Are Chimaera's suited to short journeys?

[fimbo]

My current reliable (but boring, gutless...etc) steed takes me to and from my train station daily, which is about a 16 mile round trip. As I am contemplating a Chimaera (and can't justify 3 cars) I was wondering whether a Chimaera would be ok for this sort of regular short run with the occasional blast at weekends or am I storing up trouble for myself?

Thanks for your help.

[Hughesie2]

would advise a good 10 mins before the car warms up properly, they tend not to like short runs or not give them chance to warm up...

of course if you get one you'll be going the long way anyway

[fimbo]

thanks. I suppose I could always move house...further away!!

[blujay10]

I have just bought a 400 and am using it for a 12 mile round trip, which includes a blast through the country lanes. I'll let you know how it goes....just do it, I cant stop smiling and look forward to the journey home, although the neigbours are not too impressed with the early morning wake up call!

[.Mark]

We considered this at length before buying and took a lot of advise from people who should know.
Initially the car was going to be doing 20 miles a day with the occasional run during the week and plenty of weekend use
The conclusion was that this kind of usage was more suited to the 4.0 rather than 5.0 as the engine is less stressed (that may be arse for all I know!). We drove a few of varying engine size and as fate would have it it was a 4.0 we liked best, in the real world these are not a great deal slower than their big brothers and will still demolish most stuff on the roads today.
The car was used as intended and in 4 years as a daily driver it has never missed a beat. Interestingly with a new house purchase etc. we have used it less this year so far and it has developed certain squeeks - so use it, it loves it.

I think you'll be fine. As has already been said, it might be only 8 miles home but I expect after a day or so that will become 10, 12, 15, 20 - especially in this weather.

[jimothy]

Hughesie2 said:

would advise a good 10 mins before the car warms up properly, they tend not to like short runs or not give them chance to warm up...

How long is your 16 mile round trip? If its slow roads to warm the car over 10 minutes, then some nice twisties for a blat then it'll be fine.

My last job was ideal for it, 10 minutes of town to warm up, then dual carriageway for a blat.
Or the long way

I would have thought that as long as it gets warm, and it used properly at the weekends, it'll be fine.

[Hughesie2]

jimothy said:

I would have thought that as long as it gets warm, and it used properly at the weekends, it'll be fine.

Just use it, they love it !!

[pzero64]

Work/home trip = 10 miles each way. Chimaera is my daily driver, use it 5 days a week. Had it about 15 months now and it’s been fine. Never use it at weekends but do get to do 100 – 300 mile trips a couple of times a month.

[cerby4.5]

The more you drive them the better they are!! Warm them up (like you should any car) and off you go!!

[fimbo]

thanks for all your helpful comments - I was thinking of a 5 litre Chimaera but note the comments about this perhaps being more susceptible to problems on short journeys - does anyone else have experiences of this? To answer the other question, the journey is two-thirds single track A road - you can blat it in the evenings but not in the mornings (you have to watch out for people finishing their breakfast in the car and women putting on lippy - not to mention the school run!)

[davela]

I have had my 4.5 for about 21 months now and have used it more and more for the daily commute (15 miles each way) and have found no problems. In fact the more you use it the better it seems to get and I am now trying to sell my back-up car as it doesn't get used.

It also has the odd holiday run of about 1,500 miles in a week and has been just as reliable for this purpose too.

Just one thing I have found mine to be better with a set of Magnecor leads, runs smother and pulls better, £100 well spent.

One final thought, it actually makes the daily grind enjoyable !!

[parrot of doom]

Warming up period for me is about 15 seconds from starting the engine to moving off. Then I don't exceed 3000rpm until the engine is close to or at 90 degrees.

Cars warm up more quickly when being driven, I wouldn't recommend letting it sit there for 10 minutes each drive.

[chimleic]

I use my Chim day-to-day, covering 4 miles each way into and out of Leicester to work. At weekends I go for longer drives - sometimes down to Devon. After 13 months of this use, my engine still roars beautifully.

[tattoodrob]

I USE MINE TO GO TO THE GYM AND BACK NEARLY EVERYDAY(YES IM SHOUTING..I ALWAYS SHOUT) WHICH IS ABOUT 1 MILE...I DONT THRASH IT AT ALL ON THESE JOURNEYS AS CAR OBVIOUSLY NOT WARMED UP FULLY AND HE THOUROUGHLY ENJOYS GOING OUT REGULARLY INSTEAD OF BEING STUCK AT HOME!!!! I ALSO LIKE TO GIVE THE GENERAL PUBLIC REGULAR SIGHTINGS OF MY MARVELOUS GREEN BEAST TO CHEER UP THERE DREARY DAY......ITS SORT OF CHARITY WORK IN A WAY ISNT IT?I OBVIOUSLY GO OUT ON LONGER BLATS FOR THE FUN OF IT.I THINK THESE CARS SHOULD BE USED REGULARLY AS IT SEEMS LACK OF USE CAN CAUSE PROBLEMS AS WELL.

[parrot of doom]

Mine takes about 1.5-2 miles to warm up. I never warm it up standing still, I start it up, give it 10 seconds for the juices to start flowing around the engine, and off I go. Don't exceed 3000rpm until its warmed up to 90degrees.

Personally I don't see the difference between a 5 mile trip and a 50 mile trip, except the latter will wear the engine out more (obviously). Provided the engine gets warm before you boot it, it should be fine.

[trackcar]

It's just a car so use like a car.

If you want the engine to last 250000 miles then a proper warm up technique is probably advisable .. but you'll probably only have it for a few years so what does it matter if you're accelerating the engine wear by inappropriate warm up and short journeys? you won't own the car then anyway. And who's to say any car you buy had a caring previous owner?

My advice is if you want a Chimaera just go and buy one, it's then your car .. use it how you want to, but above all enjoy it.

If you buy a car that's had a very unfortunate life and needs any engine work well that's no problem either .. every man and his dog can rebuild a RV8 engine .. take it to a friendly local garage where you'll get it all done at a quarter the cost of many TVR places and you're laughing all the way.

Buy. Drive. Enjoy. It really is that simple