450 - 4546, 4558, 4441cc? 4.5 and 4.6
450 - 4546, 4558, 4441cc? 4.5 and 4.6
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A900ss

Original Poster:

3,314 posts

182 months

Saturday 6th April 2013
quotequote all
All,

Whilst my car is out of action at the moment I'm doing a lot of reading, probably too much and I'm now getting confused with the engine size.

My owners manual says my 450 Chimaera is 4558cc, my V5 says it is 4546cc and the TVRCC says that Chim 450’s are 4441cc. Can anybody please tell me the differences? Most places on he Internet suggest it is actually a 4546cc engine.

To add further confusion, some people speak about a 4.6 engine. Is this the standard 4546cc engine or an upated engine by TVR or some other engine builder?

Any help clearing this up for me is most welcome.

Edited by A900ss on Saturday 6th April 14:25

loud430

550 posts

213 months

Saturday 6th April 2013
quotequote all
hi, the 4.6 is the standard 450 serp engine, the earlier 4441cc 4.5 is a pre serp & was special order only in a chim. only a couple made i think. theres a few early griffs with the 4.5 as well. most are known as 4.5 big valves. hope that helps. cheers, paul.

BountyHunter

1,050 posts

224 months

Saturday 6th April 2013
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loud430 said:
hi, the 4.6 is the standard 450 serp engine
so why do the Chim 450 V5's say its 4546cc then ?

pwd95

8,459 posts

268 months

Saturday 6th April 2013
quotequote all
4.5 Chims have the 4.6 rangie lump. Also the 3.9 Rangie lump was 3948cc. The 4.0 Chimaera engine is 3948cc. See.

A triumph of marketing over facts. biggrin

BountyHunter

1,050 posts

224 months

Saturday 6th April 2013
quotequote all
pwd95 said:
4.5 Chims have the 4.6 rangie lump. Also the 3.9 Rangie lump was 3948cc. The 4.0 Chimaera engine is 3948cc. See.

A triumph of marketing over facts. biggrin
LOL - yeah I understand the marketing over facts
and I see the 3.9 RR lump is same size as Griff/Chim 400

but the 450 is listed as a different cc to the range rover 4.6
Chim 450 = 4546cc and Range Rover 4.6 = 4554cc

ok this is a small difference, so is this down to different pistons, modified combustion chamber or what ???

A900ss

Original Poster:

3,314 posts

182 months

Saturday 6th April 2013
quotequote all
BountyHunter said:
LOL - yeah I understand the marketing over facts
and I see the 3.9 RR lump is same size as Griff/Chim 400

but the 450 is listed as a different cc to the range rover 4.6
Chim 450 = 4546cc and Range Rover 4.6 = 4554cc

ok this is a small difference, so is this down to different pistons, modified combustion chamber or what ???
I agree with you BH. A 4546cc should be described as a 4.5 whereas a 4554cc car is a 4.6 despite only 8cc difference.

I'm really confused and do believe that when people refer to a 4.6 Chim it is an uprated engine and based more upon the RR 4.6 engine (4554cc) rather than the standard 450 (4546cc).

I assume the swept difference is a slight difference in bore rather than stroke.

Trevor450

1,937 posts

178 months

Saturday 6th April 2013
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The 450 Chim engine is a 4.6 Range Rover based unit from the HSE. As far as I know, TVR Power fiddled with the heads and the cam but that was about it. I agree that there is some confusion on the actual cc but this is probably down to whatever TVR did with the heads and how they measured it.

BountyHunter

1,050 posts

224 months

Saturday 6th April 2013
quotequote all
A900ss said:
1. I agree with you BH. A 4546cc should be described as a 4.5 whereas a 4554cc car is a 4.6 despite only 8cc difference.

2. I'm really confused and do believe that when people refer to a 4.6 Chim it is an uprated engine and based more upon the RR 4.6 engine (4554cc) rather than the standard 450 (4546cc).
I assume the swept difference is a slight difference in bore rather than stroke.
1. yes, but as Wyn said its about marketing and I can understand that.

2. I think its a bit easier than that.
I have a feeling the standard 450 bottom end is very similar (if not the same) as the RR 4.6 and the few cc difference in size is more likely to be down to different pistons or a modded combustion chamber.

for example recut larger valves and seats could affect the cc - i mean we only are talking 1cc per cylinder

QBee

22,502 posts

174 months

Sunday 7th April 2013
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To give you more insight on heads, I have a spare pair of 400/450 big valve heads, combustion chambers 28.5 cc.
My new 5 litre engine has 33cc combustion chambers to keep the compression ratio down to reasonable levels. Difference 4.5cc per cylinder, 36 cc overall. It can make that much difference.

spend

12,581 posts

281 months

Sunday 7th April 2013
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NONE of that has any effect on engine cc, you could have Buckingham Palace sized heads and it would have no efect on cc - that is only the swept volume.

Most of the minor differences in cc can be attributed to which bore size is used. Rover typically had several grades within the range 3.700" to 3.702", hence the A...E grades on the pistons. Never looked into piston grades on the 4.6's though, but I still think the exact bore size gets fiddled with within that 2 thou tolerance.

A900ss

Original Poster:

3,314 posts

182 months

Sunday 7th April 2013
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To confuse me even more, this car claims to have been converted to a 4.6 by V8 Developments.

http://bit.ly/16FzA9b

loud430

550 posts

213 months

Sunday 7th April 2013
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thats an early car so would have probably been a 4.0, if the engines gone bang i would take the chance to upgrade as well.