Straight line grip... and grip generally (dry)

[zacherynuk]

The Chim being my first 'track-type-race-car-genetics-type-thing' - I was expecting an awful lot more "scary moments"

Don't get me wrong; I don't want more (or do I?) I was just expecting more - I have covered nearly 1k now and although I don't hammer her like I do the Vrs, mostly due to increased horses and cyclists.. and my passenger - I have been very heavy with the boot of late and the old lady has rarely never lost her composure.

In a straight line, in the dry, my Vrs: 1st is just a very gentle nudge into second (unusable if turbo kicks in), which requires very tender care into 3rd which is then pretty safe. 60 in about 7
In a straight line, in the dry, my old lady, 1st can be eased into and then pretty easy to 25 ish, then 2nd is hard and easy to 60 in around 5.5 (3rd and 4th just get faster really - feels grand and is stable as a rock)

I was expecting 2nd in the chimp to be a slide fest in 2nd... but mine just seems to go faster. Though in 1st a quick 180 is easy enough - but that was true in my first escort.

What gives ? Have I got a weak car or am I just to sensible a driver ?

Cheers

[speedtwelve]

The car is just quite tractable. I also have a Chim 400, and it's hardly a knife-edge oversteer death-machine. Hoofing it (smoothly) in the dry on the road the car is reasonably benign, as you have found. On-track, driven near the limit I found the car surprisingly lairy. It lift-off oversteers quite impressively, and will power-oversteer quite happily in most gears if you hoof it; I just don't drive it like that on the public road.

In the wet even the 400 can be a bit of a handful if you are not attentive. And if it breaks away under power you'd better be quick to catch it. But in a straight line in the dry? A pussy-cat. You'll need something a lot meatier than a Chim 400 to force you to change your pants.

[QBee]

Had a huge weave with mine last summer at 20mph on a roundabout on standing water. They are huge fun in the dry, but more nervous than a standard daily in the wet, especially standing water, due to the light rear end and rear wheel drive

[Goaty Bill]

I've not had much experience of driving 400s, just test drives of new/near new many years ago.
To be fair the last thing you are thinking when you first drive one is; "it's a bit slow". It isn't. It's quite quick and quite 'torquey', and a lot of fun.

Driving a 500 though was nothing like that. There was no "quite" about it.
The first time you get your new 500 out all by yourself, and jump full weight on the loud pedal, it's shear terror.
The difference between the two is amazing.

Of course there will soon be people along telling you how quick, and how fast a modified 400 is or can be, and they are probably right. There is no doubt that you can squeeze a lot more out of a 400.

Forget the healthy 400 vs the weak 500 argument. If your 500 is weak, you get it fixed, just like any 400 / 450 owner would.
Mine has gone to be reborn, but on it's last legs power-wise with 5 rounded off cam lobes, it still did 0-60 well under 5 seconds, still managed to chase an M3 down on a 40-100 blast, and could still manage to make an honest attempt (or three) on my life every time I drove it.

I grew up with the saying; "The only way to beat cubic inches, is with cubic dollars".

Enjoy it for what it is; a lot of fun