Griff 500 Ride ..... excellent
Discussion
Am I alone in thinking that the Griff ride as well as handling is far superior to the Chim?Used to have a Chim 450 '98 20K miles,all over the place at 100+(on the track officer!)
Any comments guys/girls?
Steve
Mines a 2001 car,No.11 of last 100.
>>> Edited by sb930turbo on Friday 18th October 10:20
Any comments guys/girls?
Steve
Mines a 2001 car,No.11 of last 100.
>>> Edited by sb930turbo on Friday 18th October 10:20
Jarcy said: Well my Chim 500 is well sorted and stable up to 150mph (on the track / continent), but there again it's exactly the same car as a Griff 500 except for the body shell. I think the difference in stability must be due to the set-up rather than aerodynamics.
I thought that the springs/shox were different on Chim/Griff?
Steve
Jarcy said: Well my Chim 500 is well sorted and stable up to 150mph (on the track / continent
And which particular Griff is it the same as bearing in mind all the modifications?
Personally having tested a lot of cars including 18 back to back at Mallory I agree that the Griff and Chimaera handling is different and I believe that aerodynamics has a big big part to play as the front end designs are radically different. You do get variation as well just to confuse things.
If you want Griff type handling get a Griff. If you want to improve the Chimaera handling, go back to basics and say what do I want to improve rather than I want it to handle like a Griff as I think the body styles make this difficult to achieve. Far better to identify the changes and work from there.
Yes I know that the cars shared the same chassis but it really wasn't to very late in production were all the components common and there was a lot of variation with springs and shocks and settings.
Anyway the golf clubs in the Chimaeras make a real big difference
Steve
shpub said:
Anyway the golf clubs in the Chimaeras make a real big difference
Steve
You can get 2 sets of clubs in a Chimaera boot. Good for getting the traction down out of the corners.
Seriously, I've also read people talk about the Chimaera front splitter, blaming it's absence for a light front end. Well my splitter was ripped off long before I owned the car and yet my palms remain dry at well over the ton. We know these cars need setting up right to get them settled and avoid tramlining etc.
Mine has PAS. Don't know whether changes things at high speed.
There are other factors. Having a degree or two of rake by having slightly different ride heights can help. Driver input can dramatically affect stability on corners and so on. My view on the splitter is that the jury is out . It helps in some but not others. It can provide world peace or be responsible for WW3. It's cheap so if it works for you then fine. If not then it provides the raw material for a ally dash with that distressed feel.
Steve
Steve
jodypress said: so who would you all recommend to setup the griff(500) in london. fells a bit light over 140 (on a track) and braking from high speeds unsettles (in a straight line ) the car as well.
I don't think any amount of setup will cure that. If you consider the shape of a Griff (like a bing wing reversed) you can see why. I believe that it generates quite a bit of lift at (ahem) higher speeds, hence the 'floaty' feeling.
Aerodynamically I reckon TVR's have been getting slowly worse since the wedges.
I cannot coment on the comparative differences between the Chimeara and Griffith handling.
What I will say though is having only had mine for 6 days and 1300+ miles at speeds to 155 the handling has been rock solid.
I was warned of its tendency to wander at speeds and understeer, neither of which have materialised as yet.
What I will say though is having only had mine for 6 days and 1300+ miles at speeds to 155 the handling has been rock solid.
I was warned of its tendency to wander at speeds and understeer, neither of which have materialised as yet.
Mines extremley stable at 150+ and that's with the old chassis and suspension et al.
P.S. Is there a huge difference between the old 4.x chassis and the later ones on the 4's and 5's.
If so can the old chassis be upgraded to be on a par(parden the golfing pun!) with the new ones?
>> Edited by schueymcfee on Friday 18th October 14:17
P.S. Is there a huge difference between the old 4.x chassis and the later ones on the 4's and 5's.
If so can the old chassis be upgraded to be on a par(parden the golfing pun!) with the new ones?
>> Edited by schueymcfee on Friday 18th October 14:17
schueymcfee said: Mines extremley stable at 150+ and that's with the old chassis and suspension et al.
P.S. Is there a huge difference between the old 4.x chassis and the later ones on the 4's and 5's.
If so can the old chassis be upgraded to be on a par(parden the golfing pun!) with the new ones?
>> Edited by schueymcfee on Friday 18th October 14:17
Yes but don't tell everyone otherwise the de-cat Griff Police will be after me...
If we are Talking about Griffs, there are only later 500s.
Sort off but difficult as assuming the worst you will need to replace the rear wishbones for the rear antiroll bar, the front antiroll bar to get the thicker one, the springs and shocks. As the 500 had some additional mods as well, then change that as well.
It is better to think what is wrong and fix that rather than try and get it to such and such a spec which you may or may not like or be able to achieve.
Steve
>> Edited by shpub on Friday 18th October 15:19
shpub said:Yes but don't tell everyone otherwise the de-cat Griff Police will be after me...
schueymcfee said: Mines extremley stable at 150+ and that's with the old chassis and suspension et al.
P.S. Is there a huge difference between the old 4.x chassis and the later ones on the 4's and 5's.
If so can the old chassis be upgraded to be on a par(parden the golfing pun!) with the new ones?
We certainly will
. I would echo Steve's main point though. Set out what you want to achieve. You may prefer the handling of the pre-cats to the later cars. Also you could spend alot of money on the mods (wishbones, anti-roll bars etc) when you could achieve what you want with new springs/shocks. There were also many variations of springs/shocks etc so what month/year spec do you want?
Also,I have just been looking into the spring/shock options for my pre-cat 4.3 as the suspension has softened so rear grip in the wet is pretty bad (confirmed by TVRacetech). However, the recomendation (unless I want to spend alot of money and do alot of track days) is to not replace them until they actually break. With the newer TVR ones also tending to be less long lasting (in their experience).
I have asked about the possibility of getting them re-worked back to original performance (often done to motorbike suspension) to see if that will help.
As I am going to have a chassis renovation this winter it seemed like a good time to have it looked at.
Cheers,
Ian
Not one to quote the master at his own game... 
...but IIRC the bible says says that the old 4.x Griff/Chim chassis are slightly narrower at the rear end than the 500 griffs and later 4.x/5 Chim's.
I just wanted know how much difference that would make in terms of handling - maybe I should just go drive a 500!
'Cause I was thinking of some upgrades, but I wanted to know before I started mucking about how far behind the older(err sorry classic) chassis was to the new one, and not end up in the future after spending $$$$$$$$$'s (sorry American keyboard!) the mechanic turning round and saying that's as far as it'll go mate! You'll need to replace the chassis for one of those later ones mate!
...but IIRC the bible says says that the old 4.x Griff/Chim chassis are slightly narrower at the rear end than the 500 griffs and later 4.x/5 Chim's.
I just wanted know how much difference that would make in terms of handling - maybe I should just go drive a 500!
'Cause I was thinking of some upgrades, but I wanted to know before I started mucking about how far behind the older(err sorry classic) chassis was to the new one, and not end up in the future after spending $$$$$$$$$'s (sorry American keyboard!) the mechanic turning round and saying that's as far as it'll go mate! You'll need to replace the chassis for one of those later ones mate!
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