Discussion
Hi All
I'm hoping that the collected wisdom of the Chimaera fraternity can help me. Currently I have a Lotus Elise that I use everyday but, becuase of practicality issues, I'm thinking of moving to a Chimaera. The Chimaera will be used as a second car, ie. mainly at weekends and occassionaly for commuting when the wife needs the Volvo.
Unfortunately we don't have a garage so the TVR will have to sit out on the drive. The Lotus seems to have survived this very well but I'm wondering about the Chimaera. My brother-in-law had a Griffith which he kept on the drive and has told me all sorts of horror stories.
My other question is what should I go for? I should have upto £20,000 to spend.
Waiting in anticipation for your thoughts.
I'm hoping that the collected wisdom of the Chimaera fraternity can help me. Currently I have a Lotus Elise that I use everyday but, becuase of practicality issues, I'm thinking of moving to a Chimaera. The Chimaera will be used as a second car, ie. mainly at weekends and occassionaly for commuting when the wife needs the Volvo.
Unfortunately we don't have a garage so the TVR will have to sit out on the drive. The Lotus seems to have survived this very well but I'm wondering about the Chimaera. My brother-in-law had a Griffith which he kept on the drive and has told me all sorts of horror stories.
My other question is what should I go for? I should have upto £20,000 to spend.
Waiting in anticipation for your thoughts.
Wise choice!
I wouldn't worry too much about leaving it outside all the time, many on here do!
I would invest in a Leven hood cover that should keep the interior nice and dry. When you leave it parked up just make sure you start it up at least every other week, work all the electrics mirrors, windows etc as these can suffer.
The rest of it is up to personal choice, you have more than enough in your budget to find a cracking late registered car.
Good luck and enjoy.
I wouldn't worry too much about leaving it outside all the time, many on here do!
I would invest in a Leven hood cover that should keep the interior nice and dry. When you leave it parked up just make sure you start it up at least every other week, work all the electrics mirrors, windows etc as these can suffer.
The rest of it is up to personal choice, you have more than enough in your budget to find a cracking late registered car.
Good luck and enjoy.
I've got the Weathershield cover www.covercraft-europe.com/car.html which is v light and dries v quickly. Keeping it outside hasn't been a problem over the past 3 years. No way will you be able to "just drive it at weekends"!! Much too much fun to be had. Have a good look around with that money and you should be in for a cracker. Good luck
Go for it!
My Chimaera is kept on the drive AND I've used it as my only car for over two years and do a 16 mile round trip to work - it's great. Not brilliant in snow or shlushy conditions, especially with hills involved but that's not many days of the year.
I used to worry about covers and stuff and put one on every night but really it doesn't need it. I think they actually scratch the paintwork as you can't keep a daily driver clean every day. I've used it for around 6 months now without a cover unless it's really stormy and no leaks.
Matt
My Chimaera is kept on the drive AND I've used it as my only car for over two years and do a 16 mile round trip to work - it's great. Not brilliant in snow or shlushy conditions, especially with hills involved but that's not many days of the year.
I used to worry about covers and stuff and put one on every night but really it doesn't need it. I think they actually scratch the paintwork as you can't keep a daily driver clean every day. I've used it for around 6 months now without a cover unless it's really stormy and no leaks.
Matt
Mine lives on the drive and is used daily (my only car). Make sure you re-proof the roof (plenty of threads on that - I used Thompson's Weathershield) and consider investing in a car cap for bad weather (I use a Leven cover). A full car cover brings issues of paint scratching - so a car cap is sufficient to keep the insides dry (and add a measure of security).
I'm on the lookout for a Chimaera at the moment too, swopping from a 911.
I've seen one in the last week which the dealer has had standing outside for about 6 weeks. Oh dear! Carpets ringing wet, nappy smell, mould on stereo front, alloy switches beginning to tarnish. Probably all sortable but...
A mate has a Griff 430 and he left that out for one winter. The interior did suffer as a result, but I'm not sure if he used it all that often.
Suggest if you are going to leave it outside it needs to be used regularly so that the interior gets warmed up, and the damp air circulated.
£20K should get you a very nice Chim indeed. Well kept 450s are well within reach. Good luck!
I've seen one in the last week which the dealer has had standing outside for about 6 weeks. Oh dear! Carpets ringing wet, nappy smell, mould on stereo front, alloy switches beginning to tarnish. Probably all sortable but...
A mate has a Griff 430 and he left that out for one winter. The interior did suffer as a result, but I'm not sure if he used it all that often.
Suggest if you are going to leave it outside it needs to be used regularly so that the interior gets warmed up, and the damp air circulated.
£20K should get you a very nice Chim indeed. Well kept 450s are well within reach. Good luck!
To keep the dampness at bay, invest in several 'caravan drying blocks' (sorry, can't remember what they are called). Basically, just plastic tubs filled with moisture absorbing gel. They are available from Halfords (less than £5). I keep one tucked behind the driver seat on a permanent basis and it stops the mould/smell/damp quite effectively.
Hi,
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the weapon of choice in this situation is the Chimaera 400HC. (HC standing for Hooningly Cool).
Yes, there are other models but that little "HC" on the engine is sort of like an AMG badge for TVR...just a little more subtle
Certainly, it has been well documented on Pistonheads as to the chimaera 400HC's special abilities.
However, when looking into buying a TVR it's easy to over look certain downsides and get caught up in the moment. So, please, please, please remember that the increased attention from babes can be quite draining at times.
Regards,
N
I bought my 1999 450 in Aug 03 and since that time it has spent most of its time outside. I have a full cover for it which I used through most of last winter. (I do tend to agree about the issue of small scratches associated with this even tho' only putting it on a clean dry car).
Originally, despite careful re-proofing of the hood, the only dry area was the passenger footwell, with substantial water ingress into both behind-seat areas and the drivers footwell to the extent that I would routinely remove the carpet from the drivers side before leaving the car out. Also to limit damage by water I drilled 6mm drain holes, behind both seats and at the front of the drivers footwell, which at least prevented accumulation. However - I spent some time over last summer fettling the folding roof, specifically the area around the hinge where there is a small rubber flap interposed between the frame and the hood material(there is a thread on this somewhere) which directs water to the outside of the door seal. These has become severely perished / worn and were replaced. Since then the rear floors have never even been moist despite torential welsh rain. Equally investigation of the front leak confirmed that this could only really be coming from the seal around the brake fluid reservoir and /or the cable grommets in the front inner-wing (water dripping through around the pedal / servo mounting bracket inside the toe-board). Careful removal of the whole silicone seal, degreasing and replacement now means that the TVR is the only one of my cars which stays completely dry inside no matter how hard it rains!! So provided that all is at it should be there is no reason why any TVR should be a paddling pool inside.
Originally, despite careful re-proofing of the hood, the only dry area was the passenger footwell, with substantial water ingress into both behind-seat areas and the drivers footwell to the extent that I would routinely remove the carpet from the drivers side before leaving the car out. Also to limit damage by water I drilled 6mm drain holes, behind both seats and at the front of the drivers footwell, which at least prevented accumulation. However - I spent some time over last summer fettling the folding roof, specifically the area around the hinge where there is a small rubber flap interposed between the frame and the hood material(there is a thread on this somewhere) which directs water to the outside of the door seal. These has become severely perished / worn and were replaced. Since then the rear floors have never even been moist despite torential welsh rain. Equally investigation of the front leak confirmed that this could only really be coming from the seal around the brake fluid reservoir and /or the cable grommets in the front inner-wing (water dripping through around the pedal / servo mounting bracket inside the toe-board). Careful removal of the whole silicone seal, degreasing and replacement now means that the TVR is the only one of my cars which stays completely dry inside no matter how hard it rains!! So provided that all is at it should be there is no reason why any TVR should be a paddling pool inside.
I have a Chimaera which lives on the street all of the time and I have only had one small issue with water coming in which was easily fixed . The main issue is cleaning the car all the tie to keep it looking nice. I drive mine regularly which helps, and have very few issues (as long as you do the simple maintenance) I'd recommend a Chimaera as you'll love the noise, love the attention is gets, and enjoy the drive.
T-J-K
T-J-K
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