Is a Tamora better than a Griff?
Discussion
Kingy220 said:
Chris/Pursyluv stop the madness! I sold my tam 18 months ago and haven't stoped looking at them since. Mines back on the market and I've been close to going and getting her back......
Rgds, Simon
I’m 99% certain mine will be for sale soon, I’ll probably regret it, but I do think it’s time for a changeRgds, Simon
Pursyluv said:
Kingy220 said:
Chris/Pursyluv stop the madness! I sold my tam 18 months ago and haven't stoped looking at them since. Mines back on the market and I've been close to going and getting her back......
Rgds, Simon
I’m 99% certain mine will be for sale soon, I’ll probably regret it, but I do think it’s time for a changeRgds, Simon
chris watton said:
Not sure if the Tam is better than a Griff, but for sheer driving pleasure around the twisties, it wins against my Chim 450 hands down, it's like night and day. Always felt like the Chim's sole aim was to kill me, like in the film Christine..
I think your chimera must've been set up poorly by the sounds of it Chris.Yes, my Chimaera and several friends Chimaera's are all set up with better suspension i.e. Gaz Monos or similar with slightly stiffer springs and these are always ahead of the game on tracks and the odd sprint circuit.
Just pointing this out to the uninitiated in case they think the Chimaera or Griff handle badly or at least not as well as aTam, (probably not in absolute standard form but what is standard now!).
phazed said:
chris watton said:
Not sure if the Tam is better than a Griff, but for sheer driving pleasure around the twisties, it wins against my Chim 450 hands down, it's like night and day. Always felt like the Chim's sole aim was to kill me, like in the film Christine..
I think your chimera must've been set up poorly by the sounds of it Chris.Yes, my Chimaera and several friends Chimaera's are all set up with better suspension i.e. Gaz Monos or similar with slightly stiffer springs and these are always ahead of the game on tracks and the odd sprint circuit.
Just pointing this out to the uninitiated in case they think the Chimaera or Griff handle badly or at least not as well as aTam, (probably not in absolute standard form but what is standard now!).
I would also suggest that you and your mates are always putting in good performances on track because you're all very well practised at it - I would also say that if you were to drive a T-car around the same tracks, once you got used to them, your times would be even better.
I did not say the Griff or Chim handles badly, I said the Tamora handled better than the Chim I had, which was well looked after. Almost agricultural by comparison.
I have to agree that the difference between my Chim and my T350 was also 'night and day'. The Chim was very predictable and mostly very safe but simply not as quick as the T350. Some people find the steering on the T-cars to be too lively (lots of discussions on bump steer, etc.) but I have never had a problem. From my days of junior series motor racing the concept of only having a very light grip on the steering wheel works perfectly.
phazed said:
What have I started, was just saying.........
Nothing wrong with a little friendly debate, reminds me of the 'old days', when questions like this got even more heated on here.
Cripes, I was in my mid-thirties when I started posting in these forums, now in my 50's!
ETA - Just went to use my wife's MG, she's gonna love me, just snapped the cambelt!
chris watton said:
phazed said:
What have I started, was just saying.........
Nothing wrong with a little friendly debate, reminds me of the 'old days', when questions like this got even more heated on here.
Cripes, I was in my mid-thirties when I started posting in these forums, now in my 50's!
ETA - Just went to use my wife's MG, she's gonna love me, just snapped the cambelt!
The biggest problem I’ve had with TVR handling and it’s been in anyone I’ve ever driven or been driven in, they simply don’t like the modern roads in the south east.
When I say modern I mean, delaminated road surface which has those inch or two deep holes all over in addition to pot holes. Light cars just don’t seem to like it and it ruined the enjoyment for me.
m4tti said:
Blimey Chris! Snapped the cam belt. What were you doing with it.
The biggest problem I’ve had with TVR handling and it’s been in anyone I’ve ever driven or been driven in, they simply don’t like the modern roads in the south east.
When I say modern I mean, delaminated road surface which has those inch or two deep holes all over in addition to pot holes. Light cars just don’t seem to like it and it ruined the enjoyment for me.
Front brakes were stuck on the discs, so tried to free them by moving the car (trying to reverse it out of the garage). Clearly, I revved a little too much, and the car is now stuck half way out of the garage! Luckily, I have a brand new VVC head for it, still in its original MG Rover box!The biggest problem I’ve had with TVR handling and it’s been in anyone I’ve ever driven or been driven in, they simply don’t like the modern roads in the south east.
When I say modern I mean, delaminated road surface which has those inch or two deep holes all over in addition to pot holes. Light cars just don’t seem to like it and it ruined the enjoyment for me.
I agree regarding the roads, many more are far worse now than they were even a decade ago.
chris watton said:
phazed said:
What have I started, was just saying.........
Nothing wrong with a little friendly debate, reminds me of the 'old days', when questions like this got even more heated on here.
Cripes, I was in my mid-thirties when I started posting in these forums, now in my 50's!
Not only do Chims handle well, (with a bit of tweaking I agree) but they sound better .....
https://youtu.be/pvxs2mbaP9I
m4tti said:
When I say modern I mean, delaminated road surface which has those inch or two deep holes all over in addition to pot holes. Light cars just don’t seem to like it and it ruined the enjoyment for me.
This is why I went into the deep end with the suspension on mine and opted for the higher end Intrax kit with Anti Roll Control (did that in 2 stages so I can attest to the ARC system being the 'missing link' in reality as well as in theory). Totally solves the dichotomy between needing low spring rates for predictability, optimising traction and driver comfort without the usual ramifications of pitch and roll, roll oversteer, and occasionally hitting the bump stops... What I really don't understand after all this years is people sinking vast sums into their TVRs engine, cosmetics, brakes etc but at the same time baulking at spending four grand at suspension, often citing 'yeah, but I don't do track days'. This goes like 95 percent of the way towards sorting the one thing that holds TVRs (any TVR) back as a day-to-day road driving machine and unlike the usual strategy of hard springs and stiff dampers, big wheels and brakes and loads of power it's entirely sympathetic to the structural limits that the chassis stiffness and suspension geometry set.
Given that both of the latter aren't worlds apart between Chim/Griff and Tamora (the latter was just set up somewhat better, has a few extra inches in the wheelbase, wider spaced front wishbones and slightly better front wheel geo by way of bespoke aluminium uprights and has a quicker, lighter steering set up - but structurally all TVRs from the Griffith onwards are very similar and ultimately they all lack handling composure to varying degrees), properly setting up the car you already have, making use of recent(ish) developments in suspension technology may be a wiser decision than swapping cars, especially as it's swings and roundabouts in most other aspects...
900T-R said:
m4tti said:
When I say modern I mean, delaminated road surface which has those inch or two deep holes all over in addition to pot holes. Light cars just don’t seem to like it and it ruined the enjoyment for me.
This is why I went into the deep end with the suspension on mine and opted for the higher end Intrax kit with Anti Roll Control (did that in 2 stages so I can attest to the ARC system being the 'missing link' in reality as well as in theory). Totally solves the dichotomy between needing low spring rates for predictability, optimising traction and driver comfort without the usual ramifications of pitch and roll, roll oversteer, and occasionally hitting the bump stops... What I really don't understand after all this years is people sinking vast sums into their TVRs engine, cosmetics, brakes etc but at the same time baulking at spending four grand at suspension, often citing 'yeah, but I don't do track days'. This goes like 95 percent of the way towards sorting the one thing that holds TVRs (any TVR) back as a day-to-day road driving machine and unlike the usual strategy of hard springs and stiff dampers, big wheels and brakes and loads of power it's entirely sympathetic to the structural limits that the chassis stiffness and suspension geometry set.
Given that both of the latter aren't worlds apart between Chim/Griff and Tamora (the latter was just set up somewhat better, has a few extra inches in the wheelbase, wider spaced front wishbones and slightly better front wheel geo by way of bespoke aluminium uprights and has a quicker, lighter steering set up - but structurally all TVRs from the Griffith onwards are very similar and ultimately they all lack handling composure to varying degrees), properly setting up the car you already have, making use of recent(ish) developments in suspension technology may be a wiser decision than swapping cars, especially as it's swings and roundabouts in most other aspects...
Having said that the V10 with capristo exhaust, and it’s active suspension gives you TVR levels of noise minus the near death experiences.
Chims handle brilliantly, my 430 I got round a local sprint circuit quicker than my sp6 tamora, by a few seconds, although the tamora had terrible tyres on. However the tamora just 'felt' Better handling wise.
Chim I literally just grabbed by the scruff of the neck and wrestled it round the track and it did exactly what I wanted it to do.
Tamora felt more like a go kart, very direct, nimble and responsive. I don't actually think there is a huge amount of difference in speed or handling capabilities of the 2 of both set up well, but the feel and enjoyment are completely opposite, and I enjoyed the tamora much more. However the noise my 430 made was just lovely.
Tried a sagaris round the same track and felt twitchy as fook! Dunno how it was set up however but was really surprised as you'd expect it to feel a little more planted with the slightly wide track
Chim I literally just grabbed by the scruff of the neck and wrestled it round the track and it did exactly what I wanted it to do.
Tamora felt more like a go kart, very direct, nimble and responsive. I don't actually think there is a huge amount of difference in speed or handling capabilities of the 2 of both set up well, but the feel and enjoyment are completely opposite, and I enjoyed the tamora much more. However the noise my 430 made was just lovely.
Tried a sagaris round the same track and felt twitchy as fook! Dunno how it was set up however but was really surprised as you'd expect it to feel a little more planted with the slightly wide track
I also really don't get this whole feeling like a death trap, I have never felt like that in any of my TVRs, even the tamora which had 10+ year old hard and dry tyres on which had no grip whatsoever.
If its that bad you either need to either get the suspension or tracking sorted, or get some driving tutoring. I'm not a mad driver by any means, but I will admit in the 12 years of driving I have only ever had RWD cars so I guess I am use to the characteristics. I remember a guy with a ls1 converted car coming to Curborough and saying it was undrivable as it had too much power for the weight, it had nothing to do with the fact he planted he foot down after ever corner as that's how he drove his 'other cars'.
You don't have to become a track driving god, but honestly spending a little money on a handling circuit, airfield or skid pan has gotta be worth the money if you can enjoy driving it more instead of fearing it
If its that bad you either need to either get the suspension or tracking sorted, or get some driving tutoring. I'm not a mad driver by any means, but I will admit in the 12 years of driving I have only ever had RWD cars so I guess I am use to the characteristics. I remember a guy with a ls1 converted car coming to Curborough and saying it was undrivable as it had too much power for the weight, it had nothing to do with the fact he planted he foot down after ever corner as that's how he drove his 'other cars'.
You don't have to become a track driving god, but honestly spending a little money on a handling circuit, airfield or skid pan has gotta be worth the money if you can enjoy driving it more instead of fearing it
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