 400HC and 500HC typically had the same cam which was different to that fitted to the 400. The compression ratios were essentially the same. If anything, the HC engine may have been slightly LOWER!

[450Nick]

As far as I know, pretty much all 500 and 400 engines are 10.5:1 compression, therefore both high compression really. The 450s were 9.35:1 but not sure about the cams across the range. Don't know what the 430 was but given the power I'd assume 10.5:1. No idea why the 450 had less compression but in my case it worked out to be a good thing.

[Pasco]

shpub said:

Andy JB said:

FWIW all 5.0 are HC and this relates to high compression per the 4.0 HC i believe

REPEAT AFTER ME.... HC is not HIGH COMPRESSION.
IT IS "High lift Cam"

The 400HC and 500HC typically had the same cam which was different to that fitted to the 400. The compression ratios were essentially the same. If anything, the HC engine may have been slightly LOWER!

Deep Breath Steve

[daz the plumber]

so the 450 would be the best engine to super charge ,due to the engine beeing lower compression !

[KarlR]

Andy JB said:

Just to confuse things, TVR apparently an ex-employee confirmed changed the state of tune (de-tuned) the 5.0 litre around 1997 for smoother running around town, hence the varied quoted outputs.

FWIW all 5.0 are HC and this relates to high compression per the 4.0 HC i believe

Does anyone know what this 'De-tune' involved?? .. Was it a simple re-map or were parts modified - and can it be easily reversed to re-gain the 20hp??

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

I bought a Chimaera end 97 for delivery early 98. I noticed that the published figures had altered from 340 to 320 bhp in that interim period. I phoned the factory to ask why, and they told me "we're just measuring it differently".

[Pasco]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

I bought a Chimaera end 97 for delivery early 98. I noticed that the published figures had altered from 340 to 320 bhp in that interim period. I phoned the factory to ask why, and they told me "we're just measuring it differently".

Yes it actually measures around 270hp for the 340 hp engine... Fact

[Bluebottle]

Pasco said:

Yes it actually measures around 270hp for the 340 hp engine... Fact