Chim Vs Subaru WRX
Discussion
PeterC said:
Any reasonable modern car will beat a TVR if the wally driving it is prepared to be reckless enough.
Just look at the police chases you see on TV.
The moral of the story is that if anyone tries to provoke you into a race on the bublic roads then ignore them.
I wholeheartedly agree.
With that kind of thing it is how much you want to push the car you are in and how much you value your life. Going around some twisty roads in a spirited but safe manner I must add, I encountered a Pug (206 I think or similar) who insisted on following me. Whereas I am a pretty experienced driver and was nowhere even close to pushing the Tuscan to its limits, the two young guys in the car behind insisted on almost having the car on two wheels around each bend.
As has been said, most cars can keep up, but at what cost?
Another thing to remember is that TVRs have widely varying handling attributes as well as a lot of power to two rear wheels, no traction control or ABS. If you compare this to the Evo or Impreza they have a lot of computer equipment to even out traction over all four wheels, traction control as well as active yaw control which means that they can enter corners at a pace which would spin a TVR, the computer does its job and applies braking individually over all the wheels to keep the car straight.
In a straight line I would pretty much always back the TVR, but on twisty roads I am pretty sure the Japanese car would keep up without breaking a sweat.
A std wrx is nothing to write home about these days (222bhp) my old LCR was marginally quicker once moving and there was nothing in it with an WRX STI after mine was remaped. Off the line and twisties there great but straight line speed most modern hot hatches can keep up.
Havn't really come across anything in the chim bar a saxo which was more comical than anything else!
As said modern performance cars are getting quicker and quicker and it takes a lot of power difference to really pull away from another car.
Wouldn't worry about it scoobs are ten a penny these days and they dont look,sound half as good.
Havn't really come across anything in the chim bar a saxo which was more comical than anything else!
As said modern performance cars are getting quicker and quicker and it takes a lot of power difference to really pull away from another car.
Wouldn't worry about it scoobs are ten a penny these days and they dont look,sound half as good.
Drove a mint 2003 WRX (15000 miles) as i'm pondering an Impreza to replace the Vectra 2.5 as my daily hack.
The WRX was not what I'd call fast.... certainly wouldn't get near the TVR, and generally rather dull.
I think the quoted 0-60 time for the WRX is about 5.9 secs so hardly neck snapping. The STI has more grunt 275 vs 225 BHP IIRC and the interior is more interesting . I might be tempted to try one of those.
The WRX was not what I'd call fast.... certainly wouldn't get near the TVR, and generally rather dull.
I think the quoted 0-60 time for the WRX is about 5.9 secs so hardly neck snapping. The STI has more grunt 275 vs 225 BHP IIRC and the interior is more interesting . I might be tempted to try one of those.
Don't overhype your TVRs.....
Back in 1998/99 we were lucky enough to own a Griff500 and a Impreza Turbo (original shape but wil prodrive handling kit).
In all weather conditions the Impreza was the quickest A to B car. I took it to two TVRCC track days and here is a list of V8 TVRs that passed me including Cerbera's ......thats right none.
But...driving the Impreza fast was easy, you were detached from the experience, driving the Griffith was always an event, something to saviour. In a straight line the Griffith would paste the Impreza, but was much harder to commit to in corners. For surefooted cornering the Impreza had it beaten everytime, especially in the wet!
Ultimately which one is faster on the road is down to the driver, but I reckon put the same driver in each and the Impreza will always be faster (unless the road is arrow straight and bone dry)
davidy
Back in 1998/99 we were lucky enough to own a Griff500 and a Impreza Turbo (original shape but wil prodrive handling kit).
In all weather conditions the Impreza was the quickest A to B car. I took it to two TVRCC track days and here is a list of V8 TVRs that passed me including Cerbera's ......thats right none.
But...driving the Impreza fast was easy, you were detached from the experience, driving the Griffith was always an event, something to saviour. In a straight line the Griffith would paste the Impreza, but was much harder to commit to in corners. For surefooted cornering the Impreza had it beaten everytime, especially in the wet!
Ultimately which one is faster on the road is down to the driver, but I reckon put the same driver in each and the Impreza will always be faster (unless the road is arrow straight and bone dry)
davidy
davidy said:
Don't overhype your TVRs.....
In a straight line the Griffith would paste the Impreza, but was much harder to commit to in corners.
Ultimately which one is faster on the road is down to the driver, but I reckon put the same driver in each and the Impreza will always be faster (unless the road is arrow straight and bone dry)
davidy
Totally agree with you, I should have said i was referring to straight line performance,
I think its very difficult to meaningfully compare 4WD cars with 2WD in terms of dynamic performance as it will all depend on the nature of the bends, some will give an advantage to one or other party.
Having been fortunate enough to have owned from new both a P1 & Chimaera 450 for the last 5 years, here's my tuppence worth:
The Chimaera is a more involving drive, and when you become comfortable with it, you can blast it along a country road just as fast as the Subaru.
In the dry, it is a faster car, and being much lighter can change direction better through bends.
In the wet(not greasy), you need to be more circumspect, but can still hustle along pretty well.
The time when the Subaru really wins is when the road is greasy, and the 4WD stops you going into powerslide at the slightest touch of the throttle. The P1 is great for a drive when you don't want to be driving at 10/10ths, but still want to make good time - if you misjudge things slightly, it'll probably let you get away with it, whereas the Chimaera is less forgiving.
One thing I will say is that many of the TVRs I have been passenger in could really use some new shocks + geometry set-up. TVR shocks last about a third as long as Subaru shocks in my experience (Chimaera around 22K, P1 around 63K), but most people don't seem to notice, and when they push on down a country lane, scare themself & think that it is "just the way TVRs are"
I'm now running stiffer springs, Nitrons & a slightly higher ride height from standard (so I can blast down country roads), but even on the standard setup, the car was pretty good. It did however take me a couple of trackdays & a day's performance driver tuition to become happy driving it in the wet.
The Chimaera is a more involving drive, and when you become comfortable with it, you can blast it along a country road just as fast as the Subaru.
In the dry, it is a faster car, and being much lighter can change direction better through bends.
In the wet(not greasy), you need to be more circumspect, but can still hustle along pretty well.
The time when the Subaru really wins is when the road is greasy, and the 4WD stops you going into powerslide at the slightest touch of the throttle. The P1 is great for a drive when you don't want to be driving at 10/10ths, but still want to make good time - if you misjudge things slightly, it'll probably let you get away with it, whereas the Chimaera is less forgiving.
One thing I will say is that many of the TVRs I have been passenger in could really use some new shocks + geometry set-up. TVR shocks last about a third as long as Subaru shocks in my experience (Chimaera around 22K, P1 around 63K), but most people don't seem to notice, and when they push on down a country lane, scare themself & think that it is "just the way TVRs are"
I'm now running stiffer springs, Nitrons & a slightly higher ride height from standard (so I can blast down country roads), but even on the standard setup, the car was pretty good. It did however take me a couple of trackdays & a day's performance driver tuition to become happy driving it in the wet.
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