conversion - upgrade TVR Power 4.0 to 5.0 ?

[MyGriffith]

I have a Griff 4.0 litre Year 1993 cat, 250 BHP uprate (gas flowed) with
already approx. 65.000 miles on the clock. At this stage, no problem with
cam or engine but for sure the car becomes a bit old.

I could be interested by TVR Power engine upgrade.

What is the difference between the different options TVR Power offers and what are the main improvements I could expect.

I use the car everyday in an ...urban environment (inner city ).
No track. I do not rev often above 3000-3500 rpm !

The car runs very smooth but I would like to have it less lumpy at low revs and with a faster throttle response between 1250 - 2500 rpm but the car has to remain driveable..Would it be possible ?

Is the 4.0 to 5 litre program convenient and interesting in my case ?

For the instance, the fuel consumption in urban traffic is 16mpg - 17 litre/100 km). Is it possible to reduce it ? What would be the fuel consumption with the new engine in urban use?

In other words, do yo recommend me this upgrade or not ?

Many thanks in advance for any exchange of experience in this field.

[Barreti]

Have you called TVR Power?

I'd have thought an honest discussion with them should be your first angle of approach

[MyGriffith]

Yes.

Dom informed me he can offer a "little more" performance with the 4ltr and certainly do away with low drive shunting, has for 5ltr there is no comparison 5ltr is certainly the way to go"

"Definitely go for the 5ltr but that would be my personal choice, we can make
the 4ltr very driveable but never has good has our 5 ltr plus you get 5 yrs
unlimited mileage warranty on our 5ltrs"

This upgrade costs 5000 + VAT.
This is why I would like to receive some positive feed back before.

[Ant.]

MyGriffith said:

Yes.

Dom informed me he can offer a "little more" performance with the 4ltr and certainly do away with low drive shunting, has for 5ltr there is no comparison 5ltr is certainly the way to go"

"Definitely go for the 5ltr but that would be my personal choice, we can make
the 4ltr very driveable but never has good has our 5 ltr plus you get 5 yrs
unlimited mileage warranty on our 5ltrs"

This upgrade costs 5000 + VAT.
This is why I would like to receive some positive feed back before.

£5000 ? fk ME


You could get a 4.6 fitted with an Emerald ECU for that, then sell your 4l engine!

[spend]

I would advise having your rev counter checked for accuracy before doing anything...

I could only imagine sticking below 4000rpm in a TVR as being like a gay eunoch in a harem

[Precat]

Hi
I have the some spec Griff you've got. 400 - 250hp which makes 227hp when measured. I bought it from a chap in London who had bought a Griff 500. Speaking to him a few month later, he report he wished he have never sold me his Griff 400. His view is the 400 was pefect for Urban driving and the 500 was to much for Urban driving and he never got the benefit of the extra power. Just a bigger fuel bill.
I would suggest you have a chat with John Eales in the Midlands or Roland at ACR in Chester. These are independant engine builders..

Hope this helps

[dumbfunk]

I've had a Griff 4.0 and a 5.0 and if we talk JUST about the engine then performance wise Dom is correct that the performance gain is immense. I don't recall it being any smoother though and if anything the 500 seems to grumble even more when forced to drive around at low speeds. I used both cars for commuting in traffic 50km per day for a while and think I may even have had more fun with the 4.0 because it was easier to stretch its legs - you need a good bit of space to do that with the 500.

That's just the engine though. In EVERY other respect I find the later car to be superior. Handling, braking, build quality, comfort ... I'm sorry to say this but in my view you'd need an exceptionally good reason to spend £5k on a good 4.0 when you could easily upgrade the whole car for that, gain 75-100bhp depending on luck and pocket the change.


df

[v8 racing]

There are gains to be had going to a 5 litre but i would be carefull how you choose to build it, if you built a 5ltr and used a very mild almost range rover cam and used stage 2 heads instead of the mormal stage 4 you would end up with an extremely smooth and very responsive engine below 4000 rpm, and better mpg, above 4000 rpm however it isnt going to produce much more power than what you have now.

[Mags]

I'm no expert in any shape but from what I have read over the past few years I thought that a decent ECU such as Emerald and possibly moving to throttle bodies cured most running problems and released extra horses as well. If that is the case, its got to be cheaper than a rebuild and then still relying on the old ECU, plenum etc?
There was a good writeup on a Megasquirt install on the Griffith Pages but it seems broken for me right now?
On the way home last night I read about a Webcon dizzy/coil replacement for an MGB in Octane mag that had cured the owners 'lumpy cam' problems, increased power and improved mpg at all once. Am I gullible?

Mags

[ESDavey]

£5k is alot of money & depends on the cars overall condition. If everything else on the car is A1 and its a keeper, then upgrade.

A better route could be to sell & buy an later 500.

[MyGriffith]

A lot of replies. Thank to all.

In fact, my dealer doesn't recommend me an other TVR engine for inner city use. In my case, he doesn't recommend even a 5 liter, not to mention T350, Tuscan, aso.It is a bit hopeless.

I only would like to boost the kick response at low level because between 0 - 2000 rpm, the car is a bit lumpy. The engine realy takes off from 3000 - 3500 rmp and for sure at this level ,it is pure fun.

[davegriff]

MyGriffith,

Mine's the same as yours and Precat's (and it sounds like they're consistent as mine was 226bhp at Jools's).

I agree completely with the suggestion that you should get a decent service - mine's not lumpy so maybe there's a couple of bits to put right. I don't have any engine or engine management mods either. TVR Power's upgrade would be great but that's quite a lot to pay for pootling around town.

[dumbfunk]

If the rest of the car is in great health then a new ECU with a proper remapping session might be exactly what you need. There's a great thread on this here:

http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t...

You can go on a long driving holiday with the savings!


df

[JazzyO]

I hope you take this in the way it is intended (very friendly indeed), but it sounds to me like you're trying to make the Griffith into something it is not. Why not use another car to pootle around in and use the Griff for what it was built: spirited drives? If you're considering spending 5k+VAT then a second car must be possible, not so? Unless parking is a real issue.


Onno