Just how fast are Chimaeras?

Just how fast are Chimaeras?

Author
Discussion

pbrettle

Original Poster:

3,280 posts

282 months

Tuesday 4th December 2001
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Now, call me a little daft here, but just been out for a spin in the TVR. Have owned the car for around 2 1/2 months now, but never really had the chance to "open her up" on roads that I know very well. It has always been wet, dark, slimey or a combination of all three....

Well, previous passing places that were 60 - 70 MPH max. are suddenly 100 MPH without realising!!! I mean, these things are seriously fast. Mine is a 4.0HC which is supposed to be 275BHP - but everyone knows that TVR tend to over state their power figures. Either way, it is lightning - proven by the fact that I overtook a friend in a 325i who just didnt have a chance....

So, this leads me to the questions - if mines got 275 and a 5.0 has 320 - 340, how much faster are they? I mean, that should make a big difference. From "bloody hell" to "what the fsck"...

Also, has anyone run a Chimaera against the clock to check on times? I have Steve Heaths book and he lists a mixture of magazine reports with wildly varying performance figures - from 6 seconds to 60 right down to 4.9.... Would be interesting to know if anyone has done this.

Finally, does anyone know of a good technique to get rid of this permanent grin on my face? Seems to be stuck and regardless of how much Bravo TV, I just cant get rid of it....

Cheers,

Paul

MikeyT

16,451 posts

270 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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You could always turn over to Challenge TV.

My then girlfriend, now wife, hired me a Griff 500 to go from Cambs down to the South Coast one weekend for a wedding. This is, to date, my only Chim/Griff driving experience and didn't lead to a longing for one, because I'd had that since the Chim/Griff came out, but merely made the longing deeper ...

Anyway, on the way down, we were on one of these seemingly never ending downhill B roads with practically nowhere to pass and 90 degree bends every couple of hundred yards or so, I was getting fed up behind some van or other and thought the next mere hint of an overtaking chance, I'd go for it.

A few minutes later, it came, I floored it between these two 90 degree bends. In the microsecond between thinking about flooring it and doing so, a bus came round the corner, I had a big shock thought I was a goner, but honestly within like, no time I was in front of the van and away, and the bus was still seemingly no nearer. I think if I'd been in another Griff behind the one i was in, I could have overtakne the van as well.
I never tried anything quick all weekend after that, because I knew then how quick they were.



Sorry to bore you all!!

TVR owner one day soon

ChimeraWolf

142 posts

270 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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My 4.0 seems to be quicker to 60 than my mate's Corvette 5.7... which is nice!

- ChimaeraWolf
- P56 SAH - Black Chimaera 4.0

Jason F

1,183 posts

283 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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They are quick. Damn quick...

The problem I have is that there are times when I think 'I`ll just overtake now' when it is a tiny little gap, knowing that I`ll be past before the guy in front knows what I`m doing.. It can lead to overtaking manouvres that others would find reckless...

I seem to think that 0-60 in a 4.0 is about 4.9, in a 4.5 about 4.7 and in a 5.0 about 4.2...

I haven`t timed it meself tho..


.mark

11,104 posts

275 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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I have a 4.0 and its about this quick...

trefor

14,635 posts

282 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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To answer the original question, I think the main advantage of the larger engined cars is gobloads more torque lowdown. When you're tootling along at 30mph in say 4th gear and plant the throttle you get a BIG shove in the back and you're off, passing whatever might be in the way. In a 4.0L to get the same shove I'd need to be one gear lower.

Of course this means you have to be extra careful on a slippery road.

T/.

manek

2,972 posts

283 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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Yes, be careful. And in the right gear beforehand :-)

In traffic, I will often drop to third (Chimaera 4.0) before a corner and hold it there just in case there's an overtaking spot coming up...

Of course, the sound of that V8 on the overrun and the extra burble when you put your foot down are not relevant here.

-Manek-

Edited by manek on Wednesday 5th December 10:49

plotloss

67,280 posts

269 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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quote:

My 4.0 seems to be quicker to 60 than my mate's Corvette 5.7... which is nice!

- ChimaeraWolf
- P56 SAH - Black Chimaera 4.0




My 4.5 seems a helluva lot quicker than the Viper I had in the US.

I tried the 5.0 but found it to be almost too full of grunt in the lower rev range though. The 4.5 seemed like a better daily driver option.

Matt.

richb

51,429 posts

283 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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Well somewhere there is a thread on "overtaking protocol" well mine is usually to concentrate straight ahead and steering, rather than waving or saluting! When I was blasting down to Goodwood last year I hammered past something slower, my wife said, "Did you see the look on that persons face?" answer, "nope didn't have time " - Gives you an idea of how fast they are I guess. R...

Marshy

2,748 posts

283 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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quote:
I tried the 5.0 but found it to be almost too full of grunt in the lower rev range though


I'm sorry, I have no idea what you mean. The words are english, but I can't make any sense out of it.

cockers

632 posts

280 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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I still regularly chuckle to myself when I plant my right foot in 4th gear at around 80mph (4.0L) - that's when the difference between a fast ordinary car and a TVR really hits home.

We TVR owners need a lot of self-restraint. Does anyone out there have some I could borrow?

plotloss

67,280 posts

269 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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Luckily my restraint is being enforced by the thought of large bills in later life if I thrash it while its being run-in!

Its going to be difficult once I get up around 3500 miles I can tell!

Matt.

andymadmak

14,481 posts

269 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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In 1994 I took my newly run in Chimp 4.3 to Holland to visit a supplier based near Nijmegen.
He wanted a whiz round the block in it so I took him out onto the motorway (I think its the A73) that runs towards Germany.
I took it a bit gently to get him used to the noise etc and suddenly a Merc 190 Cosworth went past us at well over 100mph. (we were doing 80 ish) My colleague pointed at the Merc and said "Now thats a fast car!"
Merc had slowed down then to have a peek at the Chim (possibly the first time they had seen one back then) and we matched speeds at about 90mph side by side.
Well, I smiled at the Merc driver, dropped to 4th gear and floored it.
By 150mph the Merc was a distant blob on the mirror and my colleague was absolutely speechless! (actually he could only say one word (f**k) which he repeated over and over and over again!)

"Still think the Merc is fast?" I asked him when we got back.
"F**k" was the reply!
Andy 400se

MikeyT

16,451 posts

270 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
quotequote all
quote:

I have a 4.0 and its about this quick...





Errr don't you mean ...



Just wanted to use the ol Smileyguys!

TVR owner one day soon

Edited by MikeyT on Wednesday 5th December 13:40

trefor

14,635 posts

282 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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quote:

Of course, the sound of that V8 on the overrun and the extra burble when you put your foot down are not relevant here.


Never came across my mind. Must try that sometime, I thought there was something wrong with my car making all this popping and banging noise from the rear

.mark

11,104 posts

275 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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I had heard that Shell Optimax reduces the bangs and pops, but I have found they are just as frequent with a slightly low note - or am I just being a sad git?

trefor

14,635 posts

282 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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Doesn't reduce them on my car, still makes plenty of noise when required

5ltvr

124 posts

269 months

Wednesday 5th December 2001
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Still running in Chimaera 500 (altho occasional drift to 4500 revs) and finding that whilst I intend to only overtake 2 cars in a moving queue at 50ish on straight A road I end up going so fast so quickly I am past 3 and wondering if I can slow down fast enough to get back in before the oncoming car (I am by now doing 110ish)

By the way, plotloss mentioned 3500 miles to run in, is that right, I am assuming something like:
0-500 miles 3000 revs
500-1000 miles 4000 revs
1000-2000 miles 5000 revs
2000 miles + go for it, taking it easy and not red lining v often (with all the torque never need to)

RobM

392 posts

283 months

Thursday 6th December 2001
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One thing noticed most after upgrading from 4.0 to 5.0 was 3rd gear midrange 50mph onwards acceleration. Here's some figures from the 'G' meter. The bhp reading is probably optimistic as it was set up for the weight of my friends integrali, which showed 300bhp on the rollers. Anyway....

Delta.....
Start Speed 50.0mph
mph s g ft hp
60.0 1.32 0.36 106 212
70.0 2.64 0.33 232 237

Pk Power: 69.4mph 2.55s 223ft 241hp
Peak G: 61.8mph 1.54s 126ft 0.36g

And me 500...
Start Speed 50.0mph
mph s g ft hp
60.0 1.26 0.35 101 208
70.0 2.53 0.34 223 241
80.0 3.88 0.31 372 264

Pk Power: 77.9mph 3.57s 336ft 272hp
Peak G: 69.5mph 2.45s 214ft 0.37g

Edited by RobM on Thursday 6th December 01:13

Jason F

1,183 posts

283 months

Thursday 6th December 2001
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And in english please ?