Has 5ltr had it's day??
Discussion
My friend bought a 5ltr Chimaera two weeks ago and very nice it is too. Today, we are on a day trip to Filey and attracted a Subaru WRX in our wake. The moment appeared for him to overtake and at the right moment both drivers let the engines "Breathe". Well, new TVR owner close to tears, the WRX left it, I mean.....LEFT IT!
Do you think it was a standard one or what, it was amazing.
Do you think it was a standard one or what, it was amazing.
carolinew said:
My friend bought a 5ltr Chimaera two weeks ago and very nice it is too. Today, we are on a day trip to Filey and attracted a Subaru WRX in our wake. The moment appeared for him to overtake and at the right moment both drivers let the engines "Breathe". Well, new TVR owner close to tears, the WRX left it, I mean.....LEFT IT!
Do you think it was a standard one or what, it was amazing.
The Chimaera should have had a much better power to weight ratio.
Either the Scooby was tuned or your friend was possibly in the wrong gear/didn't stamp on the (very long) throttle pedal hard enough!
Standard Scoob or chipped by Subaru the Chimp should still have the edge: www.carpages.co.uk/subaru/subaru-impreza-08-05-05.asp?switched=on&echo=542841491
Aftermarket if someone turns up the boost that's a different ball game. Hope that you were in the right gear and started from a reasonable number of revs. Also, if you can ignor pride, the best performance boost comes from a driving course, (I suppose this is where you tell me he is an ARDS instructor, lol.)
Aftermarket if someone turns up the boost that's a different ball game. Hope that you were in the right gear and started from a reasonable number of revs. Also, if you can ignor pride, the best performance boost comes from a driving course, (I suppose this is where you tell me he is an ARDS instructor, lol.)
My friend had a tuned 340/360 bhp subaru, it was also a special from 1995 with the alloy wings, bonnet and boot lid.
The griff left it standing from anything other than a standing start (2 wheel drive just can't get it down).
Any gear, any speed the griff just left it apart from 0-20 mph, then he just rev limited it and dumped the clutch.
Another friend has a newer type scooby and that was the same, i even left him through the twisties
but i drive like a loon
I have not been beaten by any other car but a few bikes have made me back off
For an old motor it aint bad and nothing can get close to the torque in third and the mid range it gives.
Had its day, i think not...........
but if it has then get a 5.3 in it - theres no substitute for cubes!!!
The griff left it standing from anything other than a standing start (2 wheel drive just can't get it down).
Any gear, any speed the griff just left it apart from 0-20 mph, then he just rev limited it and dumped the clutch.
Another friend has a newer type scooby and that was the same, i even left him through the twisties
but i drive like a loon I have not been beaten by any other car but a few bikes have made me back off
For an old motor it aint bad and nothing can get close to the torque in third and the mid range it gives.
Had its day, i think not...........
but if it has then get a 5.3 in it - theres no substitute for cubes!!!
Something very wrong here...either the engine is not performing as it should, or your friend can't drive (wrong gear/part throttle only?)...or a seriously tuned Subaru.
A Scooby will leave a TVR for dead on the twisty bits (but then so will most things, from a tuned Mini upwards), but I've had 'drag races' with several Impreza's with almost comical results.
A standard Subaru has good traction off the line (4WD and all that), but once rolling the torque of a 5 litre engine versus a 2-litre flat 4 with a healthy dose of turbo lag is simply no competition.
A Scooby will leave a TVR for dead on the twisty bits (but then so will most things, from a tuned Mini upwards), but I've had 'drag races' with several Impreza's with almost comical results.
A standard Subaru has good traction off the line (4WD and all that), but once rolling the torque of a 5 litre engine versus a 2-litre flat 4 with a healthy dose of turbo lag is simply no competition.
I've only had my Griff a couple of weeks and love it but I have driven a Scooby that was noticeably quicker .....
Having said that it had been tuned by Paul Austin (before his days at Austec) and the guy with the Scooby ended up spending £20K just uprating the car ....... It was stupidly quick to say the least - not your average chip change !
Having said that it had been tuned by Paul Austin (before his days at Austec) and the guy with the Scooby ended up spending £20K just uprating the car ....... It was stupidly quick to say the least - not your average chip change !
I have had a few encounters with scoobies in my old Chimaera 450, never once did they even get close.
I now drive a Tuscan 4.0, I don't think I have had many scoobies bother even having a go, the ones that did were left for dead. Have had a few fezzas (mainly 360s) have a go at the Tuscan, again pretty much embarassed them all, honest!
I now drive a Tuscan 4.0, I don't think I have had many scoobies bother even having a go, the ones that did were left for dead. Have had a few fezzas (mainly 360s) have a go at the Tuscan, again pretty much embarassed them all, honest!
I recently traded in my '98 Chim 500 for a T350 but during the 2.5 years I drove it I had many cars give it a go - to be honest the only 2 cars that were comparable were an SL55 AMG and Corvette C6 - the rest of the crop (M3, Scooby, etc) were regularly left for dead. Even a Porche Carrera 996 4/S driven by my mate battled to keep up under heavy acceleration.
I did do a sort of "red Rose" conversion and improved the air-intake system - this helped a lot with top-end performance. Considering what a 2nd hand Chim costs plus the individualism - it's got to be the best big-bang performance bargain out there.
I did do a sort of "red Rose" conversion and improved the air-intake system - this helped a lot with top-end performance. Considering what a 2nd hand Chim costs plus the individualism - it's got to be the best big-bang performance bargain out there.
john57 said:
I've only had my Griff a couple of weeks and love it but I have driven a Scooby that was noticeably quicker .....
Having said that it had been tuned by Paul Austin (before his days at Austec) and the guy with the Scooby ended up spending £20K just uprating the car ....... It was stupidly quick to say the least - not your average chip change !
I think this is the point ..
a std scooby is a match for a 4 litre chim (at santa pod my v8s was only as fast as a std scooby) .. a mildly tuned scooby will be a match for a std 5 litre (doesn't take much to get 350bhp from a scooby, about 80-90bhp more than the 5 litre v8) .. so a very well tuned scooby should leave a 5 litre for dead.
I remember being in a modified chimaera and getting absolutely thrashed by an old cosworth sierra on the A617. It's quite easy to make these turbo cars really fly.
It's one of the reasons I don't pick fights in the v8s, i know it'll lose to almost any warm hatch upwards on the road, but i still love it to bits
carolinew said:
Well, new TVR owner close to tears
Why? There'll always be faster cars, especially tuned Jap ones. However, which car sounded like an angel thats discovered how good the party is in Hell? Which car will turn heads and snap knicker elastic at 200 paces? Which car looks the best? Which car gives the best roof off hoons? Which car puts a grin on your face that not even a sledge hammer will remove?
No one will notice the scoob, everyone will notice a TVR. Be proud to be in the best of British!
In fairness it seems it's six of one, half dozen of the other. I remember thinking my Chim400 was slow - the first month it felt fast, then it wore off. However, it took me a while to acclimatise to the car, and discover quite what it could do - the pedal travel is far longer than you think it is, and the first time you discover the pedal stop, you'll leave your liver behind.
The same happened when I switched into my current Cerb - despite being 120bhp up on the Chim, it didn't feel any faster. Then I realised the pedal had an extra ten miles of travel, and worked out how to push it down without dissolving the rear rubber. Suddenly it all became clear - burning off Novas wasn't quite such hard work anymore, and as another poster said, 360s and Porka Turbos became fair game.... until the road gets wiggly.
But I concur - around here, Fezzas and Porkas are ten a penny, but all I need to do is sit idling at the junction opposite our local pub to have people on their feet craning to see, and ignoring the flash loon in his Italian Donkey.
The same happened when I switched into my current Cerb - despite being 120bhp up on the Chim, it didn't feel any faster. Then I realised the pedal had an extra ten miles of travel, and worked out how to push it down without dissolving the rear rubber. Suddenly it all became clear - burning off Novas wasn't quite such hard work anymore, and as another poster said, 360s and Porka Turbos became fair game.... until the road gets wiggly.
But I concur - around here, Fezzas and Porkas are ten a penny, but all I need to do is sit idling at the junction opposite our local pub to have people on their feet craning to see, and ignoring the flash loon in his Italian Donkey.
p7ulg said:
straight swap scoobie for my 500 , no way mate!No matter how highly tuned or rapid the jap is one thing it will never have is soul.There will always be faster cars but its not all about speed.
If somone offermend an STI for my Griff. I don't think so. I know what I'd prefer to be driving. He may scream off up the road, but I'm still the one in the Griff.
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