What about this ?

[jaydom]

Hi everybody,
I found a strange seeling offer on Ebay...
As i'm a new owner of a cerbera 4.5 from 2001, i was wondering if it was serious or only a big lie...
The seller answered me that TVR was lying a lot about the power of its cars. I read the total opposite...
So, what are your opinions on it please ?
Many thanks
Jerome
Here is the announce :
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cerbera-4-5-performance-Indu...

[Tanguero]

It's genuine, the seller is a very well known and respected AJP tuning expert, who has breathed on many of the Cerberas owned by people on PH.

And he is right - TVR did tend to lie through their teeth about overstate their power figures!

[Mr Cerbera]

My '01 4.5 was 326 BHP when I walked in and 388 BHP when I walked out !

In fact, if you check on this recent post you will find some real-world figures.

(Vous habitez où en France ? )

Edited by Mr Cerbera on Monday 9th May 11:07

[jaydom]

It sounds me incredible that instead of having 420bhp my cerbera could have only 350 !

Even less if i trust the seller of this induction system. I believe him, that's not the point.

How is it possible ?

I own two tvr, a 2500M from 1972 that runs quite well, and this new cerbera that is pleasing a lot (and that's the major fact !).

So, now, i got only one idea : to test my car (i don't know when and where in France, and even if a company specialized in this kind of job can manage a Cerbera) !

I'm close to buy this system, but one question :
if my car is close to the "normal" power output, is it useless to fix it ? Even more, if i fix the new chip (as he told me, the engine needs another management) as my car is delivering much power, isn't it dangerous ? Or it will give more power in all cases ?

I'm quite lost.

The easier way for me is to change nothing i think !

What are your experiences with this kind of installation ?

By the way, i'm in Paris

Cheers

[Tanguero]

To get the best result from this or any other induction modification you really need to have the ECU mapped for your car once the parts have been fitted.

There area a few places in the UK that will do this, the seller of that auction being one of them. I would suggest that if this is a route that you decide to go down then it would be very well worth your while to bring your car over here to have the mapping done. I doubt that the specialist knowledge exists in France to do this without risking your engine.

[Gazzab]

this has been a topic running for 10 years or so.
You standard 4.5 will be unlikely to have more than 380 bhp, maybe a lot less. Though a healthy 4.5 is likely to be 380 ish. If you have it mapped and short induction then you are likely to get over 400.
TVR were not entirely honest about the bhp.
The off the shelf chip is good but a bespoke map is better still.

[greenm]

I agree totally and would highly reccomend,spend the extra and get a bespoke mapping. My old car went in at about 360 came out just over 400. Much smoother, better fuel consuption and stopped all that unburnt fuel smell Cerbs are known for. Could not reccomend it more highly. Engine bay looks better as well!!!!

[Gazzab]

Some of the missing horses could come from other problems. A well set up and well built standard 4.5 will hopefully be 380 plus but a poorly one is likely to be nearer 300!!
If you go for a mail order solution then you will need to get the car on a laptop, check state of tune, maybe also check manifolds, cats, coil packs, air filter, leads etc BEFORE changing chip and fitting short induction.

[Tanguero]

Gazzab said:

Some of the missing horses could come from other problems. A well set up and well built standard 4.5 will hopefully be 380 plus but a poorly one is likely to be nearer 300!!
If you go for a mail order solution then you will need to get the car on a laptop, check state of tune, maybe also check manifolds, cats, coil packs, air filter, leads etc BEFORE changing chip and fitting short induction.

You will also want to check the cam timing and valve clearances - so basically a full 12k service first. No sense in putting shiny bits on unless the rest is all working correctly.

[Steve_T]

A standard 4.5 is typically 330-350bhp and of all the AJP Cerbs has the most to gain from mapping - i.e. the standard 4.5 has the worst map of the bunch. The 4.5 Red Rose and 4.2 are much closer to their claimed numbers.

[Byker28i]

Well the 4.2's were mostly about the figures quoted. It's only the 4.5's that weren't always as claimed.;)

[supersix]

Yep, TVR reportedly put engines in somewhat different states of tune in demonstrators vs. customer cars. At this point, many years later, if your car floats your boat then who gives a ... about what numbers show up on a (probably equally economical with the truth and easily managed to show massive gains from a simple tweak) rolling road?

Mine has showed anything between 330 and 400bhp on various RRs, FWIW.