Austec Upgrades
Discussion
Hi all,
Finally I got the Chimaera into Austec for the long anticipated upgrades. The plan of attack was for Avo dampers and springs on all 4 corners, a 4 wheel alignment, ACT induction pipe kit and then a Mark Adams session to get the car mapped.
The day was a long one but included meeting some of the main "players" of the TVR world. Apart from Mark Adams waving his magic ECU over the car, Tim Lamont (of ACT products) was wandering around and then Steve "The Bible" Heath turned up to see his Cerbera get mapped. A couple of other PH'ers were around, including HarryW and a guy with a purple cerb, who's handle I've forgotten.
Once the Avos were on and the car had been aligned I took it out for a spin. Wow! What a difference! The car cornered like it was on rails and gave me so much more confidence in the way it behaved through the corner. The dampers are adjustable and were set a little hard. I've moved them down one click all around from what the guys at Austec originally set them to and might have to come down another click further. I'm sure I'll have fun experimenting.
The ACT pipe-work was then installed with a nice, new K£N filter too. The old one looked disgusting and definitely past its best.
Then it was time for the rollers. The first run showed max BHP of 189 and some very strange activity at the top end of the power curve. After several power runs and lots of tweaking its now pushing out approximately 215 (all at the wheels) but the torque curve is soooo different. At one point, approx 2500 rpm, its making 50 ft/lbs more than before the map. Peak torque came out at 246.5
Taking into account drive-train losses of approx 20% (Marks guide estimate) the car is now doing 268 bhp and 307 ft/lbs of torque at about 4 k rpm at the fly-wheel. Mark commented that it was one of the biggest improvements he'd seen on a 4.5.
So, what does it feel like to drive? Well, it can accelerate from 20mph in 4th without any hassle. There's a more pronounced kick on the back throughout the rev range. Its also much smoother at town speeds. The Snetterton track day will be the real telling as I'll get the chance to try the engine and suspension out properlt.
The only down side is that the power drops dramatically after 5200 rpm. The diagnosis is breathing issues at the top end. The solution? ACT carbon trumpets, perhaps a double plenum or maybe some new heads. Choices choices, and money, money.
Thanks to Mark Adams and Tom at Austec for all of the work. Its great.
Rob
>>> Edited by chimhunter on Thursday 24th March 17:50
Finally I got the Chimaera into Austec for the long anticipated upgrades. The plan of attack was for Avo dampers and springs on all 4 corners, a 4 wheel alignment, ACT induction pipe kit and then a Mark Adams session to get the car mapped.
The day was a long one but included meeting some of the main "players" of the TVR world. Apart from Mark Adams waving his magic ECU over the car, Tim Lamont (of ACT products) was wandering around and then Steve "The Bible" Heath turned up to see his Cerbera get mapped. A couple of other PH'ers were around, including HarryW and a guy with a purple cerb, who's handle I've forgotten.
Once the Avos were on and the car had been aligned I took it out for a spin. Wow! What a difference! The car cornered like it was on rails and gave me so much more confidence in the way it behaved through the corner. The dampers are adjustable and were set a little hard. I've moved them down one click all around from what the guys at Austec originally set them to and might have to come down another click further. I'm sure I'll have fun experimenting.
The ACT pipe-work was then installed with a nice, new K£N filter too. The old one looked disgusting and definitely past its best.
Then it was time for the rollers. The first run showed max BHP of 189 and some very strange activity at the top end of the power curve. After several power runs and lots of tweaking its now pushing out approximately 215 (all at the wheels) but the torque curve is soooo different. At one point, approx 2500 rpm, its making 50 ft/lbs more than before the map. Peak torque came out at 246.5
Taking into account drive-train losses of approx 20% (Marks guide estimate) the car is now doing 268 bhp and 307 ft/lbs of torque at about 4 k rpm at the fly-wheel. Mark commented that it was one of the biggest improvements he'd seen on a 4.5.
So, what does it feel like to drive? Well, it can accelerate from 20mph in 4th without any hassle. There's a more pronounced kick on the back throughout the rev range. Its also much smoother at town speeds. The Snetterton track day will be the real telling as I'll get the chance to try the engine and suspension out properlt.
The only down side is that the power drops dramatically after 5200 rpm. The diagnosis is breathing issues at the top end. The solution? ACT carbon trumpets, perhaps a double plenum or maybe some new heads. Choices choices, and money, money.
Thanks to Mark Adams and Tom at Austec for all of the work. Its great.
Rob
>>> Edited by chimhunter on Thursday 24th March 17:50
Glad it turned out so well on the day, nice to meet up.
My that is some improvement and pretty much up with most 500's, even some of the mapped ones
.
I think the purple 4.5 cerb on the rollers before you was possibly the smoothest I've seen one tick over and wind up, just shows what a properly set up ECU map can do for those cars too
.
Respect to all concerned
.
Drove mine home after getting a minor problem with the igition sorted out by Mark, by eek what a difference.
I have been running it with a 3D mapped ignition ECU for a while now, but had a problem the other week so bypassed it and went back to full dizzy running until yesterday when Mark sorted it FoC.
It is not until you do not have something you really miss it, by eek its a different beast again
. It pulls very rapidly without hesitation or running out of puff up to 6Krpm whatever the gear. The biggest difference though is the light throttle openings where shunting that became apparent after reverting back to the dizzy went again .
All I can say is if you have a highly tuned Tiv, or just one with shunting or plain bad manners
and are not happy with it speak to Mark about the ignition option, super .
Harry
My that is some improvement and pretty much up with most 500's, even some of the mapped ones
. I think the purple 4.5 cerb on the rollers before you was possibly the smoothest I've seen one tick over and wind up, just shows what a properly set up ECU map can do for those cars too
. Respect to all concerned
. Drove mine home after getting a minor problem with the igition sorted out by Mark, by eek what a difference.
I have been running it with a 3D mapped ignition ECU for a while now, but had a problem the other week so bypassed it and went back to full dizzy running until yesterday when Mark sorted it FoC
. It is not until you do not have something you really miss it, by eek its a different beast again
. It pulls very rapidly without hesitation or running out of puff up to 6Krpm whatever the gear. The biggest difference though is the light throttle openings where shunting that became apparent after reverting back to the dizzy went again . All I can say is if you have a highly tuned Tiv, or just one with shunting or plain bad manners
and are not happy with it speak to Mark about the ignition option, super . Harry
Corin, you're not wrong. Its definitely more progressive now and great to drive. I'm more than happy with the result, but as I said, there's a nasty drop off at the top end. I'll try and post the graph tomorrow.
As for the springs, its on 375's at the front and 300's at the rear. Its a fast road/track setup. I'll see how I get on. Its still pretty hard at the moment, but no worse than it was originally, and better damped at that. I'll see how it is at Snetterton, and if its fantastic I'll keep it. If not then I might go to 350's and 275s. Springs are the cheap bits after all
Rob
As for the springs, its on 375's at the front and 300's at the rear. Its a fast road/track setup. I'll see how I get on. Its still pretty hard at the moment, but no worse than it was originally, and better damped at that. I'll see how it is at Snetterton, and if its fantastic I'll keep it. If not then I might go to 350's and 275s. Springs are the cheap bits after all
Rob
HarryW said:
I think the purple 4.5 cerb on the rollers before you was possibly the smoothest I've seen on tick over and wind up, just shows what a properly set up ECU map can do for those cars too
Respect to all concerned
Great to read Chimhunter's success story..
The purple Cerb was only a little 4.2, and made 284 at the wheels: but the smoothness of response at low revs is indeed a credit to all concerned.
Of course the clutch went as soon as I got it home...
Tam Lin said:
.....The purple Cerb was only a little 4.2, and made 284 at the wheels: but the smoothness of response at low revs is indeed a credit to all concerned.
Of course the clutch went as soon as I got it home...
Out of interest how many miles were on that clutch
. Only ask as I'm still considering a Cerb myself and making mental notes of things to look at . Harry
HarryW said:
.....The purple Cerb was only a little 4.2, and made 284 at the wheels: but the smoothness of response at low revs is indeed a credit to all concerned.
Of course the clutch went as soon as I got it home...
Out of interest how many miles were on that clutch
Harry
Hi,
2 years exactly & less than 14k miles.
Also have a look on the Cerb forum, couple of threads
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