Replacing a TVR Chimaera 5L by a 911 - 968 & power vs budget
Discussion
Hi guys,
I am a londoner, my daily drive is a Vespa, we recently became parents and have a family card and my toy is a TVR Chimaera 500 (V8 – 5 L, recently been on and produced just over 300 bph – the car is 1050 kgs). I love mots Porsches and always have (grew up in France at the German boarder / dad had several 911 and 944 and currently has a lovely 911 993 with a sport chassis) my dream car was always a 911, until I moved to the UK and discovered TVRs.
Until the arrival of the baby the TVR was used regularly and all year around to go mainly fir drives / lunches in the country side with my girlfriend, weekends away, going to car evens with my friends and occasional track days. My TVR has had a lot of work done, she's only got 36,000 miles, is garaged when not used and I love it. I love the V8, I love the fact that it's a fairly rare car, its british, has go a massive boot and is really quite fast (I guess most non GT2 / GT3 or Turbo 911 would feel slow compared to it).
But, wit the arrival of our son (he is almost 6 months old), the TVR does not get used much at al (I think I used it 5-6 times since the beginning of July), this because the car is missing a seat…
I really, really would like the TVR as when comparing £££ of the car to acceleration / fun, there is not much that comes close to it (except some tacky Jap stuff with 1 – 2 turbos).
I have been over the last 6 month been more and more thinking about selling the TVR and getting a Porsche, I now I will regret it and find it boring, but I will still like it a lot and there is a compromise between having a car that I love and getting to use really rarely and a car that I will like a lot and use more often.
So let's say I have £16 to £18k to spend on a Porsche and that I do not like the Boxer (dull / boring / slow and to common), I do not like modern 911, I guess I could get plenty of 996s for this money, what would be my choice?
My preferred would be a 993 (my preferred 911 by miles), but for this money I would not get much…. So I guess the next option would be the 964, that I like a lot, the issue, it will be feeling pretty slow compare to the TVR.
So here is my questions:
Let's say that in a few years I would be able to sent £5k en upgrades on a 964, by how much would I be able to increase the power of the engine and still have a reliable and drivable car and what would you do to it?
I also like being able to do some "open top motoring, so I guess one option would be 964 cabriolet or targa: question, is the chassis stiffness really noticeable between a "tin top" / targa / cabriolet?
The other option that would consider is getting a 968 (I do like all front engined Porsches except the 924) convertible and get it supercharged: does anyone here know how much a good and reliable "super charge conversion would cost?
Any comments would be welcome on a how to replace a fast TVR with a "missing seat" by a 4 seater Porsche that will not feel to slow / to dull (compared to the TVR) and with a maximum of £18k.
Frenchie
I am a londoner, my daily drive is a Vespa, we recently became parents and have a family card and my toy is a TVR Chimaera 500 (V8 – 5 L, recently been on and produced just over 300 bph – the car is 1050 kgs). I love mots Porsches and always have (grew up in France at the German boarder / dad had several 911 and 944 and currently has a lovely 911 993 with a sport chassis) my dream car was always a 911, until I moved to the UK and discovered TVRs.
Until the arrival of the baby the TVR was used regularly and all year around to go mainly fir drives / lunches in the country side with my girlfriend, weekends away, going to car evens with my friends and occasional track days. My TVR has had a lot of work done, she's only got 36,000 miles, is garaged when not used and I love it. I love the V8, I love the fact that it's a fairly rare car, its british, has go a massive boot and is really quite fast (I guess most non GT2 / GT3 or Turbo 911 would feel slow compared to it).
But, wit the arrival of our son (he is almost 6 months old), the TVR does not get used much at al (I think I used it 5-6 times since the beginning of July), this because the car is missing a seat…
I really, really would like the TVR as when comparing £££ of the car to acceleration / fun, there is not much that comes close to it (except some tacky Jap stuff with 1 – 2 turbos).
I have been over the last 6 month been more and more thinking about selling the TVR and getting a Porsche, I now I will regret it and find it boring, but I will still like it a lot and there is a compromise between having a car that I love and getting to use really rarely and a car that I will like a lot and use more often.
So let's say I have £16 to £18k to spend on a Porsche and that I do not like the Boxer (dull / boring / slow and to common), I do not like modern 911, I guess I could get plenty of 996s for this money, what would be my choice?
My preferred would be a 993 (my preferred 911 by miles), but for this money I would not get much…. So I guess the next option would be the 964, that I like a lot, the issue, it will be feeling pretty slow compare to the TVR.
So here is my questions:
Let's say that in a few years I would be able to sent £5k en upgrades on a 964, by how much would I be able to increase the power of the engine and still have a reliable and drivable car and what would you do to it?
I also like being able to do some "open top motoring, so I guess one option would be 964 cabriolet or targa: question, is the chassis stiffness really noticeable between a "tin top" / targa / cabriolet?
The other option that would consider is getting a 968 (I do like all front engined Porsches except the 924) convertible and get it supercharged: does anyone here know how much a good and reliable "super charge conversion would cost?
Any comments would be welcome on a how to replace a fast TVR with a "missing seat" by a 4 seater Porsche that will not feel to slow / to dull (compared to the TVR) and with a maximum of £18k.
Frenchie
I moved from a 500 chim to a 911 as I wanted to have my "fun" car as my every day driver. TVRs are baggs of fun but really do need to be kept as garage queens . I have a 10 year old 996 that has served me daily for many years .IMO The 996 has to be the 911 bargain so much quicker on the road than the air cooled cars. Test drive one and see there are 100s to choose from . You can buy a wrong un and the piston head massive are not 996 lovers. But If like me you have owned TVRs then a 996 is a pretty safe punt .
Good power figure - so obviously not a standard "500"!
It's the standard dilemma and having had a sprog your life is now over and your partner and child will select your car options for you ......
To be honest there is nothing in the Porsche range that is going to compare (given your budget)! So you have two choices:
1. Don't sell the TVR (they're great old school fun, getting rarer by the day and good ones are getting more expensive) - hang onto it and buy a cheap family runaround for your kid to turn into a wheelie bin.
2. Do sell the TVR - but don't look at a Porsche - think large engined BMW / Audi / Mercedes and accept that (as the Daddy) you need to (mostly) adapt to your childs needs. The next time to have something really fun will be when they've finished university! This is the way of things ....
It's the standard dilemma and having had a sprog your life is now over and your partner and child will select your car options for you ......
To be honest there is nothing in the Porsche range that is going to compare (given your budget)! So you have two choices:
1. Don't sell the TVR (they're great old school fun, getting rarer by the day and good ones are getting more expensive) - hang onto it and buy a cheap family runaround for your kid to turn into a wheelie bin.
2. Do sell the TVR - but don't look at a Porsche - think large engined BMW / Audi / Mercedes and accept that (as the Daddy) you need to (mostly) adapt to your childs needs. The next time to have something really fun will be when they've finished university! This is the way of things ....
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