New Owner: Meet Bruce
Discussion
Hello folks. Thought I would put up a quick post to say Hi and introduce myself as a fellow Chim owner.
After lusting after one of these beasts for many years I finally took the plunge a couple of months ago and bought a lovely yr 2000 Yellow Chim 500 – see attached (rubbish) pics - I’ll take some more when it stops bloody raining (I live in Scotland so this could take a while!).
The car is called Bruce – don’t ask me why, the name just seemed to fit.
Anyway, having now covered a good few hundred miles in Bruce I can safely say a love affair is developing! (Hmm that sounds very wrong indeed – maybe naming this car was not a good idea after all).
Bruce may not actually be the fastest car I have owned and nor is he the best handling (at the moment – please see question below) but he sure is the most charismatic, aurally rewarding and grin inducing car I have owned! He is definitely a keeper.
I picked the car up in the North of England a couple of months ago and actually had to drive back up to Scotland along the motorway through some serious blizzard conditions. That certainly got my attention, especially when a van came through the central reservation up ahead of me! Has to be said that driving a 5 litre Chimaera up the motorway on about 1 inch of fresh snow is certainly keeps you focussed – especially when it’s your first ever time in a TVR.
Just had a full 12k mile service carried out by Barry at TVR Ecosse (top bloke, great value for money and excellent work by the way). Car is driving beautifully now.
I do however have one question for all you experts. I’m finding that the handling is not quite up to requirements for such an otherwise awesome car. Everything feels tight and planted on a set of brand new Toyos Proxies but when cornering it feels like the suspension set up is letting the rest of the car down a bit. I’m finding that the car has a bit too much body roll and not enough front end grip and not enough FEEL for how much front end grip there is. I’m sure there is loads of grip there but in reality it is hard to judge where the limits are. I have not even pushed it hard yet but even at fairly sensible cornering speeds it is hard to tell how close to the limit I am. So basically I want more front end feedback. It’s odd really, because the car actually rides quite firmly on it’s original shocks (it has done 25k miles)
Will upgrading the shocks bring things in to sharper focus? My guess is yes, and now that I know Bruce is a keeper I don’t mind forking out a bit for this upgrade. I had Lotus Elise 111R Sport Racer a few years and the handling was eye wateringly good. Now I know I probably won’t get anywhere near this in Bruce but I do want to be at least head in that direction – lots of instant feel and feedback through the steering, less body roll through the corners and perhaps even a slightly more compliant ride over rough road surfaces if I get lucky.
Any suggestions on the best way to work towards this target would be much appreciated. Oh and if it helps I have not real desire to track the car, I just want it set up as well as I can for good road use.
Planning to join the TVR car club too so hopefully I will see a few fellow TVR owners later in the year at a few meets. Looking forward to it!
Cheers
TD
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/JwcgHqIP.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/z5BmleaT" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/z5BmleaT.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/iUXbmC5X" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/iUXbmC5X.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/jX1Yutqw" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/jX1Yutqw.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/UqProuHr" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/UqProuHr.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/z5BmleaT" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/z5BmleaT.jpg)
After lusting after one of these beasts for many years I finally took the plunge a couple of months ago and bought a lovely yr 2000 Yellow Chim 500 – see attached (rubbish) pics - I’ll take some more when it stops bloody raining (I live in Scotland so this could take a while!).
The car is called Bruce – don’t ask me why, the name just seemed to fit.
Anyway, having now covered a good few hundred miles in Bruce I can safely say a love affair is developing! (Hmm that sounds very wrong indeed – maybe naming this car was not a good idea after all).
Bruce may not actually be the fastest car I have owned and nor is he the best handling (at the moment – please see question below) but he sure is the most charismatic, aurally rewarding and grin inducing car I have owned! He is definitely a keeper.
I picked the car up in the North of England a couple of months ago and actually had to drive back up to Scotland along the motorway through some serious blizzard conditions. That certainly got my attention, especially when a van came through the central reservation up ahead of me! Has to be said that driving a 5 litre Chimaera up the motorway on about 1 inch of fresh snow is certainly keeps you focussed – especially when it’s your first ever time in a TVR.
Just had a full 12k mile service carried out by Barry at TVR Ecosse (top bloke, great value for money and excellent work by the way). Car is driving beautifully now.
I do however have one question for all you experts. I’m finding that the handling is not quite up to requirements for such an otherwise awesome car. Everything feels tight and planted on a set of brand new Toyos Proxies but when cornering it feels like the suspension set up is letting the rest of the car down a bit. I’m finding that the car has a bit too much body roll and not enough front end grip and not enough FEEL for how much front end grip there is. I’m sure there is loads of grip there but in reality it is hard to judge where the limits are. I have not even pushed it hard yet but even at fairly sensible cornering speeds it is hard to tell how close to the limit I am. So basically I want more front end feedback. It’s odd really, because the car actually rides quite firmly on it’s original shocks (it has done 25k miles)
Will upgrading the shocks bring things in to sharper focus? My guess is yes, and now that I know Bruce is a keeper I don’t mind forking out a bit for this upgrade. I had Lotus Elise 111R Sport Racer a few years and the handling was eye wateringly good. Now I know I probably won’t get anywhere near this in Bruce but I do want to be at least head in that direction – lots of instant feel and feedback through the steering, less body roll through the corners and perhaps even a slightly more compliant ride over rough road surfaces if I get lucky.
Any suggestions on the best way to work towards this target would be much appreciated. Oh and if it helps I have not real desire to track the car, I just want it set up as well as I can for good road use.
Planning to join the TVR car club too so hopefully I will see a few fellow TVR owners later in the year at a few meets. Looking forward to it!
Cheers
TD
Edited by TorqueDirty on Sunday 6th April 10:49
Looks lovely.
I'll let the track day boys advise you of suspension set-up but I changed my shocks to Protechs, changed my droplinks to the redesigned Racing Green type, set the ride height correctly (probably higher than most people have their cars) and a full geo.
I like my handling now (I don't do track days though)
Good luck and welcome to the club.
I'll let the track day boys advise you of suspension set-up but I changed my shocks to Protechs, changed my droplinks to the redesigned Racing Green type, set the ride height correctly (probably higher than most people have their cars) and a full geo.
I like my handling now (I don't do track days though)
Good luck and welcome to the club.
Welcome indeed, lovely motor. Drop links+ bushes on both anti roll bars, over time and there quite cheap replace suspension and steering bushes( ball joints etc,) a good choice of shock and spring rate for your prefered driving choices.
Low mileage is great but it also means these joints have spent lots of time sitting about, there probably fine but new rubber always helps.
Wait for a more accurate answer, A900ss has probably got a very good car so check out those Protechs!
Your car looks very good, maybe just new shocks but its so cheap do anti roll and drop links at the same time.
Goodluck with Bruce,
Check you ride height is correct if you feel the fronts not good in the corners.
This is just the start mate, lol
Low mileage is great but it also means these joints have spent lots of time sitting about, there probably fine but new rubber always helps.
Wait for a more accurate answer, A900ss has probably got a very good car so check out those Protechs!
Your car looks very good, maybe just new shocks but its so cheap do anti roll and drop links at the same time.
Goodluck with Bruce,
Check you ride height is correct if you feel the fronts not good in the corners.
This is just the start mate, lol
TVRMs said:
Think we were the second owners, she was looked after then, seems like she'll be getting the same going forward...
Great to know the car has been looked after. Based on the condition I figured that had to be the case and it will certainly get everything it needs during my ownership.TD
Malcster said:
Where in Scotland are you from?
Don't suppose I passed you on Queen Street, Edinburgh, maybe 6 months ago?
I was in a late Burgundy Chim at the time?
I'm near Lanark. Only got Bruce a few months ago so you may have seen him out and about in Edinburgh 6 montsh ago but I would not have been the driver.Don't suppose I passed you on Queen Street, Edinburgh, maybe 6 months ago?
I was in a late Burgundy Chim at the time?
Nice car BTW!
Richard 858 said:
Welcome to the club, Olly & Bruce. If you're interested in improvements, beware - it can be a slippery slope !
Slippery slope
Lovely car and colour! I had problems with the handling as well. Racing Green TVR sorted it with their adjustable AST suspension and full geo setup. The dampers have 12 clicks. I have them on comfort now 5 front and 5 rear. When set to 8/8, it gets very sharp and controllable, used 8/8 on the Nurburgring and tons of fun!
Nitrons are also an option in the high price range... never heard anything bad said about them...
Nitrons are also an option in the high price range... never heard anything bad said about them...
NickOrangeTVR said:
Holy Overdrafts Batman! - them's some serious upgrades there my friend!
Actually I have to admit to having had the "johns tvr rebuild" thread bookmarked for a long time. Stunning engineering and commitment.
Note to self - Book in for immediate vaccination against upgradeitis. I gather it is very contagious and hard to cure once contracted
OleVix said:
Lovely car and colour! I had problems with the handling as well. Racing Green TVR sorted it with their adjustable AST suspension and full geo setup. The dampers have 12 clicks. I have them on comfort now 5 front and 5 rear. When set to 8/8, it gets very sharp and controllable, used 8/8 on the Nurburgring and tons of fun!
Nitrons are also an option in the high price range... never heard anything bad said about them...
Thanks Ole - Yellow ones are the best aren't they!Nitrons are also an option in the high price range... never heard anything bad said about them...
Good to hear that upgrading the suspension can make a big difference.
Any views out there on how AST kit compares to the Gaz Gold Pro's? Don't want to spend silly money for the sake of it but happy to pay a fair price for high quality kit if it is going to make significant improvement to the handling.
Don't think I need to go as far as the Nitrons if I'm not going to track it - the extra cash might be better spent on fuel!
TD
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