Transport of delight

[Revchimp]

Hi,

Just bought my 1st TVR and joined PH so thought I better introduce myself and the 'Beast'.

TVR is a Cooper green Chimaera 4.0litre, bought from str8six a couple of weeks ago.Str8six were brilliant and v. helpful especially Chas!
Oh boy this is one lovely machine......the sheer grunt and noise better than its predecessor a MGTF hairdryer!!!!
Is there anyone out there who has owned or remembers P365RNF?
Also any advice about how to cherish the beast gratefully recieved. Look forward to hearing from folks
Tim

[Chimaeraman]

Welcome to the madhouse - you are guaranteed a massive amount of fun, an ear to ear grin every time you start her up and less money in your bank account - but it will be worth it.

[stuarte]

What Chimaeraman said. You'll love it!
Any pics?

[Quietlybonkers]

Welcome.

You will start reading about more powerful machinery, and will lust after a Tuscan or T350, but as the driving season goes on you will realise how much fun and how well sorted the 400 standard Chimaera is and how right it is for you.......I got mine in May, lusted immediately after faster more powerful machinery, but after five months, several cruises, Thunder in the Tunnels and three track days, I have realised that my Chimaera 400, now it's sorted, is the right car for me.

Have fun, and I hope to see you out and about in it soon.

[Quietlybonkers]

Oh, and do go along to the local meets and delve deep into Pistonheads. Before I bought mine I never realised that the other 50% of the blessing of having a TVR is the fantastic group of people who own them, enjoy them, help you out with answers to your problems, and invite you to all sorts of fun gatherings.

You're never alone with a TVR. And if you ever find yourself waiting for the RAC, an Internet enabled mobile is a good way of finding out from your frends on PH what has just broken and where it is......I did!

[Revchimp]

Thanks for the welcome people!
Already finding out what a helpful bunch you all are. Look forward to more banter and no doubt will be picking your brains again.
Meantime looking forward to a blast around the Peak District as half term beckons!
First long run tomorrow, bags packed, pub booked and consulting Head Office for some decent weather......

[Quietlybonkers]

Revchimp said:

First long run tomorrow, bags packed, pub booked and consulting Head Office for some decent weather......

Order some for me please while you are down there - East Anglia to South Wales and return planned for the weekend, though not in the Chim, I have to admit.
Mrs Bonkers has done runs around East Anglia with me in the Chim (to get seven hours peace from the grandchildren), but draws the line at 400+ miles in it when we have an Audi A8 with heated reclining leather seats and a heater you can actually set.....and suspension that doesn't immediately transmit every matchstick you run over to the base of your spine.

[phazed]

My heater is fine, works at it's best in the summer!

[Quietlybonkers]

phazed said:

My heater is fine, works at it's best in the summer!

I didn't say it didn't work, most of the time it works too well! All summer I was going everywhere with the roof down and the thing on max cold, even on a cloudy rainy day.
Now we are in winter the story is slightly different. It was vaguely warm at 5 am on Sunday with the roof off on the way to London in convoy (TiTTs 8) at errr 70 on the M11 (engine temp between 50 and 60 degrees), but really hot with the roof on, on the M11 at 12.30pm same day (engine temp 75 degrees). We got tired of the wind noise on the way home.

[Ribol]

Quietlybonkers said:

And if you ever find yourself waiting for the RAC, an Internet enabled mobile is a good way of finding out from your frends on PH what has just broken and where it is......

Well done for bigging up the marque again

OP - fine choice of car I am sure like most of us you will have many happy miles of trouble free enjoyable motoring

[nikman]

Quietlybonkers said:

.....and suspension that doesn't immediately transmit every matchstick you run over to the base of your spine.

Mine (1998 Chim 450) doesn't do that at all!

I've driven it about 5,000 miles a year for getting on for 6 years, on many different types of roads, both alone and with my wife. She's never complained about the ride or the ability of the dampers to deal with our roads. We just did London - Liverpool and Southport return and the drive in both directions was a pleasure for both of us with no tiredness etc. In fact we chose to take the TVR and left the Mercedes at home!

I sometimes wonder whether people posting here have some serious issue with their car of which they are not actually aware and claim it is a charateristic of the model. This is a moderately powerful "sports car"/road legal racing car. If the suspension gave a soft ride it would be useless for the purpose intended.

Just a thought, has your seat collapsed leaving you sitting on the floor?

[C350]

Quietlybonkers said:

I didn't say it didn't work, most of the time it works too well! All summer I was going everywhere with the roof down and the thing on max cold, even on a cloudy rainy day.
Now we are in winter the story is slightly different. It was vaguely warm at 5 am on Sunday with the roof off on the way to London in convoy (TiTTs 8) at errr 70 on the M11 (engine temp between 50 and 60 degrees), but really hot with the roof on, on the M11 at 12.30pm same day (engine temp 75 degrees). We got tired of the wind noise on the way home.

Im I right in saying that the blower never blows anything other than hot or warm due to the heat of the engine. Ive got aircon so I cant move it all the way over to cold because it clicks the aircon on.

Its not something that bothers me because its ideal on the colder days but come the summer it could be a different matter

[Quietlybonkers]

Ribol said:

Quietlybonkers said:

And if you ever find yourself waiting for the RAC, an Internet enabled mobile is a good way of finding out from your frends on PH what has just broken and where it is......

Well done for bigging up the marque again

OP - fine choice of car I am sure like most of us you will have many happy miles of trouble free enjoyable motoring

Not fair - mine has occasionally broken down, as has every other car I have owned - I was simply saying that at least with the TVR you have the back up of several thousand diagnosers should that happen, which helps if the RAC man isn't too familiar with some of the layout of the cars.

[Quietlybonkers]

nikman said:

Quietlybonkers said:

.....and suspension that doesn't immediately transmit every matchstick you run over to the base of your spine.

Mine (1998 Chim 450) doesn't do that at all!

I've driven it about 5,000 miles a year for getting on for 6 years, on many different types of roads, both alone and with my wife. She's never complained about the ride or the ability of the dampers to deal with our roads. We just did London - Liverpool and Southport return and the drive in both directions was a pleasure for both of us with no tiredness etc. In fact we chose to take the TVR and left the Mercedes at home!

I sometimes wonder whether people posting here have some serious issue with their car of which they are not actually aware and claim it is a charateristic of the model. This is a moderately powerful "sports car"/road legal racing car. If the suspension gave a soft ride it would be useless for the purpose intended.

Just a thought, has your seat collapsed leaving you sitting on the floor?

Maybe mine is set up stiffer than yours. I have had the shocks changed recently and set up for track days. The seats are surprisingly comfortable for a sports car and aren't collapsed. That isn't the issue.
I just wouldn't choose it for 200 mile journeys, especially when I have passengers (because of the restricted leg room that side). I also find the clutch heavy in traffic, and the wind noise etc isn't exactly restful.
I am glad you enjoy yours for long journeys, we will just have to differ on that one. I have done quite a few 100 mile plus journeys and always found it more tiring than my Audi. We discussed taking it this weekend to South Wales, and decided against.

[Quietlybonkers]

Ribol said:

Quietlybonkers said:

And if you ever find yourself waiting for the RAC, an Internet enabled mobile is a good way of finding out from your frends on PH what has just broken and where it is......

Well done for bigging up the marque again

OP - fine choice of car I am sure like most of us you will have many happy miles of trouble free enjoyable motoring

This is a TVR forum and we are talking amongst ourselves in private. I know and respect your feelings on this subject, you have made them clear before. I have done just under four thousand miles in my TVR in five months, and have not had a problem since the three breakdowns in six weeks at the start of my ownership. That's my car, not the marque. I have had over £1000 in expenditure, but now have a reliable car, which has given me over 3000 miles of trouble free motoring and a huge amount of fun. And when I needed help with a blown 100 amp fuse 60 miles from home I actually got it fixed at the roadside thanks to a diligent RAC man and the help of the PH crew.

All cars have issues from time to time. My Audi daily driver is presently in the garage having 7 faults fixed, including dangerous brake pads (falling apart after 1000 miles), broken aircon, a faulty information screen, faulty door locking, a window that won't open properly etc etc. I have only done 1000 miles in that one, so clearly my 13 year old TVR is more reliable than a newer Audi A8.

I still make the point that TVRs aren't that common and RAC men rarely see them, thanks to their good non-breakdown rate. So some of the more esoteric faults can be more easily diagnosed by PH members who know the cars, hence the internet enabled mobile. Which other manufacturer straps a main fuse to the underside of the chassis?

[Quietlybonkers]

C350 said:

Im I right in saying that the blower never blows anything other than hot or warm due to the heat of the engine. Ive got aircon so I cant move it all the way over to cold because it clicks the aircon on.

My blower is poor too, totally inadequate and rather noisy at low speeds. Best airflow through it is achieved by driving fast!

[Ribol]

Quietlybonkers said:

This is a TVR forum and we are talking amongst ourselves in private.

Hardly - this is very much a public forum where anyone (TVR owner or not) can read anything that is posted on it.

For that reason I cannot see anything clever about unnecessarily running down our own cars here because mud sticks and somewhere along the line it will end up costing all of us.

[KateV8]

Quietlybonkers said:

Maybe mine is set up stiffer than yours. I have had the shocks changed recently and set up for track days. The seats are surprisingly comfortable for a sports car and aren't collapsed. That isn't the issue.
I just wouldn't choose it for 200 mile journeys, especially when I have passengers (because of the restricted leg room that side). I also find the clutch heavy in traffic, and the wind noise etc isn't exactly restful.
I am glad you enjoy yours for long journeys, we will just have to differ on that one. I have done quite a few 100 mile plus journeys and always found it more tiring than my Audi. We discussed taking it this weekend to South Wales, and decided against.

We've done quite a few long journeys in ours and I can honestly say I've never used a more comfortable car for touring. She rides on GazGold Pros with 18 inch rear and 17 inch fronts which most on here would say were too big but the car is just supreme at long distance travel and tackling A and B roads when asked. Two weeks ago I drove from Carl Baker's in Hampshire to our home in Cheshire, 240 miles without a break and was completely fresh at the end of it.

[nikman]

Quietlybonkers said:

Maybe mine is set up stiffer than yours. I have had the shocks changed recently and set up for track days. The seats are surprisingly comfortable for a sports car and aren't collapsed. That isn't the issue.
I just wouldn't choose it for 200 mile journeys, especially when I have passengers (because of the restricted leg room that side).

If yours is set up as you say, then it's definitely less well suited for absorbing the undulations on public roads than a standard car. So that would explain your discomfort and detection of every matchstick driven over !

The point being made is that each time someone makes an unqualified comment such as yours about YOUR uncomfortable suspension... it's read by a number of people who are NOT TVR owners but perhaps are considering buying a TVR.

Without the qualification that your car has been set up for track use and is therefore much stiffer than a standard car, an uninformed reader would take it as a negative against the marque/model. Each time that happens, it devalues the brand by a small margin and consequently the value of all of our cars. It's just negative "PR" based on data that is not representitive of the typical car.

In relation to the slightly restricted leg room on the passenger side, I chose a slightly short wife for this reason

Edited by nikman on Thursday 18th October 18:47

[Quietlybonkers]

nikman said:

If yours is set up as you say, then it's definitely less well suited for absorbing the undulations on public roads than a standard car. So that would explain your discomfort and detection of every matchstick driven over !

The point being made is that each time someone makes an unqualified comment such as yours about YOUR uncomfortable suspension... it's read by a number of people who are NOT TVR owners but perhaps are considering buying a TVR.

Without the qualification that your car has been set up for track use and is therefore much stiffer than a standard car, an uninformed reader would take it as a negative against the marque/model. Each time that happens, it devalues the brand by a small margin and consequently the value of all of our cars. It's just negative "PR" based on data that is not representitive of the typical car.

Edited by nikman on Thursday 18th October 18:47

Fair comment. Though I felt the same about it before the shocks were changed. Perhaps it depends on what you are comparing it with. My choice for daily driving is a wafty barge. If it was an M3 then I would see it differently.