Is a Chimaera 4L Underpowered?

Is a Chimaera 4L Underpowered?

Author
Discussion

magnus

Original Poster:

125 posts

257 months

Tuesday 4th March 2003
quotequote all
I am a new boy so hi all! About a year ago I bought a 4L Chim in beautiful condition with only 16k on the clock and FTVRS etc. My gripe is that the car is lacking in mid-range torque. It has a sports exhaust and makes a great sound but that's it really--looks apart. My BMW M5 has much more torque and driveability. I added an induction kit and fast cam and must admit that with the Tornado chip it accelerates like a bat out of hell but driveability is just not there. Have to push the stick around a lot to get any sort of real performance. I am told that RR figures for this car are only about 160bhp at the wheels--a bit more in my case with the mods. Is this a general experience? Perhaps I should save up for a 5L but is that all that much better? A Cerbie is attractive but I would miss the soft-top. Seems that what I have is an old fashioned English sports car like
a TR6

2 sheds

2,529 posts

283 months

Tuesday 4th March 2003
quotequote all
The 500 has stacks more grunt, mainly low-mid range, 210 ish bhp @ wheels, the limiting factor with yours is the heads, you could fit stage 3 heads fitted inc VAT would around £1300-1400 but you would then need a retune on the rollers, so approaching £2,000 to get near to 500 bhp but still far less torque.
Personally i like the feel of a tuned 4L compared to a 5L but wouldn't pretend that it was as quick.
Tim

CraigAlsop

1,991 posts

267 months

Wednesday 5th March 2003
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You should go & get a Mark Adams Tornado chip & get it tuned by the man himself - this should give you some more torque...
You may even find that the sports exhaust has dropped your power output

spnracing

1,554 posts

270 months

Wednesday 5th March 2003
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I also found my 400 a bit sluggish, especially accelerating through the gears at motorway speeds - wouldn't be surprised if my current turbo diesel could outdrag one from 80 upwards.

But they're quick off the mark and better in traffic than a 500. I certainly wouldn't spend any more money modifying it - see if you can live with it and if not, swap it for a 450 - the best engine for the Chimaera in my opinion.

JonRB

74,391 posts

271 months

Wednesday 5th March 2003
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CraigAlsop said:You should go & get a Mark Adams Tornado chip & get it tuned by the man himself
Craig - go back and read the original post again. He already has.

trefor

14,635 posts

282 months

Wednesday 5th March 2003
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2 sheds said:
Personally i like the feel of a tuned 4L compared to a 5L but wouldn't pretend that it was as quick.
Tim


My kind of guy

Personally, I like the fact that I can use quite a lot of throttle and get moving quite quickly in less than perfect weather conditions in my 4.0L - IMO it's a good combo of grip and power. In a 5.0L which can be much faster you have waaay too much torque low down unless the road is bone dry = tears at bedtime unless you're paying 100% attention 100% of the time.

Would I swap my car for an identical 5.0L model? Yes I would. However, I believe that my 4.0L is fast enough 98% of the time and it's usually what you do with the power you have and not how much you ultimately have. Anyone can go fast on the motorway in a straight line. Just drop your cronky 4.0L down a gear and you'll do just fine.

If you want serious speed get a Cerbera/Tuscan/Tamora or a T350.

shpub

8,507 posts

271 months

Wednesday 5th March 2003
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There is no substitute for cubic inches....

N17 TVR

2,937 posts

270 months

Wednesday 5th March 2003
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shpub said: There is no substitute for cubic inches....



Not alway's Steve.

I'm not sure that I would trade in my sexy 4.0 HC Chimaera for some 8.0 Liter American Coupe de Ville, Wallowing Hippo Sedan

FourWheelDrift

88,375 posts

283 months

Wednesday 5th March 2003
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shpub said: There is no substitute for cubic inches....



"There's no replacement for displacement"

CraigAlsop

1,991 posts

267 months

Wednesday 5th March 2003
quotequote all

JonRB said:

CraigAlsop said:You should go & get a Mark Adams Tornado chip & get it tuned by the man himself
Craig - go back and read the original post again. He already has.


Doh! :ashamed:

magnus

Original Poster:

125 posts

257 months

Wednesday 5th March 2003
quotequote all
Thanks for the opinions guys. I think I have found the answer. A friend of mine is having his 4L upgraded to 5.1L by V8 Developments. Total cost with all the usual upgrading £5350 plus VAT. V8 assure him that this mod gives a GENUINE 320bhp at the wheels. So modify or upgrade. Upgrade I think as the 4L is such a responsive car.(:

beljames

285 posts

266 months

Wednesday 5th March 2003
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magnus said: Total cost with all the usual upgrading £5350 plus VAT.(:


I wish I had the money some of you people have.

I start to shake when the oil needs changing...

GreenV8S

30,149 posts

283 months

Wednesday 5th March 2003
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magnus said: Thanks for the opinions guys. I think I have found the answer. A friend of mine is having his 4L upgraded to 5.1L by V8 Developments. Total cost with all the usual upgrading £5350 plus VAT. V8 assure him that this mod gives a GENUINE 320bhp at the wheels. So modify or upgrade. Upgrade I think as the 4L is such a responsive car.(:



Is that just to supply and fit the engine, or does it cover the clutch, strengthened gearbox, an uprated diff and half shafts, plus major work on the suspension and brakes? I would expect the total cost to work out roughly double the cost of the engine work.

manek

2,972 posts

283 months

Thursday 6th March 2003
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magnus said: Thanks for the opinions guys. I think I have found the answer. A friend of mine is having his 4L upgraded to 5.1L by V8 Developments. Total cost with all the usual upgrading £5350 plus VAT. V8 assure him that this mod gives a GENUINE 320bhp at the wheels. So modify or upgrade. Upgrade I think as the 4L is such a responsive car.(:


Imagine how much cheaper it would be to sell the 4 litre and buy a 5 litre car...

shpub

8,507 posts

271 months

Thursday 6th March 2003
quotequote all
I also think that might be 320 bhp at the flywheel not the rear wheels as well...

2 sheds

2,529 posts

283 months

Thursday 6th March 2003
quotequote all
They are flywheel figures, The V8 Developments 320 bhp spec car that i was last involved with also made nearly 400 ft lbs. they can also give you more BHP and less torque probably 350 of each, either way its going to eat tarmac..
Tim

spnracing

1,554 posts

270 months

Thursday 6th March 2003
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But as GreenV8S has already asked - what about an uprated clutch, half shafts, diff, braking system etc etc?

I can't imagine going this route could ever be as cost effective as just buying a quicker car to start with, never mind that fact that when you come to sell it it will be extremely difficult to find a buyer.There wree three Cerberas at Blackbushe last Monday, all 99 ish. There were no bids higher than 17K.

trackdemon

12,149 posts

260 months

Thursday 6th March 2003
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Is anyone surprised that the comments are basically to the effect that the 4.0 is slow? I've never found my 4.3 to be anything other than hugely fast, and sometimes uncomfortably quick when really nailing it..
Sounds to me more like the 4.0 in question has some kind of problem(s), because we're still talking about a motor that'll do 0-60 around 5 sec's and should have oodles of mid-range....

swilly

9,699 posts

273 months

Thursday 6th March 2003
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Yes i'm surprised.

The 4.0 can only be described as 'underpowered' if described in the context of Griff 500's, chim 500's, cerbs and tuscans etc.

To say the 4 litre is underpowered generally is quite ridiculous.

nick61

16 posts

255 months

Thursday 6th March 2003
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I would agree you may have some problem, have you tried another 4.0L to compare it to ???
Nick