Down on power - suggestions?

[Shoe Man]

I have a 1997 500 Chimaera with 40k on clock and it's been well looked after - recently purchased - which at the TVR Power open day only came up with 210bhp at the wheels - therefore around 240 at the flywheel. Which is obviously way down on supposed performance - but we all know the folk in Blackpool used shetland ponies rather than thoroughbreads to calculate their figures - but it's still well down.

Everything else on the graph was good - no missfires, almost perfect fuel, torque down but not as bad as bhp.

Dom (TVR Power Bossman) said - "is it quick?" - I said "yes - even held off a few Caterhams at my 1st track day", he said "are you having fun driving it?", I said "look at stupid grin on my faced - what do you think?", he said "drive it for the summer and come back to me with £1500 in the winter for a new cam and re-mapped ECU"

Any comments or suggestions - I want to keep this car at the best level it can be - am proposing new shocks, new front discs/pads/calipers and whatever I can do for bhp - who is the best and does anyone know how to contact Mark Adams?

[ray_von]

Shoe Man said:

come back to me with £1500 in the winter for a new cam and re-mapped ECU

I think that may be a conservative estimate. You could be looking at £1200+ for cam, Mark Adams chip £350 then set up time and anything else he might find wrong. Could be looking at a lot bigger bil. Not much help but it will give you something to think about

[coetzeeh]

My cam was knackered at 33k miles and needed replacement- once the new 218 cam had been fitted it made a noticable difference.

If I were in your shoes I would go for a 3D fully remapable ECU such as Emerald vs remapping your existing ECU - the benefit of doing this outweighs the cost by a mile in the long term, especially if you are considering further upgrades later on such as plenums + inlets + injectors - we all end up going down that slippery slope eventually.. ..

Henk

[StardustV8]

Yeah sounds like a worn cam and your simply not getting the lift and duration you should, less air, less power nothing more sinister than that.

So my 96 with 52k is probably due a cam change then, eek-and i didnt think she was that fast compared to my tuned up turbo saabs!

[spend]

Thats a pretty good offer from Dom IMO, I guess it will be one of his cams and just a chip from his stock (matched to the cam). I do suspect Dom has plenty of chips matched to the cars/cams & replaces them liberally with other work done :applause:

Sounds like you need cam replacing anyway - I'd research estimates for this so you can evaluate Doms offer. Its worth considering what cams are on offer and whether you want to tune your car more rather than just relacing like/like. Aftermarket ECU is a separate issue, but dont expect this to be done for less than £1000.

Dave

[Corky]

I have just changed the cam on my Griff @54k and it has transformed the car, one of lobes was completely flat, I just hadn't noticed the loss of power. I used Jamie at Castle engines, hope this helps.

[StardustV8]

Yeah it must make a difference, as far as i know mines the original.
218 cam a 218 deg duration? whats the lift on these cars? anyone got the atual valve timing? be interested to see how much overlap they run.
cheers

[tinker-27]

it sounds like a cam is needed but the "chip" should be fine £1500 sound a lot of money to fit a cam, i have done a few of these and real steel do plenty of cams for the right money. i have used emerald for years and it is very good but not necessry for your state of tune,maybe de cat at the time would help

[aerospoke]

Hello Stardust

Hope this helps:

http://www.btinternet.com/~jon.wolfe/kentcamdata.h...

Some info about some common cams including the 218.

Cheers Jens

[trackcar]

if it's 210 at the wheels thats a great figure .. most defo not 240 at the fly .. they lose way more than 30hp flat out in 4th gear .. more like 50-55hp .. so that's really about 260/265hp which is exactly what you would expect. Save your money!

[Shoe Man]

Guys, Thanks for all the suggestions and information - really appreciated. Does anyone know how to get in touch wih Mark Adams????

[Vixpy1]

trackcar said:

if it's 210 at the wheels thats a great figure .. most defo not 240 at the fly .. they lose way more than 30hp flat out in 4th gear .. more like 50-55hp .. so that's really about 260/265hp which is exactly what you would expect. Save your money!

Not on TVR powers dyno Jools, its a dynojet so much higher wheel figs than ours. I would say 240bhp was prob a good estimate, a bit low for a 500

[Jay Ayegees]

Shoe Man

To summon the great RV8 Power Lord, Mark Adams you have to first run naked across Salisbury Plain with seven blonde Vestal Virgins on the third Sunday in a month beginning with A.

Then telephone [phone].

Jay

[trackcar]

Vixpy1 said:

trackcar said:

if it's 210 at the wheels thats a great figure .. most defo not 240 at the fly .. they lose way more than 30hp flat out in 4th gear .. more like 50-55hp .. so that's really about 260/265hp which is exactly what you would expect. Save your money!

Not on TVR powers dyno Jools, its a dynojet so much higher wheel figs than ours. I would say 240bhp was prob a good estimate, a bit low for a 500

bugger, is it? oh well. it's not as good as first thought then. best get spending!

[Seasider]

Vixpy1 said:

trackcar said:

if it's 210 at the wheels thats a great figure .. most defo not 240 at the fly .. they lose way more than 30hp flat out in 4th gear .. more like 50-55hp .. so that's really about 260/265hp which is exactly what you would expect. Save your money!

Not on TVR powers dyno Jools, its a dynojet so much higher wheel figs than ours.

[Shoe Man]

Jay Ayegees said:

Shoe Man

To summon the great RV8 Power Lord, Mark Adams you have to first run naked across Salisbury Plain with seven blonde Vestal Virgins on the third Sunday in a month beginning with A.

Then telephone [phone].

Jay

Ok Jay, Getting the blondes is not a problem - not with the TIV anyway - see you on Salisbury Plain in August!!!

And thanks for the number

[Jay Ayegees]

Sorry I was there in April.

[munky]

My 51k Chim seems down on power as well recently, was wondering if it could be the cam. Not that noticeable say 0-60, more at 70 - 100.

[bobs4c]

I went to a rolling road on saturday, with several TVRs. Your figure looks about typical. My 450 gave 188 at the wheels, 224 at the flywheel. 500's gave typically 20-25bhp more - well, the standard ones

Bob

[munky]

Vixpy1 said:

trackcar said:

if it's 210 at the wheels thats a great figure .. most defo not 240 at the fly .. they lose way more than 30hp flat out in 4th gear .. more like 50-55hp .. so that's really about 260/265hp which is exactly what you would expect. Save your money!

Not on TVR powers dyno Jools, its a dynojet so much higher wheel figs than ours. I would say 240bhp was prob a good estimate, a bit low for a 500

Charlie, are you ever open on Sundays? I do go vaguely past your way (M25, then down the M3) nearly every week but only around 8pm Friday evenings and variable times on Sunday evenings