Another 4.2 v 4.5 question
Discussion
Got an itch to own at Cerbera which just won't go away no matter how much I try to ignore it.
Got to have the V8 but which one?
Is the 4.5 less reliable than the 4.2 due to being more stressed or is there little difference? An extra 70bhp is always nice but is it noticeable (and usable on the road)? If I buy a 4.2 I know I will wish I had bought a 4.5!
There looks to be about £2K to £3K difference in price in the classifieds between the two, is this just down to desirability?
I have read the numerous tales of woe regarding reliability and costly repairs on here and it seems to be almost luck as to if you have big problems or not. I am no mechanic but know one end of a spanner from another and have a well equipped workshop c/w car lift, compressor, welder, multimeter, etc. so would look to do a fair chunk of the repairs myself on a car that will probably do about 5000 miles a year.
If I do buy a 4.5 are there any in the classifieds that people on here would recommend avoiding?
Got to have the V8 but which one?
Is the 4.5 less reliable than the 4.2 due to being more stressed or is there little difference? An extra 70bhp is always nice but is it noticeable (and usable on the road)? If I buy a 4.2 I know I will wish I had bought a 4.5!
There looks to be about £2K to £3K difference in price in the classifieds between the two, is this just down to desirability?
I have read the numerous tales of woe regarding reliability and costly repairs on here and it seems to be almost luck as to if you have big problems or not. I am no mechanic but know one end of a spanner from another and have a well equipped workshop c/w car lift, compressor, welder, multimeter, etc. so would look to do a fair chunk of the repairs myself on a car that will probably do about 5000 miles a year.
If I do buy a 4.5 are there any in the classifieds that people on here would recommend avoiding?
Power difference between a 4.2 and a 4.5 unmapped cars is not noticeable. A 4.5 has more tune-ability.
As for price difference between the two variants, the 4.5 is generally more desirable, but the 4 & 4.2 have a big following too, and are certainly not bad cars.
From the facilities that you have, you will be able to do alot of work yourself. The ramps will be the big help though.
If you end up buying a cheap car there is probably a reason it is cheap. Should you by a car that is £2k under price, make sure you keep that £2k for repairs or sorting out niggles.
As for price difference between the two variants, the 4.5 is generally more desirable, but the 4 & 4.2 have a big following too, and are certainly not bad cars.
From the facilities that you have, you will be able to do alot of work yourself. The ramps will be the big help though.
If you end up buying a cheap car there is probably a reason it is cheap. Should you by a car that is £2k under price, make sure you keep that £2k for repairs or sorting out niggles.
Ha! You're going to get a myriad of answers and opinions on this thorny old question!
Fundamentally: In stock form both engines deliver roughly the same power, well the 4.5 slightly more but it feels about the same. They both drive differently, mainly as a result of the different inlet setup, and some say the 4.2 is more driveable in town conditions.
However the difference comes if you decide you want to modify, tune and optimise the cars. There's not much worth doing with the 4.2 in terms of hp gain. However there's lots to do with the 4.5, which can reap huge rewards both in terms of hp gain and power delivery.
My experience is this: I had a 4.2 which was great; I had a lot of problems with the car, but when it was working it drove well.
Then I got a 4.5 and immediately I have to say I preferred it. It felt more like a performance car, and I liked that I had to do a little more work to get the best out of it. Then I changed the inlet system for a Whirlwind Induction kit and had it remapped by Trackcar Solutions.
Wow! What a difference! Lovely smooth power curve, loads more power, great noise!
So, my opinion, is that the 4.5 is better. But that's only based on my experiences: YMMV as the Americans say!
Andy.
* Your Mileage May Vary!
Fundamentally: In stock form both engines deliver roughly the same power, well the 4.5 slightly more but it feels about the same. They both drive differently, mainly as a result of the different inlet setup, and some say the 4.2 is more driveable in town conditions.
However the difference comes if you decide you want to modify, tune and optimise the cars. There's not much worth doing with the 4.2 in terms of hp gain. However there's lots to do with the 4.5, which can reap huge rewards both in terms of hp gain and power delivery.
My experience is this: I had a 4.2 which was great; I had a lot of problems with the car, but when it was working it drove well.
Then I got a 4.5 and immediately I have to say I preferred it. It felt more like a performance car, and I liked that I had to do a little more work to get the best out of it. Then I changed the inlet system for a Whirlwind Induction kit and had it remapped by Trackcar Solutions.
Wow! What a difference! Lovely smooth power curve, loads more power, great noise!
So, my opinion, is that the 4.5 is better. But that's only based on my experiences: YMMV as the Americans say!
Andy.
* Your Mileage May Vary!
I've got both.... 4.2 & remapped 4.5 with short induction.
4.2 99% of the time
4.5 for the other 1% of the time when you fancy keeping the car over 6000 revs.
ETA... In standard form, I'm fairly confident the 4.5 will be less stressed than the 4.2, as with TVR's mapping, most have been running around the 330bhp mark for the last ten years of their life
4.2 99% of the time
4.5 for the other 1% of the time when you fancy keeping the car over 6000 revs.
ETA... In standard form, I'm fairly confident the 4.5 will be less stressed than the 4.2, as with TVR's mapping, most have been running around the 330bhp mark for the last ten years of their life
Edited by RUSSELLM on Thursday 17th April 10:52
> If I buy a 4.2 I know I will wish I had bought a 4.5!
I have a 4.2 . It's been great fun and wouldn't part with it. The '98 autocar roadtest at Millbrook had the 4.2 0-60 at 4.0 sec and 0-100 at 9.1. Must have been a good day. The 4.5 was 4.3 and 9.2 so a remapped one I would assume quicker than that. It's taken me 12 months to get used to driving it and I'm just starting to get know how to use it. I think the question is how much of this are you going to use on a public road as I would think (don't know) that the difference will start to show further into the 100s. I suppose it's nice to say I've got a 4.5 though. Try a few and get the one which drives and looks the best. The nice thing about them is they're so much fun to drive at or below 70mph so you'll probably drive slower and let the boy racers go past.
I have a 4.2 . It's been great fun and wouldn't part with it. The '98 autocar roadtest at Millbrook had the 4.2 0-60 at 4.0 sec and 0-100 at 9.1. Must have been a good day. The 4.5 was 4.3 and 9.2 so a remapped one I would assume quicker than that. It's taken me 12 months to get used to driving it and I'm just starting to get know how to use it. I think the question is how much of this are you going to use on a public road as I would think (don't know) that the difference will start to show further into the 100s. I suppose it's nice to say I've got a 4.5 though. Try a few and get the one which drives and looks the best. The nice thing about them is they're so much fun to drive at or below 70mph so you'll probably drive slower and let the boy racers go past.
Storer said:
Got an itch to own at Cerbera which just won't go away no matter how much I try to ignore it.
Got to have the V8 but which one?
Is the 4.5 less reliable than the 4.2 due to being more stressed or is there little difference? An extra 70bhp is always nice but is it noticeable (and usable on the road)? If I buy a 4.2 I know I will wish I had bought a 4.5!
There looks to be about £2K to £3K difference in price in the classifieds between the two, is this just down to desirability?
I have read the numerous tales of woe regarding reliability and costly repairs on here and it seems to be almost luck as to if you have big problems or not. I am no mechanic but know one end of a spanner from another and have a well equipped workshop c/w car lift, compressor, welder, multimeter, etc. so would look to do a fair chunk of the repairs myself on a car that will probably do about 5000 miles a year.
If I do buy a 4.5 are there any in the classifieds that people on here would recommend avoiding?
Spend an evening or five reading this forum. All your questions are answered many times over. Got to have the V8 but which one?
Is the 4.5 less reliable than the 4.2 due to being more stressed or is there little difference? An extra 70bhp is always nice but is it noticeable (and usable on the road)? If I buy a 4.2 I know I will wish I had bought a 4.5!
There looks to be about £2K to £3K difference in price in the classifieds between the two, is this just down to desirability?
I have read the numerous tales of woe regarding reliability and costly repairs on here and it seems to be almost luck as to if you have big problems or not. I am no mechanic but know one end of a spanner from another and have a well equipped workshop c/w car lift, compressor, welder, multimeter, etc. so would look to do a fair chunk of the repairs myself on a car that will probably do about 5000 miles a year.
If I do buy a 4.5 are there any in the classifieds that people on here would recommend avoiding?
Then prepare to empty your bank account.
I'm busy emptying my bank account expanding one of my businesses at the moment. However, it should start to bring in a much improved return almost immediately.
Back to topic. Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like many are happy with 4.2 but if I may want more grunt in the future I need 4.5.
I know condition is everything and to study maintenance records.
In another thread on here there do seem to be quite a few 4.2's having engine overhauls. Is there a mileage that this seems to become necessary?
I know there will be few opportunities to use all the performance on the road but I may want to do a few track days and of course you can't have too much power for those
central
10450 posts in 25 months - almost 14 a day, every day
Where do you find the time.
Back to topic. Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like many are happy with 4.2 but if I may want more grunt in the future I need 4.5.
I know condition is everything and to study maintenance records.
In another thread on here there do seem to be quite a few 4.2's having engine overhauls. Is there a mileage that this seems to become necessary?
I know there will be few opportunities to use all the performance on the road but I may want to do a few track days and of course you can't have too much power for those
central
10450 posts in 25 months - almost 14 a day, every day
Where do you find the time.Edited by Storer on Thursday 17th April 18:03
There were a few other differences between the 4.2 and 4.5. The 4.5's came with bigger discs and brakes all round. Also, 16" RL wheels and 225/45 and 245/45 tyres for the 4.2 vs 17" RL wheels and 235/40 and 255/40 for the 4.5 (although most will have upgraded to 18" spiders by now). The only other difference was that certainly in 1999, hydratrak was standard on the 4.5s and an option on the 4.2s.
It has already been said that the 4.2 makes about the same BHP as a standard 4.5.
TVR obviously detuned the 4.5 down to the 4.2 spec so the engine is less stressed, which in itself was enough for me to go for a 4.5.
On here it has been said the T5 gearbox is almost on its torque limit with the standard 4.5?????
So we may need some more experienced owners of tuned cars to let us know how the T5 stands up.
TVR obviously detuned the 4.5 down to the 4.2 spec so the engine is less stressed, which in itself was enough for me to go for a 4.5.
On here it has been said the T5 gearbox is almost on its torque limit with the standard 4.5?????
So we may need some more experienced owners of tuned cars to let us know how the T5 stands up.
So we may need some more experienced owners of tuned cars to let us know how the T5 stands up.
[/quote]
My 4.5 has a whirlwind induction conversion, linked decats, SP exhaust and remapping giving 420bhp on the RR.
It's been on plenty of trackdays and gets worked hard. The T5 gearbox feels like new after 40k miles (as does the clutch-tempting providence here).
Don' rush changes and change the 'box oil regularly.
[/quote]
My 4.5 has a whirlwind induction conversion, linked decats, SP exhaust and remapping giving 420bhp on the RR.
It's been on plenty of trackdays and gets worked hard. The T5 gearbox feels like new after 40k miles (as does the clutch-tempting providence here).
Don' rush changes and change the 'box oil regularly.
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